Kind: captions
Language: en
you know we had this experience that you
know sight is his truth right seeing is
believing we say you open your eyes
there's the world it's immediate is
passive and it's it's reality
well the experience that I had sort of
progressing progressively losing my
sight from about a 13 to about age 25
really shattered that illusion for me
and I literally saw firsthand that sight
this is this magical experience of sight
far from objective truth or you know
external reality it's this personal
virtual reality we create for ourselves
that implicates our memories opinions
emotions our conceptual understanding of
the world all sorts of things and and
yet we experience it sort of passively
as this direct representation of the
world and that really was if your pardon
upon an eye-opening realization for me
that led to this decision that I have
because sight is true just one way right
that we shape the reality as we
experience we create our own worlds in
many other ways really in every way and
having the opportunity to literally see
that firsthand as I lost my sight you
know turned out to be really one of the
best things that ever happened to me in
my life the value in this these eyes
wide open vision that you know that I
speak of is is you know it's it's not
about sight it's not about blindness
it's it's about the lessons we can take
you know in really taking control over
the reality we want of ourselves
literally choosing who you want to be
and how you want to live your life in
any moment right so yes we do this with
sight but we do it with the self
limiting assumptions we make about
ourselves that this critic in our minds
you know it's that that nasty voice that
is quick to pass judgment to tell us
what we can't do you know to keep us off
the field to tell us what others are
thinking and saying about us right and
the way this sort of critic can be so
effective so powerful in kind of
dominating our lives in my experiences
by through
insistence on perfection right which is
impossible The Critic insist upon
perfection which essentially guarantees
our failure through comparison relative
merit right that critic will compare you
to anybody right realer a man imagine
from any era you know and the critic
will swap out you know different
definitions of success or value or
purpose or for your own and you know you
all need to notice it so you know the
critic and of course this comes from
Teddy Roosevelt's you know brilliant
remarks about the critic of the strong
man the critic for me really is sort of
that embodiment of you know again our
fear of failure are our own worst enemy
in our minds
Roosevelt strong man on the other hand
you know is someone who has no use for
perfection right only progress by
someone who values effort and growth
whose focus is the moment is momentum
right the next step
not this overarching enterprise this
overwhelming endeavor but what is my
next step
and you know for the strongman success
lies in striving and actually strive
towards a noble pursuit which at the end
of the day is the only thing we can
control right whether or not we are
striving to our best toward a noble
pursuit you know you make a big decision
and you know later it either works out
phenomenally well or is a catastrophic
failure well it's so tempting in the
face of the catastrophic failure to go
back and beat yourself up and say oh
this was the worst decision and I'm an
idiot and this was terrible and likewise
in the face of great success it's very
easy for people to tell themselves well
man I must have been a genius right out
of the smartest guy there is and just as
a law of physics right as a proposition
of logic that can't be true it cannot be
that subsequent events you know
determine the quality of actions you
make decisions you make conversations
you have you know behaviors you do you
have to assess those things from the
perspective of you know the time in
which they take place we are you know so
often our own worst enemies right we we
keep ourselves you know off the stage
you know for fear of bad reviews
and don't even realise that you know in
the process we're you know forgetting
how to dance and losing the joining
right and it's just such a shame you
know for me that first step of the
strong man to me kind of conveys
encompasses you know sort of victory
over that critic right that's where
you've said look maybe this is crazy
maybe it's not maybe you know maybe
everybody thinks I'm you know way off
base here whatever all the what-ifs
although you know why not wise should
watch whatever I put all that aside and
I have committed to you know enter the
arena and that is the defining moment I
think for the strongman and well I I
think when we're honest with ourselves
and when we start to recognize
significance in moments like that in our
lives when we start to say well if I did
this it would be it's a big move right
and it doesn't have to be a huge move
financially or economic make sense to
anyone else why it's a big move it's a
big move for you it's important to pay
attention to those feelings because
often that's that's the strong man
inside trying to tell you we can do this
you know we let's get over this you know
our fears let's get over our you know
our self-doubt and let's let's do
everything the choice every moment of
your life is a choice how do you want to
spend that moment who do you want to be
it is not the circumstances we confront
that dictates the lives we experience it
just cannot be there are counter
examples all over the place I'm just
applying I like that's no big deal but
when you think about a prisoner of
prisoners of war who endure the most
unspeakable of you know a few minute
rasa tease Nazi concentration camp
survivors and on and on on and you find
examples of remarkable people who
despite these circumstances make a
choice to find the purpose in life to
find joy to be a source of strength for
others in their lives and you know these
these shining folks you know again to my
mind prove categorically it's not the
circumstances we confront that dictate
how we you know the lies you experience
so choose to be apathy literally in
every moment and again I'm not saying
it's easy again and I'm not you know I'm
not saying is always easy for me but
it's certainly a worthwhile endeavor I
mean
you spill on yourself or you you knock
something over or you know you're late
for a meeting or you know it can be Rael
you it can be something quote-unquote
awful would you mean while most of the
world is worried about you know health
care and food and clothing but you know
or you can choose to laugh about it you
can choose to have fun with it you can
choose to let it go and again every I
think every moment is is you know an
amalgam of precisely those choices you
know you're the master of your reality
you know once you buy that once you're
willing to take responsibility for the
fact that you are literally creating the
life you are experiencing the reality
your reality is your creation again the
rest is deikun's you know again that
this notion of the critic and this
notion of the way we you know can keep
ourselves off the stage and are we were
to be our own you know worst enemies in
terms of our fear of failure
you know there's several at several sort
of key moments in my life there were two
really simple questions that I've used
to try to take back control of my
reality in those situations you know one
being what is it truly that I aim to
accomplish I think very often when we
find ourselves debilitated by you know
fear of failure that you know that
critic anxiety you know whatever it can
be a relief to say well we'll wait a
minute
I am loading so much junk onto this
under what's going on here what's at
stake let me just take a step back and
remind myself what am I in this for
right what am I trying to accomplish
what you know what is my endeavor here
what's my purpose and oftentimes in my
experience once when you do that there's
kind of a big sigh of relief - oh yeah
this really isn't all that big a deal
this isn't so bad
and the second one really is is uh
what's my best next step let's focus on
today this moment right now in truth
that's all there ever is so we spent a
lot of time on
doom-and-gloom future foreboding
authorizing and not enough time on this
moment right now what is my best next
step what can I do right now to make
progress and you know the truth of the
matter is the world changes you know a
million times a day you're gonna change
a million times a day who knows what's
gonna happen on the journey from you
know from A to Z just focus on getting
from A to B and get that done and we'll
worry about coz later
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