What I’ve been reading:
"Personality-Shaping through Positive Disintegration" by Kazimierz Dąbrowski
Dąbrowski starts the book in such a clear and straightforward manner that I feel it would be mistake for me to explain what the book is about, rather than quote him.
"Personality is not a ready gift but an achievement. This achievement is a very difficult, even painful, process. The aim of this book is to describe and discuss this process."
As Dąbrowski states himself, his main thesis is that
"Personality development, especially accelerated development, cannot be realized without manifest nervousness and psychoneurosis. It is in this way that such experiences as inner conflict, sadness, anxiety, obsession, depression, and psychic tension all cooperate in the promotion of humanistic development."
So far, I can say that the book, although not really a difficult read, isn’t the easiest either. I have found that authors like Rollo May and James Hollis, psychologists just like Dąbrowski, have done a better job at adjusting their language so the book can be read more easily by the general population.
With that being said, from the very first page, the book offers a unique, refreshing, and encouraging take on personality development.
I believe I will get a lot out of this book and will be sharing my insights from it with you.
What I’ve listened to:
Louisa Nicola on how to stop brain degeneration - The Power Project podcast
Louisa is a neurophysiologist and human performance coach. She starts the episode with some really bad news. After the age of just 30, our brain naturally starts atrophying.
But the good news is that there are things we can do to slow down and minimize this process. And that’s what this episode is about: things that we should do, and things we should avoid if we want to keep our brains "young" and healthy for as long as possible.
You can watch/listen to it here, or on any other podcast streaming platform.
What I’ve been thinking about:
One quality that you should pay attention to because it can completely transform your life: how quickly you apply the advice you’ve been given.
Unfortunately, most people never apply the advice they’ve been given.
But let’s assume for a moment that you who are reading this are over that initial hurdle.
Let’s say I receive a message from someone asking me to give them some advice on starting to write online, as I do on a daily basis. I don’t consider myself an expert on the matter, but I also think it wouldn’t be arrogant to say that I could give out some valuable advice on it.
If I tell that person that my main piece of advice is to write something every day, whether it’s 1 page or 1 sentence, and share it, how long is it going to take them to start doing that? Are they going to sit down and write one sentence right after reading my message? Or are they going to wait weeks, months, or maybe a year to apply the advice they’ve been given?
And this is one of the innumerable life truths that can be easily demonstrated through physical training. If you start going to a gym, there is one proven way to get the respect of all the most experienced lifters there. It’s not to somehow become the strongest and biggest guy in the gym overnight. You earn their respect if, when you ask those who are more experienced than you for advice, you start applying it right away and stick with it until you achieve some results.
So, if you want the ultimate hack, the ultimate tip, the ultimate piece of advice, here it is: start using the hacks, tips, and advice you are given.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry for yourself.
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