I originally said it on Twitter:
There is no moment in life greater than getting tired of your own bullshit. After that you can accomplish anything.
— Dan Bailey (@fontosaurus) June 13, 2014
And I stand by that statement. The most important moment in your life will be the one in which you realize that, like many people, you are inherently full of shit, and the person you’re lying to most is yourself. This is not to say you’re a bad human being, or that you are somehow malicious and self-sabotaging. The lies we tell ourselves are the lies that allow us to cope with the world around us. And that world around us is isn’t, if we’re among the 99{3b4d110c5d1596d2297e6430d163d306168bc3d03da137601e3ed8beb4b12205}, structured to our benefit.
What do you need to be happy? You need to disconnect yourself from the parts of the world that don’t give a fuck about you or would do you harm. Whether that’s a shitty relationship or the shitty job market. You have it in you to put aside all the crap and make yourself, and thus, the world around you, into something more in-line with your ideals.
As some of you may infer, I have been reading James Altucher’s Choose Yourself recently. It’s a book I wish I’d discovered months ago, while I was mired in the depths of unemployment, but that doesn’t mean it applies any less to me now. I’d highly recommend it, along with Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensible? (If you said “no”, you need to read both books.) They’re both inspiring and thought-provoking, and I think they complement each other nicely — Altucher approaches the post-employment economy from a mental approach, and Godin approaches it from more of a practical one.
What Does It All Mean?
Honestly, I don’t know. I am at a point now where I know I need to start re-defining my life. I’ve been working on changing my outlook on things, per Altucher, in the hopes that it helps with a number of things. It’s all still very vague, but I am pretty damn pleased with how I feel today and since I’ve started those changes.
Read Altucher?
If any of you have read Altucher’s Choose Yourself, I’d love to hear what you have to think on the matter.