Secret Stash 225

I have made a very useful discovery as of late. In Newport's book Deep Work, he says the first step to achieving optimal productivity is to cut off all distractions. There were examples of great literary writers and inventors who secluded themselves to lake houses and isolated towers where they were able to achieve greatness.     In particular, there was an example of an average guy (Jim?) who majored in finance and got a goon desk job. The tasks he was assigned was completely mindless -filling in excel sheets with numbers or something. Jim hated his job and wanted to switch to computer programming, but he had 0 background in coding. At first, he tried studying but always got distracted with email, phone notifications, instagram, walking around, laying down, etc. Thus, he decided that everyday he would lock himself in a room for 4hrs with nothing but a textbook and some paper. Within 4 months, not only was Jim a coding beasts (out coding PhD's and people with years of experien...

It is a wasteland. Barren. Pain. No... not pain but fatigue. Static like a channel not found. Have I gone too far??? These ears no longer hear music, only the drone of lecturing. No pictures or movie screens, only the studies. Hundreds of slides crammed within a day only to start anew the next. I had sought to deprive myself of every source of dopamine. I had killed that inner voice that I called weakness, but maybe it was suppose to be my canary who warns me when I have gone too far. I cut everything off that I deemed unproductive. It was either stare at a wall or study & workout. So much so that I craved the lectures and the gym. I even started enjoying lab and even those extracurricular classes. I thought I had unlocked the secret to it all. Like I wrote before, "whatever the mind wills, happens." I used to think burnout was an excuse made by the weak- no rest days!- , yet here I sit completely toasted. My WILL remains intact, for I know what must be done to succeed. I...

 I figured it out. The secret to the universe itself haha. Here me out: We all have a voice inside our head known as the lizard brain (the voice of procrastination, resistance, second thoughts, or etc.). It convinces us to hit the snooze button "5 more minutes"; to lay down or pickup the phone when we are in the middle of studying "just 5 minutes"; to not switch on the cold shower "warm water is one switch away"; to eat shit food when there are better options; to not say something "oh it might sound dumb" or not carrying out an action because "they might think this or that". It goes on and on. WE DONT HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT. I know it sounds simple but it is. That voice -those thoughts- are NOT you... You are the awareness that can perceive it. Once you figure out this phenomenon, it's over because what ever the mind wills - will happen. This whole time we knew exactly what needed to be done to be happy, healthy, and successful.. yet ...

"For it is only when a man goes out into the world with the thought that there are heroisms all round him, and with the desire all alive in his heart to follow any which may come within sight of him, that he breaks away as I did from the life he knows, and ventures forth into the wonderful mystic twilight land where lie the great adventures and the great rewards." - The   Lost World All has been well. Everyday the sun shines brighter and the sky turns bluer.  When the world puts us in a difficult setting - at first, we will struggle, but then, we adapt. These difficulties break us only to rebuild us even stronger. As time goes by, that difficulty becomes the baseline, for we no longer notice it. We grow comfortable and stop improving. Eventually, another obstacle will appear and the cycle continues. That is growth, that is life. I am in times of comfort right now. My studies and my dailies have become more efficient, and I find myself with more time. With this spare time, I b...

 Greetings to the Future Me,      These past 2 weeks have been a struggle. Curveballs, detours, hidden traps, plagues, famine - all the above. Despite the obstacles, I want you to know that you did not break. Nonetheless, the worst of the storm is over. (I have been looping "Legend" by Tevvez as my study song for the last week)     I almost missed an exam yesterday. The night prior to the examination, I had concluded my studies at midnight, but a peculiar cough started right as I began to fall asleep. After an hour of toil, I took a spoon full of honey, and this method usually works immediately. Another hour passes and the curse was not lifted, I tried everything - max AC, pushups, gargling water, etc. By this time, it was like 4 in the morning and normally, I'm extremely meticulous about getting my 8 hours of sleep... but I was calm. (still awake at 4?! I'd be tripping balls pissed off!). I don't know if it was fatigue, delirium, or what, but I was actuall...