A very practical approach. However, the change in lifestyle has to come initially from a larger decision that you want your life to go in another direction. But, like you said, to attain that goal you have to internalize it and let it effect your smaller everyday decisions.
I've understood points one and two and almost all of the changes in my life have been completed by the strategy laid out in point three. But I've never connected the three together and understood how the whole thing works. The fact that you have basically explained, in very practical terms, the course of action needed to effect change in ourselves is remarkable. Nicely done.
However, the change in lifestyle has to come initially from a larger decision that you want your life to go in another direction.
Exactly. In fact, this is kind of what prompted this whole line of thinking. I periodically say, "From now on, I will be like this" -- but really, this "large" decision as you and I call it means nothing compared to the series of small day to day decisions that you make after that point, and this is just so clear to me now through repeated failure of making large decisions but not following up. Of course now I'm burdened with putting too much weight into every decision...wheres the medium? :|
I guess it would be to make a habit of, when those smaller decisions present themselves, choosing the one which takes you in the direction you want to go.
It's like my friend Casey says; "When you're blacked out you're on auto-pilot, the trick is to make a habit of good decisions. That way when you're blacked out it's natural for you to walk home, drink a glass of water, and go to bed instead of getting in your car and driving to a girls house for unprotected sex." The same principle applies to changing your personality. For example; if you want to swear less, make a habit of not swearing by being more aware of your language, after a while you don't even have to think about it. You might even be able to do this with more than one aspect of your life if the change you are trying to effect is something more radical than just adjusting your language.
I encountered something similar to the "every action has meaning" in philosophy classes, sometimes worded like "every action is meant for a greater good". Since then I've come up with a question; is there any meaning behind leaving things to chance
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What you said reminds me of the way I used to think and live. I kept my sights on larger pictures and the smaller decisions simply fell into place. I really like this method of living, its simple and its happy. This started becoming more difficult to do once I started analyzing everything to pieces, though.
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I've understood points one and two and almost all of the changes in my life have been completed by the strategy laid out in point three. But I've never connected the three together and understood how the whole thing works. The fact that you have basically explained, in very practical terms, the course of action needed to effect change in ourselves is remarkable. Nicely done.
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Exactly. In fact, this is kind of what prompted this whole line of thinking. I periodically say, "From now on, I will be like this" -- but really, this "large" decision as you and I call it means nothing compared to the series of small day to day decisions that you make after that point, and this is just so clear to me now through repeated failure of making large decisions but not following up. Of course now I'm burdened with putting too much weight into every decision...wheres the medium? :|
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It's like my friend Casey says; "When you're blacked out you're on auto-pilot, the trick is to make a habit of good decisions. That way when you're blacked out it's natural for you to walk home, drink a glass of water, and go to bed instead of getting in your car and driving to a girls house for unprotected sex." The same principle applies to changing your personality. For example; if you want to swear less, make a habit of not swearing by being more aware of your language, after a while you don't even have to think about it. You might even be able to do this with more than one aspect of your life if the change you are trying to effect is something more radical than just adjusting your language.
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