Waves

@Dan Arnautu I really admire the work you're putting in and I can resonate with what you've written, since I am in a similar situation, one year older than you and probably some steps behind. Out of inspiration, I would like to ask you some questions: I have the impression that you methodically introduced new habits into your life while removing bad ones and I wondered how you personally handled it, because I feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount of ideas and desires I get and that I feel the need to implement. Also, how do you integrate and take action on all the information you get from courses and books? How are you trying to have insights about yourself?

@Truth I'd love to hear more of that, could you elaborate, please?

I began the LPC in my first year of college around Christmas, during vacations. I had time, so I worked on it every day, but when the new semester started I had to make an effort to find energy and time for the course, especially because I was in the exercises part, which requires more emotional labor. If you want to plant the seed and slowly dive in it, then you could start watching the first videos of the course while still taking your schoolwork seriously. At the beginning you just have to watch and take notes, nothing too hard. When you'll graduate you'll have more time, I assume, and you'll be able to focus more on the exercises (the most important part of the course). I think this would be a good solution

@Edvard If you can organize the retreat easily, 3-5 days could help you to have some insights. But if you have the opportunity do it at least 7 days long, otherwise you won't be able to profit of the momentum you build. Keep up with the swimming, I'm enjoying it more and more with time. @aurum Thank you for the input. I figured out the direction of my life purpose, but I haven't put it in a really concrete statement. That's where I was and still am stuck. I don't know, maybe I should just write down what I "discovered", just to have a starting point, then work and build on that. @Richard Alpert Thanks, I will try to implement that in the future, I just don't think now is the correct time to do it, since I'm trying to build a reading habit. I'll handle that first and then upgrade my meditation

Hey guys, I finally decided to write a "report" of the solo retreat I had back in September. I'm going to start by telling you something about my situation, so that you get a better idea of who is behind this long text. Background I'm a 21 yo college student who is into personal development and likes to read, swim, cook, meditate, play the piano,... I come from a place of suffering and insecurity, which derives from a sense of inferiority and low self-esteem mainly caused by the fact that I had a late physical development and also by how I was raised. In my teenage years I mostly played video games and football (soccer) while still doing pretty good in school. As you can imagine I was pretty shy, had low confidence and wasn't that much social. But I always had that idea of growth planted in me. I've always thought possible to improve myself and my circumstances, probably because I wasn't happy about the situation I was in. A friend of mine played a role in this by introducing me to the importance of self-awareness. This has been the key for me to start realizing that I have the power to do something with my life, to decide to be happy. I finally stumbled across Leo's video, which didn't get me in the beginning, because he was saying things I didn't want to ear. Some months later I started to watch them regularly and never stopped since then. It slowly changed my life. I've been meditating for a year now, 20 minutes every day with some exceptions. I started with the Do-Nothing technique and after 6 months changed to Mindfulness Meditation with labeling. Why I did the retreat I only had 3 weeks vacation from college, so, inspired by Leo, I thought it would have been a good idea to invest 7 days in doing this. I wanted to do this as an experiment, to isolate myself from distractions of internet, society, my family and friends, and thus to be able to get more in touch with my deepest desires and truths. This was also a perfect occasion to work on the life purpose course, since I put it aside months before in order to concentrate on the exams. Furthermore I just wanted to get serious about this journey. Logistics Although I was staying in an apartment I felt pretty isolated, thanks to the view I had on the forest and mountains. I had the occasion to walk in the forest, it was really refreshing. Regard food I kept it rather simple: porridge with honey and berries for breakfast, vegetables with rice or potatoes for lunch and Leo's soup for dinner. I ate chicken once and had some eggs, no dairy though. I was hungry all the time and it really helped to have all kind of fruits, dark chocolate and mixed nuts around for snacks. Rules: no internet other than Actualized.org material, no contact with people and no long hikes What I did during the retreat At the beginning of the retreat I made the assessment of my life, as Leo advises in the video "How to get started with Self-Actualization", it was a good session of journaling and cleared my mind, it really helps to put thoughts into written words. I read "The Big Leap", I meditated for minimum 1 hour every day and worked on the course for as long as necessary. I also took notes on some regular Leo's videos. Don't forget your body health. I made sure to move my body (taking walks and stretching) and not to sit for too long. Insights and considerations Going on retreat gets you out of your usual environment, which is useful to receive new perspectives on your life. It also tests your cravings and maybe addictions. I noticed a certain sadness, emptiness or almost fear arising when I thought about the fact that I had nothing to do. Usually I cheer up in the present moment thanks to the things that will happen in the future. I have made progress in finding my life purpose, but I haven't been able to put it together. I think I need more time to elaborate what I discovered about myself and now, after 3 months, I'm going back to contemplate the matter. The retreat has been really helpful to set up the environment that allowed me to dig deeper into my soul, to clarify what I want to get out of life, to plan my future. I can say that it was the "official" starting point of my Self-Actualization journey, with the commitment to making it a priority in my life. TLDR: I highly recommend to go on retreat. It will help to get good insights about whatever you want to investigate. If you get clear on the intentions of your retreat and if you put in the work, it will help you to grow a lot, it really is a catalyst!

@Leo Gura Yeah, that's the next step, maybe after having tried some psychedelics It would be better to also bring the daily meditation to 30 minutes, then slowly up to 1 hour.

Hey guys, brand new Butt Monkey here. I've been watching Leo's videos for a while now, and after a recent solo retreat I'm officially committed to the path of self-actualization. In this post I would like to get into the topic of languages. I'm daily confronted with more than three languages between college, different people, self-help material, music, podcasts,... I notice that I think differently, about different things and express slightly different personalities for each language. I think my behavior when using one language is based on past experiences in that specific language-context: for example while I was improving my English in another country I also developed my social skills and now when I chat up someone in English I generally feel a bit more confident than I would in my mother tongue. Since many of you come from different parts of the world, it would be interesting to know how you feel abot this, so I've got some questions for ya: Are you experiencing a similar situation? Do you also feel that the English part of you (whatever it is) is more developed? Do you notice these incongruences and differences also in yourself? Would you say that repeating affirmations (also mindfulness meditation with labeling) in one language has the same effect on our subconscious as doing it in another one? Could such a multilingual lifestyle unground your personality?

If you want to keep it simple: seasonal fruit, mixed nuts (almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, pecan, pine nuts, walnuts all raw, not roasted nor salty), dark chocolate (>70% cocoa, no milk) and carrots, which are also great.

Unfortunately I don't have any suggestion for you, but I guess you wouldn't want to listen to audiobooks that have exercises in them. Though I'm curious about what system/app you guys use to download and listen to audiobooks. I imagine that Audible is the best alternative, but I'd like to experiment with something different at the beginning, just to see if I can develop a habit out of it.

@deadforever This video is gold, it was uploaded 8 months ago.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I guess we can find some disadvantages in using too many languages at once, like not being able to master one properly (getting all the linguistic nuances), but as you guys say, there is definitely a strong positive influence, such as open mindedness, seeing different cultures and thus perspectives, more brain connections,... @Shiva I'm lucky to live in Switzerland where we have 4 official languages. My mother tongue is Italian and in school I learned French (almost forgot it though ), German and English. At the moment I'm attending a college where the main language is German and although it is difficult to always pay attention and to try to understand, I think that it is paying off. In the future I would like to improve French and maybe learn Spanish, which shouldn't give me many problems thanks to the similarity to Italian. Thinking about this matter made me come to the viewpoint that whatever the language of the stuff you learn is, it always comes down to how well you understand it, reformulate it and then embody it. It might take more time with some languages, but as long as you go for it, the result will be that you'll integrate it in your personality. This is something I have to work through to better make use of self-development material, I guess, since I enjoy more reading and listening to it in English rather than in Italian, and there are a lot more sources available.