If You Want To Be Happy, Don't Do This! by Teal Swan

[CreamCat]

I think this is one of Leo's blindspots. He told us to just do it. It's going to require willpower to do that if you are not careful. But, willpower burns out quickly. The following video tells us to make the process as enjoyable as the end results.

One Line Summary

• To live a happy life, find a way to make the means as enjoyable as or more enjoyable than the ends.

Short Summary

• The vast majority of people spend the vast majority of their time on doing what they don't want to do in order to get what they want.
• It is impossible to live happily if you spend most of your time on doing what you don't want to do in order to get what you want.
• To live a happy life, find a way to make the means as enjoyable as the ends.
• Most successful people on this planet find a way to make the means more enjoyable than the ends.

Long Summary

• When we do a lot of unwanted things to get what we want, we are playing a game called `a means to an end` where the ends justify the means.
• When we approach getting what we want by making ends justify the means, we bulldoze parts of ourselves that don't enjoy doing something.
  • We play a zero sum game with those parts within ourselves. We do things we don't like to do and don't want to do in order to get what we want.
• What if your whole life is just doing something you didn't want to do so that you could get something you wanted?
  • The vast majority of people on planet earth spend the vast majority of their time on doing something they don't want to do in order to get something they want.
  • This is a recipe for absolute disaster. Your life will be unbearable.
• People choose to settle in this way because they have a belief that it is impossible to live in any other way.
  • We were trained to do something we don't want in order to get what we want.
  • We think this is the way to live life.
• It is absolutely impossible to live happily if your strategy toward getting things we want in our life is to do something you don't want to do.
• If you want a happy life, you can't live a life where the ends justify the means.
• Let's say you want to get to the ocean.
  • You are convinced the only way to get to the ocean is to walk through industrial waste dump for hours.
  • For the first time you do this, you feel it's worth. On the second time, it's going to feel less worth it. The third time feels even less worth it.
  • Eventually, it's going to feel not worth it at all.
  • You spent the majority of your time unhappily. You spend more time on going through industrial waste dump than on enjoying the actual ocean.
  • The ends are not going to justify the means.
  • Once you get want you want, you feel that the means are less and less justified by the ends.
• To live a happy life, you have to find a way to enjoy the means as much as the ends.
  • You want to get to the ocean without going through industrial waste dumps.
  • You have to find a desert road to the ocean so that you enjoy getting to the ocean as well as being at the ocean.
• Most successful people on this earth in terms of living life itself find the means they enjoy more than the ends.
  • For example, they want money, but they find a way to make money that they love more than getting the money.
• The best questions to ask yourself
  • What would I do if I never got a single dime to do it?
  • If someone gave me 5 million dollars, what would I do with my time now that I no longer have to do anything to make money?
• Get creative about how to use the answer as a means to making money.
  • It is simply your mind that tells you it is impossible to make money by doing these things.
• People are so limited by what is and isn't possible. They are even more limited by the idea that they couldn't possibly create some possibility that didn't exist.
• The questions to ask yourself
  • What do I really want?
  • What am I currently doing in order to get what I want?
  • What are the ways that I am doing what I don't want to do in order to get what I want?

Edited October 10, 2018 by CreamCat

[Rinne]

On 10/9/2018 at 5:11 AM, CreamCat said:

I think this is one of Leo's blindspots. He told us to just do it. It's going to require willpower to do that if you are not careful. But, willpower burns out quickly. The following video tells us to make the process as enjoyable as the end results

Leo also talks about this in the LP. Following your bliss. 

[Callum Milner]

@CreamCat I'd stay away from teal swan.

[CreamCat]

@Callum Milner Why? She gives me quick useful tips that are easy to digest.

[CreamCat]

7 minutes ago, Callum Milner said:

someone who has made the progess I want

Like who? The most successful entrepreneur in your field? I don't care much about enlightenment, yet. I still care more about practical tips I can get from others.

Edited October 11, 2018 by CreamCat

[Callum Milner]

@CreamCat yes I agree that it all depends what you want. Learn from the best e.g learn how to be happy from the happiest people.

[d0ornokey]

@Callum Milner i found teal's insights to be powerful 

[Callum Milner]

@d0ornokey yes it's just me personally I prefer an integrous teacher, but I can see good points by her even in the article above, and can see how you would be right to learn from some of her best points.

Edited October 11, 2018 by Callum Milner

[CreamCat]

@Callum Milner Who are integral teachers? Do you think teal swan doesn't have integrity because she divorced a few times?

Edited October 11, 2018 by CreamCat