Michael569

Your are your own master and you only are responsible. You either cut the crap and start exercising and eating clean or don't and you will feel guilty, miserable. for the rest of your life, being victim and whining, most likely ending up with a heart attack in your 40s. So what's it gonna be? Nobody can help you unless you agree to help yourself first. Lift your ass up, trash all the junk food in the bin and brute-force your way into the gym. You think for the rest of people health comes as privilege? Served on a pedestal? Hell no, we work our asses of day after day after day. Wake up or keep sleeping and be miserable.... It's all up to you.

Untethered Soul by Michael Singer if you were looking for something a bit spiritual Topics of this book: awareness and enlightenment meditation (slightly) death contemplation internal purification and emotional mastery

Has anyone tried joining Toast Masters group? Can you please share some of your experience and how do you think it helped you? What weakness in your life did you overcome? Thanks

@Wilm than I guess time might will reveal it for you. Try to boost this topic, maybe someone more experienced will have an alternative suggestion for you

@Wilm Have you tried contemplating your own death? If not, I suggest you do this tonight. Switch of all lights and get in the deep, dark mood. Ideally after your family has gone sleeping. Leo's contemplation video can be quite depressing but the fear of death and this taught realisation can open new perspective to you. Also I assume you are getting quite close to that..in LP Course, the Section with LP Excercises, 2nd one(auditorium). I won't say anymore but that was an eye opener ! Let me know how it went. Keep dreaming brother and don't give up on your life. You only have this one chance. Let me motivate you with a quote that i borrowed from @Nahm “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. I pasted this on my computer screen and my mirror and read it aloud for myself every morning and every night. This shit is like steroids for subconsciousness mind.

@Wilm just because you are not good in something now (working with people) doesn't mean that you cannot develop the skill or even become an expert in it. You didn't know how to ride a bike and tie you shoes once or perhaps speak foreign language. Maybe instead of what you can think of, try to think what is missing on the market? What is lack of? What do you hate about this industry? What do you think could be changed? You could try to look at running from a nutrition perspective, from a medical perspective or long term health. Or look into runner's clothing, shoes. I'm not an expert but do your research. What are some growing trends in running? What is the market heading towards? Also you say, there are other interests. What are they? Write it down and journal or meditate on it. Perhaps you could combine some of them. I suggest you get back to LP course and pick up where you left of. Don't be discouraged by the amount of question but focus on each point as if it was a single lesson. Do 1 per day of that is needed. Don't be shallow but look really really deep. Alternatively think of getting a coach. Haven'd done it myself but heard people getting some pretty awesome results.....What do you have to lose? Many of us here are in the same boat and the struggle is real.

Agree with what has been said above though, If you are into serious lifting and muscle gain, the only way is doing heavy weights, home workout just won't do it unless you are ready to invest into barbell and at least a pair of 45lb (20 kg) weights ( and few lighter ones). Also there is a certain sense of companionship and spirit in gyms. You get to meet like minded people , share tips and tricks. You need as much as 30 minutes to get a good workout. If you want to avoid gym but still want to do a hard work though,try to split your training into home and outside ( say park or street) Home Focus more on muscle mass, slow contraction and reps/sets. 1. pair of dumbells ( not too heavy) 2. flexible bench that can be moved to horizontal and inclined angle 3. ( optional) for more serious gain, consider a large barbell (the long bar) and a set of weights that you can challenge yourself with. Thus is however tricky because for some heavy lifts you need a rack or a partner. 4. ABS Wheel - amazing tool for core, greatly underestimated and mocked by bodybuilding community. Outside This is where you should do most of your cardio, speed , circuits. There are many cool workouts you can do outside besides jogging. Not to mention, you don't sweat over your carpet and have a fresh air and sense of freedom. ( especially after dark) 1. TRX is an amazing tool, that you hang on a tree, old gate, wall ( need to have a hook) , street lamp and can work your ass of. Any part of body can be practiced. Great both for cardio and strength excercise 2. Kettlebell (weight depending on your strength and fitness level). There is so much you can do with it and it requires minimum space. Although better used outside. 3. Jumping rope - great for warm-up as well as vigorous cardio once you improve a bit. 4. A mat to lie/ sit on. In your Outside session, focus on circuit. Ideally work with time ( or count reps). Usually you only need like 20-30 minutes to completely destroy yourself if you are short on time and prepared to "sweat blood" An example of "Outside" would be: 1. Burpees (60 seconds) Break 20 sec 2. Rope Jumping (60 seconds) Break 20 sec 3. deep lunges in 20 meter lengths ( for 60 seconds) Break 20 sec 4. high jumps on spot, tapping your knees with your palm in the midair ( 60 seconds) Break 20 sec 5. star jumps on spot ( to cool down from previous) ( 60 seconds) Break 20 sec 6. TRX - whatever you like ( 60 seconds) Rest 60 seconds and restart the round. Do 3 rounds in total. Looks easy, but can ruin you for couple days if you are unused to it. There are literally hundreds of options here, research internet and be creative. Sorry for long post, wanted to give you a practical example. Hope that helps.

Maybe the issue is that you are afraid to be a dreamer? It is definitely something I am struggling with. Although I am trying to be as open minded and as brave when completing this course as if there were no obstacles, it is sometimes difficult to me to write down those answers anyway just because I can't see it right now. Our society conditions us to go for what is certain and never go "all in" unless you are sure. It took me probably 10 hours to go through this exercise just because of all the deep contemplation I was doing. Did a lot of visualising and journaling on it but it certainly helped. Try to open your mind beyond your world of your current possibilities. You can for example certainly tailor your LP around running btw if you could visualise it.

My mom has developed an alcohol problem some time ago. Of course as all alcoholics, she will not admit it. We had family interventions, she stopped for a while but than got back to it even more. Not only is it making her fat and destroying her self esteem but there is also all the negative effects of alcohol and emotional instability. Having watched Leo's addiction video helped me work on my PC gaming addiction however to an unconscious person like my mom seeing world black and white, an idea such as contemplation or meditation is so so far out there. Sometimes it is like teaching a toddler to use calculus. If I were to dig deeper, I'd say it has to do with her having no purpose of life. She stopped working years ago and nowadays spends time around the family house mostly. Also the divorce of my parents didn't help. So my question to whoever would read this is: How would you approach a person who is super easily offended, does not realise that she has problem, is very emotional and would not want to do any high consciousness work. How would you soften the mind of this person to be a bit more open-minded to potential solutions that do not necessarily lie out there but within? Thanks a lot for any advice

@Arman that's an amazing perspective, thank you.

@Whywolf thanks for suggestions. I have identified several causes. First of all it is the lack of purpose in life. She does not work and has not worked for year. Of course she is frightened even by thought about going back...became very complacent. Its is a shame because she has a degree in two languages , both of which she is still fluent after all years of low usage. Another might be that our dad found another woman and left her , went living to Denmark. Me and my sister have made peace with him considering that my parents' marriage was rubbish for many years. She can't and has very very hard time forgiving people who wronged her. And lastly she has very victim mentality. She feels like the world is hurting her and that nobody cares about her and that world isn't fair. I tried to explain it to her in a soft way that she is causing all her problems but that results in her getting offended....so it's a challenge. Her addiction is just a way of her dealing with anxiety and victim thinking. I agree with what has been said that the person needs to want to be helped first and presently she is definitely not in that state of mind. I'll try to have a talk with her and show her how it is hurting all of us as @Venus suggested. Thanks folks, it is good to be a part of a like-minded community

Thank you all for valuable suggestions, much appreciated ! These gave me a lot of perspective. Cheers

Routines - 3* times a week vigorous Cardio circuit. Doing 30 minutes of 5-6 excercises. Trying to do as many sets as possible and competing against my previous record, kinda creates a self-competition. Or Tabatha sessions. - 2* times a week lighter circuit or strength training or boxing circuit. - alternatively sprinting sessions if its nice outside - that is a killer. (6 * 50m) * 3 sets Excercises 50% bodyweight, 30% heavy barbells, 20% battle rope, kettlebells, abs wheel, fitballs, TRX Warmup Starting every workout with treadmill (15-20) or skipping rope (10). + of course include Yoga or stretching at the end, very important for muscle, bone and joint regeneration and protection. Agree , it is sometimes difficult to stay motivated. I used to have a lot of resistance. It helped switching to 90% plant based diet ( still struggling with few pieces and occasional cheating). Working out with mate helps or joining class sessions. Generally though workout shouldn't be much fun. If it is fun and it doesn't hurt, it has no value. Muscles and bones have to bee put under a lot of very hard stress to prevent later degeneration.

Definitely go for it even if you had to borrow that money. I haven't gone through the whole thing fully yet but definitely see patterns emerging already and I've discovered a ridiculous amounts of insight about myself, completely seeing changes in personality. Although it is tailored to public, you get the feeling that it was created just for you.

@Principium Nexus no necessarily. Hot shower induces toxic release. Your body gets rid of chemical and heavy metal poisoning. Same with infrared saunas or sweating during vigorous cardio excercise. Acne are mainly caused by wrong diet.

Try focusing on plant based for a month. Even if you are not ready to go Vegan, give it a shot, you'll be mesmerised by results only after few days. Vegetables - no restrictions, focus on Green leafy , the more colourful your salad is the better. Tomatoes contain sugar so you may want to be careful there. Highest nutrition: spinach, broccoli, kale, avocado, brussel-sprouts, peas, carrots, olives, cauliflower Fruits - Stick to 3-5 pieces a day. Avoid highly fermenting, high sugar. ( agave, mango, pineapple, yellow melon.. dried fruit ( absolutely not). Snack throughout day to keep blood sugar steady and prevent hunger. Eat Fruit alone, don't mix it up with anything. Seeds - always raw. Buy a glass jar and mix: flaxseeds, hempseeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds. Eat 2 spoons twice a day or add every-time you have a salad. ( make sure to mix with little water 20 minutes before eating for easier digestion). Store them in the fridge, outside of light and air. Nuts - avoid cashew and peanuts ( even raw are already processed, processed fat gives you cancer) also some people don't suggest Brazilian nuts although not sure why. Make sure you eat all of them raw. Not salty not fried, of course no chocolate or joghurt. Legumes - high protein intake, if you are a fitness type of person, definitely go to this category. Lentils, Beans, Amaranth, Quinoa, all great food. They are very filling and nutritious. To put this from the other way: Animal Protein and Animal Fat are causes of all your health conditions and problems. Studies that tell you otherwise are funded by meat and dairy industry. These cause you skin inflammation resulting in acne and hundreds of other conditions but I'm not going into that because this is about acne mainly. You will be surprised how easy it is to drop animal food once you give in to it. If you are interested in some studies check out some videos from Brian Clement or Neil Barnard and many many other renowned experts, vegans. Specialists ion the area of nutrition. Check out Real Truth about Health conference if you get even more into it. Ok i might have given you bit too much haha, hopefully something will be of use

@Melo First of all, compliments on making the big and bold move. That takes some balls Secondly I want to note that however it seems like you haven't fully thought this through? You need to have a plan of action and at least a scratch of your road ahead. Going all in without an idea of your next move could be unwise. Not trying to discourage you but Life purpose just as a house needs to have a solid foundation holding it (some capital to sustain you to start with).Meditation is great and will give you a lot of fulfilment but for a life purpose path to clear up for you, it may take while and a lot of hard and deliberate work, and in the meantime it is good to keep the income flowing before you know what it is and have a visual image of your goal. However that being said, you now have all the time to do what you need to do. Spend your conscious time 100% dedicated to finding your THING. I suggest you consider buying Leo's Life Purpose course to get on track. It is an excellent way to dig deep and understand yourself on a core level and you can get through it in a week or two if you have enough time. I myself am 3/4 through the whole thing and already am seeing a lot of patterns emerging and maybe even the ultimate THING. It is important to establish a healthy routine and some sort of control mechanism to battle all cravings and distractions (internet, procrastination, TV, other...). Wake up early, eat healthy, cut all crap. Be prepared for opposition, arguments, people not understanding you, your family not supporting you. This is the world's means of getting the balance back. You swing the pendulum in an extreme direction and your surroundings will fight to swing it back and regain the balance. This is all normal. For most people this is a threat to their comfortable lives and it is dangerous. Arm yourself with patience and train your willpower. Develop a steady plan of action. Study, keep meditating and visualising, excercise to have a 100% support of your body and brain and things will start going your way.

Spinach, Kale, Broccoli, Carrot, Apple. Few nuts (not cashew or peanuts) and seeds if you fancy. Strawberries, blueberries also add a nice taste.

Hey guys, Has anyone tried to experiment with their sleeping regime? I'd like to spend more time being productive in the morning and have been waking up at 6 am but I often feel sleepy and groggy and that it is doing more harm than good. Even if I go to sleep much earlier than i would usually have. If you have any interesting info or experience to share please can you comment? I am interested in anything. Ideal sleep time, any rituals you would have to help you sleep deeper. ( for me meditation does great job). Things you suggest to be avoided, food you eat/don't eat etc,.,, Thanks a lot for any suggestions in advance

@heisenburger agree, there are probably thousands of books out there that could help likewise. I though it would shed a bit more light if he tapped into understanding his own emotions and why he feels the way he does often.

@Andrew123 Hi, There are already few videos that could help get you on track. I'd say: * How to stop being a Victim part 1 and 2. - you are blaming a lot of external sources for your (self constructed) lack of worth. It is time you take the responsibility in your hands. * Responsibility versus blame - amazing video, check it out. * Also another is How to stop Judging yourself - that could give you a hint. * Also check "How to deal with negative Emotions and read a book called Emotional Inteligence 2.0. * There was also another one about Liking yourself more ( check out the happiness section of Leo's vids on youtube) Don't sit here and wait for Leo to reply to you. Man the hell up and start taking responsibility for your own life. Stop waiting for someone to come into your life and help you deal with all your problems. You are a male, the predator and the caretaker, things will be expected of you and feeling sorry for yourself is not one of them. Each of us is the primary tool for our own happiness. Money or girlfriend cannot give it to you if you haven't figured it out yourself first. Yes, you have some traumas, we all do. Time for excuses has passed, now it's time to take an action. Stop blaming your mother for whatever issue you have. The responsibility is yours only. When you say " I feel like the above will take a long time to reach or discover. " you are already saying that you don't want to do anything about it except perhaps moan and complain. Commit yourself to mastering your own emotions and psychology. Make a commitment to improving your life. Start watching all Leo's videos, one by one even if you feel like you don't need some of them. Pieces will start to come together. Read.... read books,. make notes of them and re-read them again. If you have gaps in your psychology you need to mend those if you want to get an improvement. Steps you could take now to start feeling better about yourself. 1. Start watching Leo's videos and read recommended books (pay the premium book list content, totally worth it ) 2. Exercise if you don't already. There are studies about how exercise improves not only your looks but your brain function, reduces depression, anxiety, prevents stress, boosts mood and make you generally feel better about yourself. Don't know how? Book a trainer for first 3 lessons and they will show you. Watch youtube videos, magazines, ask people who excercise. Us gym rats love to share our knowledge with others. Also this will help you become more social. Go to gym, talk to people, compliment them and ask about different excercises, techniques. You will make bonds with them.. ...sky is the limit here. This is one of the most important commitments in your life. There is an excellent book called Spark from John Ratey that tells you why exercise is important for your brain and how it goes beyond physical look. A must read. 3. Meditate - Watch Leo's "How to meditate videos. " This is the gym for your mind. Even more important than excercise, ideally you'd do both. Meditate every day, excercise 5 days a week. 4. Start cutting bad habits that make you spiral in your own depression - pc games, junk food, television, tobaco, alcohol, and that kind of crap draining happiness and energy from you. Less obvious: self pity, judgemental thoughts, obsessions with stupid things, 5. Wake up early - If you are stuck in your daily job like most of us, you need to make most of your day, set an alarm for 5:30 am and spend 2 hours studying, contemplating, meditating or just thinking about your life. Of course go to bed earlier if you wanna do this. This is a powerful strong habit. This may seem like a lot of actions, I know. This is what all of us are about. Leo has opened my eyes to reality a year ago just like he did to 1000s of people out here. I work on getting to my life purpose and just in 1 year of following Leo's channel, I feel tremendous improvement in my personal life, social life and understanding my psychology. It is a horrible amount of work and I doubt myself a lot but keep pushing because I know that in the end all this will be worth it once I find my ultimate life purpose and achieve new level of happiness. All of us here comited our lives to continuous improvement and work on our mind and body every day. Do one thing at a time. Start your journey towards your better self right here right now, today, make the commitment to yourself. No more pity talk, no more whining, no more blaming others. "I am the master of my own life, I am the hero of my story. If I cannot do it, nobody will do it for me. ! You can do it and you have all it takes, the question is: .... Will you? Good luck and keep your chin up. Things will start going your way if you work on yourself, I can promise you that.

Workout is not fun and shouldn't be. Sorry to break it down to you this way. If it is fun, you do it wrong. If you consider a fun workout seeing unfit people chatting and laughing while doing a stationary bicycle, that is not a workout, that is rubbish. If you have time to talk between your breathing, you are not working out. Workout is painful, hard and brings little enjoyment while you do it. That being said, yes many times I feel excited for the gym or my training but once I am there and doing this stuff that hurts like hell, it is not fun. So how do you actually enjoy your fitness routines? Suggest you focus on your results. If you are after muscle mass, take a picture of yourself, measure your chest, tights, biceps, etc..compare results over time. Test your strength in bench-press or squads... If you are after weight loss, have your weight and bod-fat measured, compare over time. Whatever it is, you can keep track of it. Once you see an improvement, that is when the enjoyment and happiness comes. The very nature of improving will push you to work harder because you know it bears fruit. Focus on long term results , not immediate enjoyment. Take fitness as a lifelong journey, it will be boring sometimes, mostly painful, you will need to push yourself to do it quite often while your friends will try to distract you, your PC, TV will try to distract you, junk food sellers will try to distract you. Build your "own castle", build a routine, motivate yourself by the achievements you have already had and visualise yourself even better. Don't compare yourself to others however use them for your benefit. If you see someone who looks great, don't go thinking "man that dude is on roids or has no life besides fitness. " instead think; "What do I need to do to get closer to him/ What part of the routine do I need to change? If he got there, so can I." Find a fitness partner who will motivate you to work harder and make it to the gym every time, I found that to be extremely beneficial. Care for each other, exchange knowledge and tips, share your tips with other people and learn their approach, be open minded, don't stick to the same routine and you'll get there. The journey will be your happiness. Your body will thank you for it

Hi Guys, I was wondering what seating posture do you find most beneficial / tolerable while meditating? I have only been meditating for a month but usually am struggling with proper seating. While I am not flexible enough to to do full or even half lotus for longer period. I always lean my back on the wall and sort of fold my legs with knees sticking out on right and left ( similar to lotus, no idea what it's called in English). Even with this, it gets itchy and uncomfortableafter a while and I am finding it hard to detach myself from the pain when meditating. Sitting with legs straight makes me sleepy Any suggestions what works for you? Thanks

Thank you all for great suggestions !

I would say multiple ways: Sports helps you to relieve stress and tension which may be obstructing you in your creative work By creating a gym routing you teach yourself persistence and discipline During my Master's I found it helped me to study and memorise when I did some sports after hours of study and was able to study some more afterwards It teaches you the mentality, state of mind that people who do sports have. To eat healthy, to treat your body well to avoid bad habits like smoking. All this in the end helps you in your personal development.