Feb

27

Days 23-30 – Negative Thought Patterns & Requests to the Subconscious

Filed Under Intellectual Honesty, Personal Development | Leave a Comment 

A final summary of my 30 day trial:

The negative thought patterns have diminished  to a certain degree although distractions make them tempting to “reach out to” despite not being “pushed out” to me. I like that I stuck with it for 30 days.

The requests to subconscious started strong but were not forceful enough to sink in.  I have noticed more internal nudges  to “be present” and “pay attention” to my surroundings when doing things like walking, rather than simply fantasizing about scenarios or past experiences that won’t ever happen.  The more I force myself to stay present and focused, the better I will be at facing reality and its many challenges.

As such, my next 30 day challenge will be to focus on “BEING PRESENT”.  Too much of my waking time is spent diving in and out of focus.  I feel I would be better served by having a strong mission to always stay in reality and not daydream, even if it is something unpleasant and uncomfortable; such as reading a confusing legal document at work.

Feb

20

Corporate Virtue Signaling

Filed Under Intellectual Honesty, Politics | Leave a Comment 

Great article from the Guardian about virtue signalling done by corporations.

Virtue signalling is conspicuous expression of moral values done primarily with the intent of enhancing standing within a social group.

Starbucks, Lyft, AirBnB and others are tripping over themselves to appear to be doing good… as long as people take notice.

Companies are now attempting to outdo each other with major acts of generosity, but there’s a catch; they’ll do good as long as they can make sure their customers know about it. There is no room for humility when a brand does a good deed.

Virtue signalling is popular because it requires no real sacrifice and it feels good.  It’s easier to march with a sign calling Trump a racist than to actually volunteer your time helping black children.

“Brands are allowing people to pat themselves on the back without them personally having to sacrifice anything.”

Intellectually honest people can appreciate that all businesses are in the business of making money and separating you from your dollars.

Virtue comes from making sacrifices and getting your hands dirty, not gestures or noise.

Feb

20

Days 15-22 – Negative Thought Patterns & Requests to the Subconscious

Filed Under Intellectual Honesty, Personal Development | Leave a Comment 

Days 15-22 have been “shape shifting” and by that I mean what I am focusing on reducing seems to diminish (negative thoughts patterns), but something new springs up in their place (distractions)

It seems our minds have clever ways of asserting themselves and not making permanent change very easy.

I have seen great results with “timeboxing“… setting aside time to work on specific tasks without interruption.  I’ve found I accomplish more by isolating both a task and a time and making it deliberate rather than having an ocean of time and less structure.

The daily message before bed to the subconscious hasn’t made much of an impact recently, however, I have noticed that my sincerity has diminished as well.  I need to step that up.

I will continue to apply myself and see where it takes me.

I have been making steady, slow and oftentimes frustrating progress on a major task at work.  I would not have made this progress at all had I not taken on this 30-day trial!

Feb

12

Days 10-14 – Negative Thought Patterns & Requests to the Subconscious

Filed Under Intellectual Honesty, Personal Development | Leave a Comment 

The attention has been good but not “free flowing”. I have to “turn on” the tap and demand that it flow before I can get focused energy. It takes conscious effort and work to get into a state of concentration.

The negative thoughts seem to be coming up less than before, however, I find myself reaching for distractions rather than immersing myself in the task at hand.

I have been digging into Shane Parrish’s The Art of Focus and will review it at length later.  His materials have reinforced something that I already felt: it greatly helps me focus when I have a clear goal/task at hand.

Feb

7

Day 9 – Negative Thought Patterns & Requests to the Subconscious

Filed Under Intellectual Honesty, Personal Development | Leave a Comment 

Difficult day from a motivational standpoint but a solid day from having fewer negative thoughts. I find it easy to concentrate, the problem now is concentrating on the right things instead of the distracting things

🙂

My manager is out which, shamefully, saps my will to focus and challenge myself.

Focusing on what I’m doing and dealing with uncomfortable thoughts are being handled well, however, I need to move beyond not harming myself and move towards helping myself and my team.

Next Page →