Category: Self-Improvement
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The Confidence Con Game
Personal note: You may have noticed that the frequency of my posting has diminished quite a bit. In part that’s because I started this blog to have a way to get out of my head the various rants that make appearances while I’m in the hot tub or in the car. And, I’ve gotten a…
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Spiritual Schmiritual
So, in my last post, I mentioned my desire to be so divorced from all things spiritual and personal development-ish, that I couldn’t even be called a critic. But before I could do that, I need to know the terrain I’m leaving. After all, if I want to get out of the game, I need…
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How to be successful in anything… finally, the truth revealed!
From the “I couldn’t have said it better myself” department comes the following, thanks to Saturday Night Live. While this video is about manifesting a particular goal — picking up women — I’m sure you’ll see how to apply this to whatever you’re trying to get. For extra credit, fill in the blanks: To become…
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What science says about enlightenment
With the idea that I should be eating a bit more protein, and being someone who is primarily a vegetarian who eats sushi every now and then, I headed for the low-fat dairy aisle. Sucker that I am for personal testimonials, I remembered a friend saying he loved kefir, a yogurt-ish drink. Well, I’m no…
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You can be Tony Robbins!
How’s this for a reality show: You can be the next Tony Robbins! Now the question is: Is this a show about becoming a self-help teacher or the freakiest makeover show ever on television? Then answer is actually… wait for it… motivational speaker. And this isn’t just an idea. This was a real show called…
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Semper Ube Sub Ube
From the Latin… Translation (kinda): Always Wear UnderWear Twice today someone asked me, “But if you feel confident and visualize getting what you want, don’t you believe that you will, at least, increase the probability that you’ll get it?” The shortest answer I came up with was: No. The longer version is this story: I…
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Mike Myers (as The Love Guru) is the root of all evil
Twenty-some years ago, on The Tonight Show (when Johnny was still hosting), comedian Bill Maher did a few minutes of insightful political humor, and then stopped and added this joke: “Ahhh, who am I to think I can change the world? I mean, I’m no folk singer.” There was more to that joke than a…
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In fact, I DON’T want to ATTRACT anything to me
If I get one more email with information about how to Attract more money, more clients, the right relationship, a better job, a new car, or anything else for that matter, I think I’m going to scream (actually, I just got THREE of them, which made me scream, and then write this post). Here’s another…
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Hoping to be a successhole
I’m on a linguistic role. Here’s my new submission for addition into the lexicon: Successhole (suc·cess·hole; pronounciation: \sÉ™k-ˈses-(h)Ål\). noun. A person who, upon achieving some dramatic change in status or income makes it abundantly clear that s/he thinks this change is primarily a result of her/his actions and discounts the role of luck, chance, and…
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Manifrustration
I’m proposing a new word for the English language: Manifrustration (man·i·frus·tra·tion ; pronunciation: \ËŒma-nÉ™-frÉ™s-ˈtrÄ-shÉ™n\) Noun. 1) The unhappiness associated with not getting what you want after attempting to influence the universe with your thoughts 2) The displeasure that occurs when the manifestation “master” says you haven’t gotten what you want because there’s something wrong with…
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If you think you can, or you think you can’t… who cares what you think!
Get this image in your mind: a small, framed, slightly yellowing needlepoint, hanging near the front door of a farm house, and stitched into it, among the flowers and butterflies is the phrase “Home Sweet Home.” It’s supposed to evoke calmness and happiness and appreciation and warmth. Very Norman Rockwell. I like to use the…
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The Freudian Trance, Oprah style…
I didn’t mean to watch Oprah, honestly. But I fell asleep on the couch with the TV on and when I woke up, there she was, in the middle of a makeover show. This show was the 2nd part of a series about hairstyles. On the first show, Oprah took 100 audience members and matched…
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The Integration of Bowling and Life
I loved bowling when I was a kid. If I couldn’t get a ride to the lanes from my parents, or the mom of a sometimes-friend (the time being “when I wanted to go bowling”), I would walk the 5 miles to the alley. And if I didn’t have any money, I’d pick up trash…
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The Great and Powerful Allower
I was given a popular meditation book recently. Aside from the confusing fact that the cover blurb said, “The most American form of meditation,” yet the book taught basic Buddhist meditation practices, I was struck by the fundamental teaching: Whatever arises, simply allow it to be. Sounds like a great prescription for living, doesn’t it?…
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Accepting Things As They Aren’t
My friend Robert Hover was one of the first westerners authorized to teach Buddhist meditation. This was about 45 years ago. As part of Robert’s training with his teacher, U Ba Khin, he developed a particular way of attending to painful or unpleasant sensations that not only led to the discomfort disappearing but also resulted…