Successfully Completed 60 Day Challenge: Finding Your Path and What Self Esteem Means To Me
Tue, 08/21/2012 - 16:47
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPn9zesJU6M
What's up guys. So today, I officially have completed my 60th day in a row. That is 60 straight nights in the field, testing what the fuck I'm made of. In addition, I wanted to take this time to announce that I will be extending my challenge to 90 straight days. I am still looking to go 100 straight days (Actually, I'm going to do 101 in a row.... JUST so I can talk shit to Katalyst) and then I'm going to taper off to 4-5 nights a week.
So I just want to start off by saying that one post on here that has really evolved, with regards to my understanding of it, is Manwhore's Post, "In the way you do anything you do everything". As I've gone about my 60 day challenge, it really is incredible to see, not only the advances I'm making in my game but also the advances I'm making in my overal life and well-being. Since starting this 60 day challenge, I have been more focused and healthy than ever before in my life, outside of the realm of pickup.
I have been committed to eating super healthy, not drinking at all (I've had a total of 3 drinks- all on a variety of day2s), finding a job (just got my first job offer yesterday- WOOT), reading, meditating, working out and just generally being on top of my shit. In contrast to the countless posts of dudes who have complained that pickup has ruined their life... I have found that pickup has quickly established itself as my path in life. I feel strongly that everyone must find some sort of path throughout the course of their life. For some, this could be starting up a business they are passionate about, going to grad school and getting into academia, really focusing on a sport they love, playing starcraft at a super high level- it can be anything. All that is important about the path that you choose is the following:
1. It is your path. Simply meaning that it is not something you are doing to please the countless people in your life
2. It forces you to confront the really difficult truth about who you think you are, your life stories and your insecurities as a man.
3. It forces you to evolve. Your path should be something that you are so committed to that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed and, having this intent, your path should light a road towards finding yourself.
4. Your path should be something that forces you to push your boundaries as a person.
5.. It should be something that, while engaged in, you are able to make a 100% effort towards being entirely present.
6. Your path should be something that engages and has synergy with, the entirety of your life situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdgFnCrdhBI
For me, my path has evolved organically and at this point, it really seems like the only possible way it could have played out. Being successful with girls has always been a point of contention in my life and so finally committing to getting it handled has really gone a long ways towards clearing up a lot of clutter in my life. It is through the process of pickup, that I have been able to begin to understand myself on an even deeper level, than I previously thought I had. It has forced me to constantly push my boundaries, confront the bullshit in my life, to realize the importance of dedication and will power, and, at times, it has literally forced me into a humbling submission.
I was texting with BeastVanGhandi the other day and he asked me, "What does self-esteem mean to you" and when I first got this text, I was sorta confused becuase I had never really thought about this before. I responded by telling him, "It's hard to think about... it's pretty innefible"... he responded at one point and said, "I think it is the understanding that 'Everything you, is *fundamentally* okay". I thought this was a pretty cool way of putting it. Makes sense. I then texted him back and was like, "Yeah, I am a really 'feeling' oriented guy, so for me it is just something that feels calm and solid"... he then responded saying how a lot of guys have a lot of problems with "feeling" and I responded by saying:
"Yeah. Feeling can be hard becuase it's less disconnected than thought. You can't lie to yourself"
This last response, is probably one of the more insightful thoughts I have had about what "self esteem" is and the process towards developing and unearthing that deep river of core confidence that already flows within each of us. You see, that's the thing, guys. Life is not about *Finding* confidence... it is about unearthing- uncovering it.
Metaphorically, one could look at the process of discovering your inner core as more akin to creating a sculpture as opposed to creating a painting or picture. In creating a painting or picture, you are taking a blank canvas and applying colors to it in order to create something out of the nothingness that exists on the canvas. You start with nothing and end with something.
However, with a sculpture, you begin with a large piece of stone that has existed, for all intensive purposes, since the beginning of time. You then begin the process of slowly, methodically, chipping away at this piece of stone, removing every last piece of excess stone, removing anything that isn't necessary. You are taking away all of the extra stuff, in order to reveal the incredible end result, which, in reality- already existed but was simply covered up by all the extra stone you had to remove in the process of "Creating" the final product. Michelangelo's "David", always existed. Michelangelo, did not "create" this breathtaking piece of art from nothing, rather he was simply the one who was capable of seeing what was already hidden amongst the stone and going through the process of uncovering it.
It is said that, in creating "David", Michelangelo spent an entire week, simply staring at the block of stone in front of him, before he even began to chip away at it. He had to spend some time and understand and actually see what was there, before he could begin the process of uncovering it.
In so many ways, our path in life, the road that lights the way towards the discovery of the unique "David" that exists within all of us, mirrors, to a scary extent, this process that Michelangelo went through. We spend the majority of our lives creating "pictures" of our lives- constantly adding lines, shapes, colors and combining all of these together in order to create something, that really doesn't even exist in the first place. It is "created" by us. The majority of people's lives is like a constantly evolving "picture"... but for the few of us that embark on this path to self discovery, we choose to abandon that paradigm, let go of our paint brush and pick up our chissel.
I know for me, I, like Michelangelo, had to spend a good amount of time simply, staring at the huge block of stone that stood before me, before I was prepared to jump in and start chipping away at it. But, slowly, I took my chissel in hand and I have started to knock away the excess stone that stands in the way of who I am, at my core. Becuase, that's the thing- Each of us, at our core has a truly *Perfect* essence of something, we just have to be willing to drop our paintbrushes and pick up our chissels and start to chip away at everything that stands in the way of this. So, for me, that is what the process to discovering oneself entails- it entails chipping away at the bullshit, bit by bit, and slowly but surely uncovering something truly incredible. It involves, for each of us, finding our own, unique "David" inside of our body, in a place we, all too rarely, are ever willing to go to.
As for my results: Well, they are getting crazier and crazier. Last night, I took an hour long power nap and woke up to 14 text messages, 12 of which were from girls. I've started to go on a lot of day2s and I'm starting to pull a lot more often and occasionally have sex. The sex itself hasn't began to get crazy but the process is manifesting itself and I have trust in it.
Find your path and begin to chip away at the unique David within yourself.
What's up guys. So today, I officially have completed my 60th day in a row. That is 60 straight nights in the field, testing what the fuck I'm made of. In addition, I wanted to take this time to announce that I will be extending my challenge to 90 straight days. I am still looking to go 100 straight days (Actually, I'm going to do 101 in a row.... JUST so I can talk shit to Katalyst) and then I'm going to taper off to 4-5 nights a week.
So I just want to start off by saying that one post on here that has really evolved, with regards to my understanding of it, is Manwhore's Post, "In the way you do anything you do everything". As I've gone about my 60 day challenge, it really is incredible to see, not only the advances I'm making in my game but also the advances I'm making in my overal life and well-being. Since starting this 60 day challenge, I have been more focused and healthy than ever before in my life, outside of the realm of pickup.
I have been committed to eating super healthy, not drinking at all (I've had a total of 3 drinks- all on a variety of day2s), finding a job (just got my first job offer yesterday- WOOT), reading, meditating, working out and just generally being on top of my shit. In contrast to the countless posts of dudes who have complained that pickup has ruined their life... I have found that pickup has quickly established itself as my path in life. I feel strongly that everyone must find some sort of path throughout the course of their life. For some, this could be starting up a business they are passionate about, going to grad school and getting into academia, really focusing on a sport they love, playing starcraft at a super high level- it can be anything. All that is important about the path that you choose is the following:
1. It is your path. Simply meaning that it is not something you are doing to please the countless people in your life
2. It forces you to confront the really difficult truth about who you think you are, your life stories and your insecurities as a man.
3. It forces you to evolve. Your path should be something that you are so committed to that you are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed and, having this intent, your path should light a road towards finding yourself.
4. Your path should be something that forces you to push your boundaries as a person.
5.. It should be something that, while engaged in, you are able to make a 100% effort towards being entirely present.
6. Your path should be something that engages and has synergy with, the entirety of your life situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdgFnCrdhBI
For me, my path has evolved organically and at this point, it really seems like the only possible way it could have played out. Being successful with girls has always been a point of contention in my life and so finally committing to getting it handled has really gone a long ways towards clearing up a lot of clutter in my life. It is through the process of pickup, that I have been able to begin to understand myself on an even deeper level, than I previously thought I had. It has forced me to constantly push my boundaries, confront the bullshit in my life, to realize the importance of dedication and will power, and, at times, it has literally forced me into a humbling submission.
I was texting with BeastVanGhandi the other day and he asked me, "What does self-esteem mean to you" and when I first got this text, I was sorta confused becuase I had never really thought about this before. I responded by telling him, "It's hard to think about... it's pretty innefible"... he responded at one point and said, "I think it is the understanding that 'Everything you, is *fundamentally* okay". I thought this was a pretty cool way of putting it. Makes sense. I then texted him back and was like, "Yeah, I am a really 'feeling' oriented guy, so for me it is just something that feels calm and solid"... he then responded saying how a lot of guys have a lot of problems with "feeling" and I responded by saying:
"Yeah. Feeling can be hard becuase it's less disconnected than thought. You can't lie to yourself"
This last response, is probably one of the more insightful thoughts I have had about what "self esteem" is and the process towards developing and unearthing that deep river of core confidence that already flows within each of us. You see, that's the thing, guys. Life is not about *Finding* confidence... it is about unearthing- uncovering it.
Metaphorically, one could look at the process of discovering your inner core as more akin to creating a sculpture as opposed to creating a painting or picture. In creating a painting or picture, you are taking a blank canvas and applying colors to it in order to create something out of the nothingness that exists on the canvas. You start with nothing and end with something.
However, with a sculpture, you begin with a large piece of stone that has existed, for all intensive purposes, since the beginning of time. You then begin the process of slowly, methodically, chipping away at this piece of stone, removing every last piece of excess stone, removing anything that isn't necessary. You are taking away all of the extra stuff, in order to reveal the incredible end result, which, in reality- already existed but was simply covered up by all the extra stone you had to remove in the process of "Creating" the final product. Michelangelo's "David", always existed. Michelangelo, did not "create" this breathtaking piece of art from nothing, rather he was simply the one who was capable of seeing what was already hidden amongst the stone and going through the process of uncovering it.
It is said that, in creating "David", Michelangelo spent an entire week, simply staring at the block of stone in front of him, before he even began to chip away at it. He had to spend some time and understand and actually see what was there, before he could begin the process of uncovering it.
In so many ways, our path in life, the road that lights the way towards the discovery of the unique "David" that exists within all of us, mirrors, to a scary extent, this process that Michelangelo went through. We spend the majority of our lives creating "pictures" of our lives- constantly adding lines, shapes, colors and combining all of these together in order to create something, that really doesn't even exist in the first place. It is "created" by us. The majority of people's lives is like a constantly evolving "picture"... but for the few of us that embark on this path to self discovery, we choose to abandon that paradigm, let go of our paint brush and pick up our chissel.
I know for me, I, like Michelangelo, had to spend a good amount of time simply, staring at the huge block of stone that stood before me, before I was prepared to jump in and start chipping away at it. But, slowly, I took my chissel in hand and I have started to knock away the excess stone that stands in the way of who I am, at my core. Becuase, that's the thing- Each of us, at our core has a truly *Perfect* essence of something, we just have to be willing to drop our paintbrushes and pick up our chissels and start to chip away at everything that stands in the way of this. So, for me, that is what the process to discovering oneself entails- it entails chipping away at the bullshit, bit by bit, and slowly but surely uncovering something truly incredible. It involves, for each of us, finding our own, unique "David" inside of our body, in a place we, all too rarely, are ever willing to go to.
As for my results: Well, they are getting crazier and crazier. Last night, I took an hour long power nap and woke up to 14 text messages, 12 of which were from girls. I've started to go on a lot of day2s and I'm starting to pull a lot more often and occasionally have sex. The sex itself hasn't began to get crazy but the process is manifesting itself and I have trust in it.
Find your path and begin to chip away at the unique David within yourself.