Our feelings are a natural response to our thoughts and intentions. We don’t really choose our feelings directly. Our feelings are a feedback mechanism. They indicate whether we’re moving into alignment with our true desires (positive feelings) or out of alignment (negative feelings).
Simply put… we feel good when we’re moving towards what we want, and we feel bad […]
This is perhaps the simplest way I can explain the perspective of subjective reality at present — and why I’m such a strong advocate of it.
First… some definitions:
Objective Reality (OR) is the perspective that you’re the character in the dream world, and the dream world is solid, real, and objective. An OR person wouldn’t normally think of […]
David Schirmer is one of the experts featured in The Secret. Within the past hour, I watched a rather disturbing YouTube video clip about him after a forum member posted a link to it. Some of David’s seminar customers accused him of taking money he was supposed to be investing on their behalf (to the […]
The Sensei in my martial arts studio often reminds us during sparring to respond but not to react.
When you react you’re not being authentic. You’re sparring on your opponent’s terms. You’re thinking too hard about what your opponent will do next. You’re thinking, “If he does A, I’ll do B. But if he does C, then […]
Readers often ask me, “Steve, how do you know if the whole subjective reality belief system you describe is accurate? Do you really believe in this stuff? It just seems so… you know… out there.”
Behind such questions is usually an assumption that reality is in fact objective and that accuracy is an objective standard. But in […]
I want to make a distinction between subjective reality and solipsism, since many readers still confuse the two. I think the best way to explain the difference is by way of a simple analogy: lucid dreaming.
Imagine you’re having a lucid dream. This means you’re lying in bed having a dream, and while still within the […]
I recently read a book called Life on Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life by Dr. Brad Swift. This is a truly excellent book on how to discover your life purpose. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to gain clarity with respect to their core reason for being here.
On Amazon.com this book currently has a […]
Overcoming jealousy has been one of my most requested topics for new articles, but in the past I’ve always declined such requests because I don’t have much personal experience in this area. I’m not prone to jealousy, so I can’t explain from personal experience how to overcome it. Nevertheless, due to the demand for such […]
Last night a thunderstorm passed through Las Vegas. The thunder was so loud and the lightning so bright that I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to get up for a while. Around 3am I went downstairs and enjoyed a banana and a cup of herbal tea. Then I went outside and sat in the backyard […]
Thoughts can only be formed in the present moment. And thoughts can only exert effects in the present moment. If you can grasp these two concepts, you’ll be able to discard some forms of delusional thinking and craft much more effective intentions.
Here’s an example to help clarify: Suppose you like the idea of tithing 10% […]
Perhaps the most important step in quitting the habit of complaining is to disconnect the undesirable behavior from your identity. A common mistake chronic complainers make is to self-identify with the negative thoughts running through their minds. Such a person might admit, “I know I’m responsible for my thoughts, but I don’t know how to stop myself […]
Complaining, like all thought patterns, is not mere observation. Complaining is a creative act. The more you complain, the more you summon your creative energies to attract something to complain about. Your complaints may seem fully justified, but realize that whenever you complain, you are placing your order for more of the same. Complaining is not […]
What if you hate your life? Or maybe you don’t quite hate it, but you’re just not happy with your current situation? Perhaps you’re depressed, bored, or apathetic. Or maybe you just don’t see the point in living at all.
If you don’t see the point in living, then you’re missing the point of life entirely. […]
Several people have asked me about the origins of the polarity concept I began exploring last year. Where did it come from? How does it relate to personal growth?
These ideas actually stemmed from some journal entries I wrote in 2002. At the time I was asking myself questions like these: What is the deepest source of ongoing motivation, such that if we tapped […]
What does Las Vegas have to do with personal development? To most people not much. But in order to answer the frequent questions I receive like “What could possibly make you want to live in a place like Las Vegas?” or “What’s it really like to live in Sin City?” I’ve decided to commit this article to explaining […]
Here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s Quality and Contribution post.
Just to quickly review: The “outrage script” is the mindset that balks at seeing someone spend $10,000 for a hotel room stay. It’s the mindset that would label this an extravagant or wasteful purchase. I believe this mindset is a huge mistake.
If the $10K hotel room seems like an […]
I remember reading in one of Donald Trump’s books that he’d buy cheap clothes and shoes because he didn’t think the more expensive ones were worth the money, even though the cost difference was negligible relative to his income. Then he finally splurged (I think it was on a $2000 pair of shoes), and he was impressed by the difference in […]
The article “Iraq Comes Home” includes several first-hand accounts from US soldiers that returned from Iraq. It offers a perspective that our mainstream media usually filters out. I encourage you to read it, but be sure to have some tissue nearby.
The article begins with some 2004 statistics (no idea if they’re still current):
According to a […]
Journaling is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to accelerate your personal development. By getting your thoughts out of your head and putting them down in writing, you gain insights you’d otherwise never see.
Beyond sequential thinking
While your brain is technically capable of processing a great deal of input simultaneously, your conscious thoughts play out […]
Sometimes we face tough decisions that involve one or more unknowns. We can’t know in advance what the consequences of each alternative will be. This is especially true of big decisions like quitting a job, entering or exiting a relationship, or moving to a new city.
When faced with such a decision, what do you do? If you can’t […]
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