Motivation (MDC #1), DeYtH Banger [to read list .TXT] 📗

tyrant’s most vicious weapon. “You are unworthy, stupid, inadequate, unskilled,” they tell us. Their harsh words and actions seek to box us into their concept of who we are and where we belong. The effect? We start to fear that we are not good enough or cannot win, and tragically this can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophesy. We can come to believe we are as small as they tell us we are, and we can choose to stay in their pathetic boundaries of belief rather than roam freely into our own freedom.
We should not be surprised when others demean or resist our initiatives. Nor should we suppress our will and let them win. We mustn’t let the wicked stoke our doubts into the mighty flames of fear that consume our dreams.
To these tyrants, we owe nothing." Chapter 15 - Opressive Person

"A truly oppressive person cannot see beyond his or her own self-interest and so no relationship with them will ever be joyful or reciprocal. They are blinded by their ego and live in a world by themselves and for themselves. Do not grovel to these people. Do not try to placate them. Do not hope they will change. Do not engage with them or hang about with them. Do not let them provoke anger. Never sink to their level. We must never tolerate a tyrant’s efforts to hold us back. We mustn’t let them govern our potential. Every display of submission, deference, meekness, and compromise they see from the desperate or feeble among us gives them a perverse joy, and their power grows. And every time we back down from them or minimize ourselves, we become more fearful and weak.

 

So let us be diligent in avoiding these people, without ever deviating from our own path."

 

"THE MENTAL PROJECTION OF FEAR

While many people in our lives might seek to stoke our doubts and fears, the vast majority will seek to support us. More will seek to pull us up than push us down. People know that in allowing us to chase our dreams unencumbered, they are silently giving themselves permission to pursue their own. No matter how many bores and bastards we meet in life, we must remember that we have friends all around, and we mustn’t hesitate to ask for their help, inspiration, and wisdom.

The hard truth of life is that though our fear is often socially cued and conditioned, it is more often a result of dereliction of our own minds. We misuse our mental faculties by barely using them at all. We have the means to extinguish our fears, but we lack discipline in using it, like having the extinguisher in our hands as our home burns but choosing not to use it because we’d have to aim. How often do we sense worry but, rather than combatting it with conscious thought, let it burn? How often do we so obsess on negative things that they grow into a great scorching fire of anxiety? For many people, this has happened unchecked so often and for so long that they are no longer aware of the fact that predictable thought patterns—all of which they can anticipate and control and transform—are causing them to be fearful."

Chapter 16 - Cultivate Fear

 "Let us learn now, once and for all, to anticipate how our minds cultivate fear. Just as we can expect the worriers, weaklings, and wicked to derail us if we are not cautious, we can prepare for how our minds will tear us from happiness and progress.

Most of the fear we feel in life is simply anxiety arising from our anticipation of two kinds of pain that change might bring: the pain associated with loss or hardship.

The first type, loss pain, is a thought pattern in which we worry that we will lose something we cherish if we take any given action. If we fear changing jobs, it is because we don’t want to lose our compensation, our friendships with certain coworkers, our corner office. This thought pattern plays out in millions of subtle decisions throughout people’s lives. We think, “If I go on a new diet, I’m afraid I’ll lose the joy I feel in eating my favorite foods.” “If I quit smoking, I’ll lose that 20 minutes of peace I get by going outside and taking long drags, so I’m afraid to quit.” “If I leave the jerk, I’m afraid I’ll lose love in my life and never find anyone else to be with.”

The only way to combat this thought pattern is to analyze it closely, then reverse it. Once we sense that we are anticipating loss, we must question whether or not it is true.
The more we look for evidence of our fears, the more we realize they are often faulty, quick assumptions of a tired or undirected mind."

 

 

"This reframing requires intelligence—and optimism. Once we question the assumptions causing us anxiety, we should explore the opposite of our worries, focusing as obsessively as possible on what might be gained if we changed. What if we begin the new diet and find new foods and recipes we love? What if we quit smoking and learn new practices that give us even more relaxation?

What if, in a new romantic relationship, we finally find joy? We should certainly visualize these outcomes as much as we visualize dark scenes of loss. Dream up and focus on the positive, for it is much more useful than the long nightmares of negativity.

The second thought pattern that causes us to fear change is related to the anticipation of hardship. We’re scared to do something because we think it will be too hard on us. We worry we’re not capable, worthy, or ready, and we allow that worry to stop us. But isn’t this a pathetic use of mental powers? Isn’t it true that with enough time, effort, and dedication we can learn most of what we need to succeed? Isn’t it true that most great accomplishments were achieved by people who at first had no idea what they were doing, who had to first endure years of struggle to bring their dream to fruition? Let’s not forget that we didn’t always know how to ride a bike or use a computer or make love, but we figured it out. Humans did not know how to land on the moon, but we decided it was a worthwhile endeavor, and so we struggled for a decade to puzzle it out. We became capable of the impossible. Thus is the story of the individual and the entire species."

Chapter 17 - Overcoming Fear

 "“I’m thrilled to look for someone who is more right for me than my last relationship, to find real love, to enjoy life with my soul mate.” Let us fire our enthusiasm knowing that the learning journey toward freedom can be exciting. We must trust this: We can learn and we can grow and we must begin now for destiny favors the bold.

 

To some, this sounds like mere positive thinking. And what of it? Shall we continue thinking negatively? What good will come from focusing on all the loss and hardship we might experience in life? There is no self-awareness in letting fear reign because of our own mental sloth. We have the personal power to wield our thoughts more forcefully in the daily fight against our fears. Our thoughts will free us or destroy us. Maturity comes in understanding that it is our choice alone to move toward freedom."

 

"Let us reawaken to a life unbounded, finding inspiration in the fact that humans throughout the millennia have learned to overcome their fears. They changed how they reacted to fearful impulses. They took a deep breath, contemplated whether or not their fears were rational, and visualized the growth they would experience by moving forward. They took those steps forward again and again until they found that their fear was no longer so powerful or even present. This is called self-mastery. Let us learn from them and put these practices into our own lives. Let us choose to master our minds and demonstrate more power over our fears.

As mature and bold adults, we can refuse to shrink from those things that might cause us anxiety or hardship. We can reach toward what is always pulsing in the background, that equally powerful impulse, that sure and solid will toward Personal Freedom. We repeat over and over: “I won’t let others stoke fear in my heart. I choose to remain true to who I am and where my dreams direct me no matter the hardship I might incur. I remember it always: Fear wins or Freedom wins, and I choose Freedom."

 

"psychology. One demands engagement with our true self and ambitions, and inevitably leads to independence, growth, happiness, and transcendence. The other causes us to skirt around challenges, avoiding struggle as much as possible—despite struggle often being the very thing required for growth. This path leads to weakness, conformity, and, frequently, regret. Through the pursuit of Personal Freedom, we discover our destiny; through fear, we look at our demise.

Our reasons for tapping into these motives are often called our motivation. We can feel motivated to move forward or to halt, to grow or to shrink, to settle or to chase greatness. The actions we take in life are often based on whether our internal logic and impulses lean toward fear or freedom. If we lack compelling reasons to take action, or if our impulses are fearful or protective, then we tend to stay put. But if we have a strong list of reasons to move forward and we’ve conditioned our impulses to support freedom, we are more likely to consistently advance our lives.

With freedom on the line, we would expect that most of us would understand how motivation works