Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The objection to conforming to usages that have become dead to you is that it scatters your force. It loses your time and blurs the impression of your character. If you maintain a dead church, contribute to a dead Bible-society, vote with a great party either…
“Needs Work” and “That’s Like Me!”
One of the most useful tools that I learned while subscribed to Brian Johnson’s Optimize program was the “Needs Work”/”That’s Like Me!” idea. Brian learned it from Lanny Bassham‘s book “With Winning In Mind.” It’s billed as a self esteem/self image building tool – but I don’t think that’s completely accurate. Trying to artificially build…
Fuck (most of) ‘Em : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 012
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder because you will always find those who think…
Don’t Apologize for Who You Are : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 011
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “Virtues are, in the popular estimate, rather the exception than the rule. There is the man and his virtues. Men do what is called a good action, as some piece of courage or charity, much as they would pay a fine in expiation of daily non-appearance…
Updated – Podcasts on Meditation, Personal Development, Stoicism, ACT, Buddhism, and More
[This was originally published in August of 2018. I thought it was time for an update. I’ve added some new podcasts, and kept the original ones on the list, even if they’ve been removed from my current playlist. None of the original podcasts are “bad”, they just don’t fit in with my life at the…
Virtue Signaling : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 010
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I ought to go upright and vital, and speak the rude truth in all ways. If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy, shall that pass? If an angry bigot assumes this bountiful cause of Abolition, and comes to me with his last news from…
Whatever, I Do What I Want : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 009
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to…
Intentions In Private Vs. Actions In Public : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 008
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members. Society is a joint-stock company, in which the members agree, for…
How To Make It Without Faking It
I’ve always hated the phrase “Fake It Till You Make It.” I like to think of myself as an honest person. Or at least as someone who tries to be. I fail more than I’d like to admit, but I think that on balance I’m more truthful than not. Unless that’s just a lie I’m…
WWDD : Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson : 007
Continuing our discussion of “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The nonchalance of boys who are sure of a dinner, and would disdain as much as a lord to do or say aught to conciliate one, is the healthy attitude of human nature. A boy is in the parlour what the pit is in the playhouse;…