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Why the Rich Are Getting Richer by Robert Kiyosaki | Book Summary

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Why the Rich Are Getting Richer by Robert Kiyosaki

It’s Robert Kiyosaki’s position that, ‘It is our educational system that causes the gap between the rich and everyone else.’ He laid the foundation for many of his messages in the international best-seller Rich Dad Poor Dad – the #1 personal finance book of all time – and in Why the Rich Are Getting Richer, he makes his case…
In this book, the reader will learn why the gap between the rich and everyone else grows wider; why savers are losers; why debt and taxes make the rich richer; why traditional education actually causes many highly educated people – such as Robert’s poor dad – to live poorly.

In this book, the reader will find out why going to school, working hard, saving money, buying a house, getting out of debt, and investing for the long term in the stock market is the worst financial advice for most people. In this book, the reader will find out why real financial education may never be taught in schools.
In this book, Robert shares the answers found on his life-long search, after repeatedly asking the question, ‘When will we learn about money?’ In this book, the reader will find out ‘What financial education is… really.’

 

About the author Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki is a businessman, investor and writer of several works, among them:

His profession in the Merchant Marine earned him a job at one of the largest oil companies in the United States, Standard Oil Company.

On the other hand, as a member of the Marine Corps group in his region, he studied ways of leading troops in the Vietnam War until 1974. After that period, he learned sales techniques at the company he worked for, Xerox.

From this learning he set up Cashflow Technologies, achieving success worldwide through books that he and his consultants develop.

 

To whom is this book indicated?

 

“Why the Rich Are Getting Richer” is recommended for anyone who is willing to transform their financial conditions and become a professional investor.

Main ideas of the book “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer”

While the poor are getting poorer with taxes, the rich use them to get richer;

The CASHFLOW quadrant determines the four quadrants in which a person can belong financially: employee, self-employed, large business owner and investor;

The rich use debt, market crises and taxes to get richer;

To get rich, it is not enough just to make money; you have to change your attitude;

Many people believe that saving money and investing in the long run is a good option for getting rich; however, author Robert Kiyosaki proves the opposite;

You don’t have to give up fun and happiness to get rich.

 

Overview: Why the rich get richer every time

In the first part, the book reports how taxes negatively impact the poor and the middle class, while they make the rich increasingly wealthy.

On the one hand, the most affected classes see taxes as a burden that needs to be paid; on the other hand, the rich see possibilities of gain.

From this perspective, the rich get richer, because, unlike the rest, they are not restricted to working to pay taxes.

Then the author Robert Kiyosaki presents the fact of why saving is not a good option. He reports that the savings interest rate is close to zero. What’s more, banks charge you to save your money almost the same as you pay to save it.

Another important factor cited in the book, “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer”, is the fact that states are printing more and more money to prevent their economies from collapsing. This causes the currency to devalue, leading to crises.

This stems from the impact projected for the year 1971. During this period, Richard Nixon uncoupled the gold standard dollar to start printing money, and its value decreased by 90%.

Overview: How the rich get rich

Do you know why taxes make the rich richer? Through tax incentives! The government provides lower taxes to large companies.

In this sense, before taking the next step, it is necessary to understand the CASHFLOW quadrant, taken by the author Robert Kiyosaki from his other work, “Financial Independence”.

CASHFLOW reveals who pays the most taxes. The quadrants are:

E from Employee;

S from Self-Employed;

O from Owner of large companies;

I from Investor.

The Owner of large companies (O) and Investor (I) quadrants get more tax incentives because the initiatives that take place there help the government play its role in improving the economy.

If you want to be part of such quadrants, the best option is to prepare your mindset, skills for money, and educate yourself financially.

When you see debt and taxes as a hindrance to getting rich, you are targeting the Self-Employed (S) and Employee (E) quadrants. Because they are committed to paying constantly, these quadrants are the most taxed.

The more difficult it is to make mistakes and admit your mistakes, the more difficult it will be to leave Employee and Self-Employed and pass to Owner and Investor. According to the book “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer”, changing the quadrant requires the following types of intelligences:

Spiritual intelligence: believe in yourself;

Mental intelligence: seek knowledge;

Emotional intelligence: learn from mistakes;

Physical intelligence: use what you know and resist falling.

 

The rich buy bargains that enrich them. They wait for stock market crises to buy the best at low prices such as real estate, gold, silver and trades at minimal prices. That way, the rich don’t invest in the long run, they diversify into a little of everything.

Overview: What is not financial education

Financial inefficiency is something that immobilizes people, destroys self-esteem, making them frustrated and depressed. Thus, they end up committing corrupt acts in search of more money.

On the other hand, inefficiency can also blind you as your confidence goes beyond the necessary level, to the point of not letting you see the market’s crises.

Therefore, it is necessary to be careful with the level of confidence, since, as it becomes smaller than necessary, we feel victims of our own finances. However, when trust becomes ego, we ignore trends.

But what makes people financially inefficient? Sometimes, it may be the lack of adequate information about what financial education consists of.

The author Robert Kiyosaki discusses in his work, “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer”, which people may think it is, but it is not financial education, among them:

Economics: “If economics studies make you rich, why are most economists poor?”;

Balancing a checkbook does not make you a financially educated person;

Saving money: “Why would an intelligent person save money when the government is printing it?”;

Your credit rating, or score, is important, but it is not financial education. Many poor and middle class people have good credit scores;

Get rid of debt: bad debt buys liabilities. Good debts are those that someone else pays for;

Living below their means has made the poor and the middle class poorer;

Long-term investing: “Why invest in the long run if the next crisis will be thousands of times larger than the great 1929 crisis?”.

Overview: What is legitimately financial education

Legitimate financial education does not have to be complex or confusing. This concept can be very simple, such as playing Real Estate Bank. In addition, it should include the concept of differences between the following three types of income:

Income earned: “the most taxed of the three”. This income is based on working to generate income. Examples: savings, pension plans etc;

Portfolio income: “it is understood as “capital gains”. The purpose is to generate profit; For example, you buy a stock when it is cheap and sell it when it is valued;

Passive income: “is the cash flow of an asset”. An example is buying a property and putting it to rent. The monthly rent is your passive income.

Most of the poor and the middle class have only earned income, as they work for the money. Millionaires, on the other hand, usually invest in portfolio income.

Now, the truly wealthy, or called “sophisticated investors” or “money masters”, have another type of income: phantom income.

For this type of income, debts are cash flow. Phantom income from debt consists of “renting money” to do more, instead of working for it.

As quoted by author Robert Kiyosaki in his book “Why the Rich Are Getting Richer”, some examples of phantom income are:

Appreciation: is the appreciation of the price of a property;

Amortization: debt reduction;

Depreciation: this is the biggest source of phantom income for homeowners, as wear and tear reduces property taxes even though it has been valued.

 

Do you have a plan B?

 

In order to have a plan B, legitimate financial education is required, which includes study and practice.

The goal of this plan is to increase your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual intelligence, so that you can change quadrants.

Because of this, learning to use debts and taxes is important to move towards a better quadrant.

Thus, you must create an interest in yourself to frequently analyze how your financial obligations are interfering in your life.

You do not need to live life on the average, having a rented house, an economy car, saving money etc.

Legitimate financial education gives you a great advantage in life: having fun, living beyond your means and still getting rich!

Best option is to associate that behavior with some type of pain.

Okay, but how can I apply this to my life?

Learn from finance books how to have a more prosperous life;

Invest right: look for courses that can help you;

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, as this will make you reach a better quadrant;

Always have a plan B in mind;

Always study about financial education;

Identify the best strategies for knowing where to inject capital.

Born to Run By Christopher McDougall | Book Summary

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BORN TO RUN By Christopher McDougall

 

Every year millions of people all over the world run marathons. You might think they’re all completely crazy or that you could never run a marathon yourself. Many of us secretly fantasize about being marathon runners if only this were possible.

However, it doesn’t take a freakish, superhuman physique to cover 26 miles and 385 yards at a clip. You just need some training and the right attitude to get yourself off the couch.

In this summary of Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, you’ll learn

  • why dogs can’t run marathons;
  • why most running shoes hurt us, rather than help us; and
  • why the best runners run like kindergarteners.

 

BORN TO RUN KEY IDEA #1: THE HUMAN BODY IS EVOLUTIONARILY WELL-ADAPTED TO LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING.

When you think of fast sprinters, your mind probably jumps to cheetahs or horses. But when it comes to running long distances, it’s actually Homo sapiens who take the lead.

The reason? It’s in our physiology.

For one, humans are able to dissipate heat more rapidly than other animals.

Most other mammals don’t have the right glands in their skin to cool down via sweating, so their main method for releasing body heat is through breathing.

When four-legged animals want to run fast, they break into a gallop. This method of running, though quick, restricts their breathing rate because the moving leg muscles squish the animal’s lungs like bellows. As a result, when running fast, most animals can only breathe at a rate of one breath per stride.

This works fine for them – until they reach the critical limit at which they heat up faster than they can cool down. Then they have to stop running in order to survive.

We humans, on the other hand, prevent overheating by sweating through our skin. As a result, the human breathing cycle is not determined by our need to cool down, making it more efficient at procuring oxygen and maintaining endurance.

A second key factor that makes humans master runners is that we move on two legs instead of four.

When early humans began to walk upright – thus freeing their hands to use tools and reach higher hanging fruit – it allowed their throats to open and chests to expand. Though this development came at the expense of sprinting speed, this new posture and the increase in air capacity enabled them to maintain running over long distances.

Finally, our Achilles’ tendon is the third trait distinguishing humans as runners.

Some 95 percent of human DNA correlates with that of our close genetic relative, the chimpanzee, but even these primates don’t have this flexible, rubber-band-like cord of collagen tissue in their lower leg. As it’s stretched, the tendon stores energy until it’s ready to be released when the leg propels the body forward. This maximizes our endurance because it takes us less energy to spring from one step to the next.

BORN TO RUN KEY IDEA #2: RUNNING SHOES ACTUALLY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD.

As we’ve seen, we have many biological traits that work to our advantage as runners. Sometimes, though, we actually hinder our natural gifts with inventions that are intended to help. A key culprit here is running shoes, which are guilty of stabilizing the foot too well.

 

When you run, your foot rolls inward in a process called pronation that acts as a built-in shock absorber for the lower leg. Unfortunately, pronation has been demonized as being responsible for runner’s knee, a painful and common ailment.

As a result, we now see a fleet of pronation-alleviating shoes on the market, although a mere three percent of the population have a medical need for special shoes.

For most people, encasing the foot in a shoe is a lot like having a plaster cast on the leg. The shoe limits the foot’s full movement, causing the muscles to atrophy and the foot to lose strength.

The resulting imbalances throughout the body put excessive strain on certain muscles and joints and can lead to injury, which is why taking running shoes out of the equation might actually be better for you.

Consider Alan Webb, the greatest mile runner in the United States, who suffered from foot injuries while still in school. Part of the problem was that Webb had flat feet with low arches, which are not well-suited for running. Thanks to various barefoot running exercises, however, his feet strengthened, and his arches rose dramatically – so much so, in fact, that his size 12 feet now fit into size nine or ten shoes, and his foot injuries abated.

Another problem with running shoes is that they mask the discomfort caused by harmful impacts against the ground.

Thickly cushioned shoes fail to alert runners to the painful shock waves that reverberate through their bodies as they pound the pavement, thus preventing them from adopting less harmful running forms.

Barefoot running, on the other hand, forces the runner to adapt a natural, and ultimately more comfortable, gait.

BORN TO RUN KEY IDEA #3: TO RUN FASTER AND LONGER, RESTRICT YOUR PROTEIN INTAKE AND SWITCH TO A VEGETARIAN DIET.

OK, so now that we’ve gotten rid of the shoes, what’s next?

Sorry to say it, but your bacon habit might have to bite the dust if you want to become a champion runner.

Despite Western society’s current vogue for diets based around lean meats, cutting out meat entirely is probably your best bet.

If you need evidence, just look at some of history’s greatest endurance athletes, many of whom were vegetarians.

Japanese marathon-running monks, for instance, would complete 25,000-mile ultra-marathons on a daily provision of miso soup, tofu and vegetables.

Or take Percy Cerutty, coach to some of the greatest runners of all time, who strongly advocated a vegetarian diet. He often pushed his clients through triple sessions on a simple diet of raw oats, fruits, cheeses and nuts.

Elite ultra-runner Scott Jurek took it even further and switched to a vegan diet. Despite being told that he wouldn’t recover from workouts and would be more susceptible to injuries, he proved his doubters wrong and performed better than ever.

A vegetarian diet is especially well-suited for running long distances because foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains help you extract the maximum nutrition from the fewest calories. As a result, the body is spared from carrying and processing any additional bulk.

Furthermore, your body digests proteins much more slowly than it does carbohydrates. That means that when you eat meat, you’re wasting a lot more time waiting for the food to be processed by your digestive system. Think about it this way: less meat means more time to train and fine-tune your running skills.

And don’t worry about being malnourished on a meat-free diet, because a diet of grains, legumes and vegetables possesses the amino acids essential for muscle production. They allow for recovery while keeping you ready to run at any moment due to their comparatively brief digestion time.

Now that we have the right equipment and diet, let’s move on to the next step in becoming a skilled runner: the right training!

BORN TO RUN KEY IDEA #4: FORM AND PACE ARE ESSENTIAL TO LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING.

If you’ve ever watched Olympic sprinting and marathon events back to back, you’ll know that they might as well be two completely different sports.

For instance, the ideal sprinting posture, with a straightened back, steady head, and large, forceful strides, is astonishingly different from the way Kenyan athletes choose to run – and, given that Kenya is an elite nation in long-distance running, we might want to pay attention to how they do it.

Ken Mierke, an exercise physiologist and world champion triathlete, set out to discover the Kenyan secret. After watching hours of footage of barefoot Kenyan runners, he discovered that these world-class athletes actually run like kindergarteners.

The key was moving the legs in smaller contractions to enable quicker foot turnover. This technique increases efficiency and fosters endurance that is ideal for running long distances.

Ken came up with a creative, if unusual, idea to help athletes adapt to this form: he set metronomes to 180 beats per minute and attached them to his athlete clients, instructing them to match their pace to its tempo.

After five months, a 60-year-old client who’d been a runner for 40 years in the top 10 percent of his age group saw significant improvements in his trial time. His running résumé proved that the improvements weren’t simply the gains of a beginner and that anyone could apply the metronome method to their own running.

Once you’ve got your form down, the next thing to master is the art of pacing.

In order to achieve this, start by trying to stay below the aerobic threshold – that is, the point at which you begin breathing heavily.

This will help you utilize your fat stores instead of burning through your sugar reserves.

This is important because the average person has enough fat stored to run very long distances. Unfortunately, the mistake that many runners make is running too quickly and using up their sugar tank, which is far more limited than the fat. Pacing will help you to capitalize on the fat reserves and keep you running longer and further.

BORN TO RUN KEY IDEA #5: THE TARAHUMARA TRIBE EXCEL AT LONG-DISTANCE RUNNING BECAUSE THEY SEE RUNNING AS PART OF THEIR IDENTITY.

The Tarahumara people live in settlements scattered among the canyons of northern Mexico. What’s their connection to running?

“Tarahumara” roughly translates to the “running people.” They’re aptly named, because they are well-known for their ability to regularly run 200 miles in a single session. Not only this, but they also avoid the running injuries typical of the modern world.

This elusive tribe lives in isolation and shuns outsiders, the reason for which stems from their mistreatment at the hands of Spanish colonizers. Since that time, the Tarahumara have preferred to stick with one another and experience the natural joy of running.

To find out more, the author enlisted the help of a local to track down the secretive tribe. After a marathon drive and two-day hike, they finally met face-to-face with the tribe and the most respected Tarahumara runner.

Thankfully, despite his stand-offish reputation, Arnulfo welcomed them in and shared the secret to being an outstanding runner.

The lesson from the Tarahumara was simple: learn to love to run.

By creating a mind-set and culture based on the belief that running is an indispensable human skill, they’ve made it hard to be a part of the Tarahumara and not enjoy running. It’s seen as an ancestral necessity that makes them who they are as a people.

Not only do they run for the sake of their tribe, but they also run for themselves.

But this passion for running isn’t limited to only the Tarahumara people; it’s something many of us can relate to. Do you remember running around with total abandon and delight when you were a child? The fact is, running can be a blast. Although we’re often conditioned to lose this sense of pleasure, the Tarahumara have not forgotten this feeling – and it’s something you should relearn, too.

IN REVIEW: BORN TO RUN BOOK SUMMARY

The key message in this book:

Many people are unaware that we humans have a host of innate traits that make us excellent long-distance runners. One of the most important things you can do for your inner runner is to make sure you don’t hinder these inherent gifts – go barefoot and remember the natural joy of running!

 

Actionable advice:

The next time you’re thinking about throwing away $100 on a pair of flashy running shoes, think again. Save the money and your health by opting to go without them entirely. Run on a flat sole like a true Tahamuran if you want to improve your running prowess.

 

 

 

The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo | Book Summary

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The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo

Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller!

Congratulations, you’re a manager! After you pop the champagne, accept the shiny new title, and step into this thrilling next chapter of your career, the truth descends like a fog: you don’t really know what you’re doing.

That’s exactly how Julie Zhuo felt when she became a rookie manager at the age of 25. She stared at a long list of logistics–from hiring to firing, from meeting to messaging, from planning to pitching–and faced a thousand questions and uncertainties. How was she supposed to spin teamwork into value? How could she be a good steward of her reports’ careers? What was the secret to leading with confidence in new and unexpected situations?

Now, having managed dozens of teams spanning tens to hundreds of people, Julie knows the most important lesson of all: great managers are made, not born. If you care enough to be reading this, then you care enough to be a great manager.

The Making of a Manager is a modern field guide packed everyday examples and transformative insights, including:

* How to tell a great manager from an average manager (illustrations included)
* When you should look past an awkward interview and hire someone anyway
* How to build trust with your reports through not being a boss
* Where to look when you lose faith and lack the answers

Whether you’re new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you wish you had.

 

Chapter 1. What is management?

What do managers do? You can think that they promote and fire people, share feedback, and have meetings with reports. This is true yet quite superficial. The real essence of management lies in building a team and achieving results by collaborative efforts. As a manager, you don’t do all work by yourself; rather, you delegate responsibilities and create conditions for a smooth work process.

Can anybody be a manager? No. Considering a proposal to become a boss, ask yourself several questions: do you prefer leading or being an individual contributor?  Do you like talking to people (70 percent of a manager’s time is spent in meetings)? Can you handle emotionally challenging situations, providing care for people sharing problems like health issues or family concerns that negatively impact the quality of their work? If the answers are “no”, just don’t do it.

Besides, to be a manager, you will need to be a leader who knows how to influence others. This is tightly connected to trust: you cannot inspire people, if you don’t have credibility. So work hard on developing it:

Leadership is not something that can be bestowed. It must be earned. People must want to follow you. You can be someone’s manager, but if that person does not trust or respect you, you will have limited ability to influence him.

Chapter 2. Your first three months

According to Zhuo, getting a position of a boss, you will probably take one of the four paths – apprentice, pioneer, new boss, or successor. If you know how to act in your particular case, it will be easier for you to live through the first steps, usually the hardest:

The Apprentice

You start to manage a part of a growing team. A huge advantage is that you know the team from the inside, so you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. However, you may get stuck, if you keep doing things in a certain way because it “has always been like that.” To avoid this, make a list of what works great and what doesn’t. This way, you will get a perspective on how to move forward from a current point.

One of the challenges apprentices face is the need to combine their individual contributor responsibilities with management – it is like managing a group of people making and selling lemonade, standing at the counter and selling it at the same time. Another one is that you will have to establish new relationships with former peers. You can notice they share less information with you and generally treat you differently now when you are a boss.

The Pioneer

You manage a new group you founded from scratch. A privilege you get in this case is the opportunity to pick the people you want to work with. However, you can feel “alone in a new, unfamiliar terrain”: the burden of responsibility can be very heavy.

Good news is that you can always ask for support – either from other managers in your company, or from subject matter experts outside your organization. For example, Zhuo often had coffee with people from Google, Airbnb, and Amazon where they discussed problems in design industries, sharing experience.

The New Boss  

You start to manage an already existing team. It gives you a great chance to “form new ties and reset your identity,” getting rid of your old reputation. On the other hand, it is pretty challenging to get adapted to a totally new group and its rules.

The best thing you can do as a new boss, says Zhuo, is “to address the elephant in the room” – publicly admit that you are new, and you know very well your employees don’t trust you yet. Tell them about your failures. Don’t be scared to seem vulnerable – it will only make you look more human.

The Successor

You are taking the place of a person who decided to leave. Like when you are an apprentice, it is easy because you know the work context, and hard because you have to develop new relationships with your former peers. Besides, people expect you to be like their boss, and that puts a lot of pressure on you. But you are a different person: give yourself permission to be so.

Taking any of these paths is stressful. But this stress is only temporary:

Your first three months as a new manager are a time of incredible transition. By the end of it, the day-to-day starts to feel familiar— you’re adapting to new routines, you’re investing in new relationships, and you may begin to have a sense of how you can best support your team.

Chapter 3. Leading a small team

Trust is a fundamental ingredient of building a healthy team. And if this team is small enough, trust becomes even more important. What can a manager do to earn it?

There are several ways, believes the author. To begin with, a boss must always stay human – which is, care and respect your team workers. Sometimes care means you have to give a bitter pill, and tell them something they don’t like.

It also means investing time to help your reports, discussing priorities or even the person’s state of mind; setting clear expectations; and admitting your own mistakes.

Staying honest is also critical. But to make honesty less harsh, says Zhuo, you will have to develop trust:

Imagine you go shopping with your best friend and she comes out in an unflattering green-and-yellow sweater. “How do I look?” she asks you. “Like a caterpillar,” you say. You’re not worried about insulting her because she’s your best friend and she’ll know you said it out of affection rather than spite.

Help people use their strengths. Do not tolerate any bullies, even if they are the best workers. Remember that people are the most valuable resource, especially in a small group where “you don’t get many cross wires when your team can still fit around the table”. So focus on them.

Chapter 4. The art of feedback

When something isn’t broken, we accept that it’s good enough, so why say more?” – this is probably one of the worst approaches a manager can take. Giving feedback is a central aspect of management, and not giving it means not caring about your team members.

Feedback shouldn’t be vague, but it shouldn’t be emotionally charged either. The best feedback inspires you to improve, says Zhuo, suggesting four characteristics of it:

  • Setting clear expectations – for a specific project or time period.
  • Giving task-specific feedback – as frequently as possible, and preferably right after that task was completed so a person remembers the details well.
  • Sharing behavioral feedback – making it more personalized, taking into account the way a person acts, not just works.
  • Collecting 360-degree feedback – helping people see themselves from multiple perspectives.

Zhuo also emphasizes that sometimes people perceive your feedback not the same way you initially planned it to be:

If you’ve ever played a game of telephone as a kid, you know this to be true: What you intend to say and what the listener hears are not always the same. You might think you’re being clear when in fact you’re saying too much, or too little, or sending a different message through your body language.

To avoid this situation, she recommends making a verbal confirmation directly asking a report how he understood the remark, or asking him to summarize it in an email. But remember – it is very important to be on the same page.

Chapter 5. Managing yourself

Managing large groups of people is impossible if a person cannot manage his own behavior. Having to do things they have never done before (for example, you cannot practice firing people before you actually do it) on a permanent basis, many managers face a problem called “imposter syndrome”: they always doubt themselves and feel like “they are not supposed to be here”.

How to overcome this state? Accepting yourself, in the first place. The top world leaders do not share some special type of personality: you can come across extroverts, like Churchill, introverts, like Lincoln, people avoiding attention, like Gates. Realize that you are unique.

It also helps to understand yourself at your best and your worst, continues the author. Think of rituals that make you feel more effective: for example, you can notice that you function best after 8 hours of sleep. At the same time, think of triggers that decrease your effectiveness – like arrogance or injustice you observe at a workplace. This information is very valuable.

Zhuo also underlines that even if you find yourself “in the pit” – lonely and frustrated – you should always try to get your confidence back. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Understand that the worst-case scenarios in your head are not necessarily true. Celebrate little wins:

Learning how to be a great leader means learning about your superpowers and flaws, learning how to navigate the obstacles in your head, and learning how to learn. With these tools comes the confidence that you’re meant to be here just as you are—no masks or pretenses needed.

Chapter 6. Amazing meetings

Gathering team members in a big room on Fridays and asking them to share what they have done this week sounds like a very logical thing to do. You can analyze what already happened, and you can make plans for the future. But it is not enough to just have a meeting: it has to be a productive meeting.

Leo Tolstoy begins Anna Karenina with the statement “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Meetings are much the same.

This is ironic but true. The absence of clarity and a lot of confusion, repetitive remarks, a couple individuals dominating the room – this is what a bad meeting looks like. A good meeting, on the contrary, is straightforward and simple: you get a clear understanding of what is expected from you; you learn something new; your time is not wasted.

So what are the techniques that help organize a productive meeting? Zhuo comes up with several ones:

Focus on decision making: present all options and make a fair decision, even if you didn’t find the consensus.

Share information. Emails and group chats have made it possible to quickly exchange information, but they will not replace a real-life meeting where you can express your opinion not only verbally but also through body language and eye contact.

Generate ideas. Despite the popular belief that brainstorming is super effective, our brain produces the most creative ideas when we are by ourselves. The best way is to hear the ideas of everyone in a room, and let them evolve within a detailed discussion.

Set the norms. If you want everyone to say something, insist on it.

Meetings take a lot of time and energy, which are precious and finite. This is why, says Zhuo, you should guard them “like a dragon guards its treasure stash. If you trust that the right outcomes will happen without you, then you don’t need to be there.”

Chapter 7. Hiring well

Hiring isn’t about filling holes, says Zhuo; it is about finding talents who would inspire the team. However, as she ironically points out, “As they say in fairy tales, you’ll have to meet a lot of frogs in order to find a good match.”

The techniques that are typically used for hiring are interview, resume, and the reference check. Interviews are not reliable methods because they do not recreate the real work environment; besides, interviewers can be personally biased against a particular candidate.

Resume is helpful since it lets you see if a candidate has specific skills or experiences you are looking for. It may happen that a candidate is very eager to work, and it impresses you – but it does not mean he is the right person.

Reference check is usually underrated but it is actually the best way for evaluation, says the author. Talking to multiple people who know the candidate, you may get the most trustworthy picture of who really this person is.

Another important thing to remember while hiring is diversity. According to a 2014 report, companies with greatest ethnic and racial diversity were 35 percent more likely to have financial returns.

Hiring is not something you can avoid as a manager. It is not just a process – it is a skill you need to acquire:

When your team is growing swiftly, hiring becomes easily the top one or two most important skills. If you need to build out a large team and you don’t have a strong bench of managers, the problem quickly becomes intractable. You can’t create great outcomes without consistently attracting talented people.

Chapter 8. Making things happen

The more arbitrary and heavy work processes are, the harder it is to achieve goals. So it makes sense to optimize every process involved. How can managers do it?

To begin with, through planning. “Plans are worthless, but planning is everything,” said Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of history’s top generals. Even though it is impossible to control everything and plans do not always work, planning can help understand at what stage of your work you are.

It is very useful to focus on a few things and do them well. The Pareto principle, also known as 80/20 principle, means that 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of causes. Instead of giving too much effort where it is not needed, it’s better to identify things that matter the most.

Creating a concrete vision is priceless too. Mark Zuckerberg would often repeat that one day they would connect the world – even when Facebook was a small company, and my Space almost ten times bigger. The vision he had was very clear, and everybody knew what it was. Eventually, Facebook became a part of everyday life for billions of people.

Zhuo emphasizes that no matter how scared you are, you should try new ways and keep making mistakes – this is how you make things happen:

The most brilliant plans in the world won’t help you succeed if you can’t bring them to life. Executing well means that you pick a reasonable direction, move quickly to learn what works and what doesn’t, and make adjustments to get to your desired outcome.

Chapter 9. Leading a growing team

The contrasts between managing large and small teams are striking. If you have a small team, you can individually approach each person; if it’s bigger, you cannot – at least, not directly, but through other leaders at lower levels.

In both cases you as a manager are responsible for the outcome. With a big group, it can be very challenging since you cannot get deep in all the details. All you can do is to learn to trust your people and find the balance between controlling the situation and giving freedom:

“Dive in too much, and you’re the micromanager… if you step back too much, you’re the absentee manager.”

In a position of authority, you will be in charge of numerous things; however, you are only a human, and your resources are limited – so you must prioritize. The author suggests keeping a calendar and preparing for each meeting, taking notes, and making time pockets for reflection.

One more thing to mention here is that when a team is growing, a manager will inevitably have to replace himself. It can be hard because people get attached to what they are doing. However, it also means personal growth everyone involved, because it presents many opportunities:

The act of constantly trying to replace yourself means that you create openings to stretch both your leaders and yourself. Right ahead is another mountain that’s bigger and scarier than the one before. Everyone keeps climbing, and everyone achieves more together.

Chapter 10. Nurturing culture

Culture is the norms and values that determine how work is done. Since a manager has a lot of influence, he plays a very important role in shaping it.

What kind of culture do you want to have in your company? Zhuo recommends thinking of 5 adjectives you would want an external observer to describe your company with. Then, analyze the current state of things. Is the work environment hostile? Is there too much drama? If the answer is yes, this needs to change.

Try to see the difference between your aspirations and the situation you’ve got at the moment. Talk more frequently and more patiently about your values, persuading others to adopt them as well. Zhuo says it has never been annoying to her colleagues – on the contrary, they responded positively and asked what steps they needed to take. Finally, don’t forget to reward those who behave according to your values.

Sharing values is a priceless instrument of developing a team and achieving results – it unites people and leads them to the same destination:

A group of people working in unison is a wonderful thing to behold. Done well, it ceases to be about you or me, one individual or another. Instead, you feel the energy of dozens or hundreds or even thousands of hearts and minds directed toward a shared purpose, guided by shared values.

The path to becoming a great manager is not straight, and the journey will be long. You will fall and rise, try new ideas and fail. But make sure you always keep your mind open. Learn from your mistakes and from the experience of others. You will see many opportunities just around the corner.

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The Power of Awareness by Neville Goddard | Book Summary

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The Power of Awareness by Neville Goddard

Consciousness is one, manifesting in many forms or levels of consciousness.

I AM is the self-definition of the absolute and the foundation for everything.

A person’s concept of themselves determines their experience and the world they live in.

The individual state of consciousness explains the phenomena of life.

Changing one’s concept of themselves can lead to higher and higher concepts and experiences.

The fundamental nature of consciousness is unchangeable and eternal.

The purpose of life is to discover one’s true identity as the eternal I AM.

The journey to discovering one’s true identity involves letting go of negative concepts and embracing positive ones.

The attainment of a high level of consciousness brings about the experience of oneness with God.

Changes in life are the result of a change in one’s concept of oneself, not external causes.

The ideal a person seeks will not manifest until they imagine they are already that ideal.

A radical psychological transformation, including feeling as if one’s wish is already fulfilled, is necessary for the realization of goals.

One’s attitude towards oneself determines what can be realized.

Suggestion and complete abandonment of an ideal is necessary for transformation.

Imagining oneself as already experiencing the desired outcome and feeling as if the wish is fulfilled can lead to its manifestation.

To reach a higher level of being, a higher concept of oneself must be assumed.

Life is determined by assumptions, and one must become the master of their assumptions to attain freedom and happiness.

Controlled imagination and sustained attention focused on an object can lead to its manifestation.

Thinking from an ideal instead of thinking of an ideal leads to its manifestation.

Attention is important for achieving success and changing your future.

To develop and control your attention, practice focusing on the events of your day in reverse order before sleep.

With repeated practice, you can develop a “center of power” and become aware of your true self.

When you have control of the internal direction of your attention, you can walk in the assumption of your wish fulfilled.

To change your concept of yourself and your future, focus your attention on the feeling of your wish being fulfilled.

The power of attention is increased by the narrowness of its focus and by the exclusion of other ideas.

The ideas that dominate your consciousness and have your attention are the ones that lead to action.

Imagination is able to do anything, but only according to the internal direction of your attention.

The attentive attitude involves selection and is directed towards a specific goal.

To increase the power of your attention, focus on one object or state and exclude other ideas.

Renunciation involves taking your attention away from evil and focusing on what you want instead.

Practice renouncing negative thoughts and feelings by focusing your attention on your desired ideals.

You can claim and appropriate what you desire by imagining that you already possess it.

Your thoughts and beliefs about yourself shape your reality.

Obedience to the law of assumption, or the power of imagination and belief, determines your experiences in life.

By renouncing negative thoughts and focusing on your desired goals, you can change your concept of yourself and thereby change your future.

The process of renunciation involves relinquishing attachments to material possessions and ego.

The ultimate goal of renunciation is to discover and unite with the higher self.

The concept you have of yourself determines your life.

To change your life, you must change your concept of yourself.

This can be achieved through the use of imagination and attention.

Attention can be attracted from the outside or directed from within.

To control your future, you must learn to direct your attention subjectively.

This can be achieved through the task of deliberately withdrawing attention from the objective world and focusing it subjectively.

Once you have control over the movements of your attention in the subjective world, you are in control of your fate.

You should not accept the dominance of outside conditions or circumstances, but rather change them through the use of imagination and attention.

This process requires renunciation of negative thoughts and feelings and the assumption of positive ones.

The key to success is persistence in the use of imagination and attention.

The principle of “Least Action” states that to move from one state to another, a minimum of energy and time must be used.

The psychological equivalent of “Least Action” is an assumption, which works by means of attention, minus the effort.

Assumptions have the power of objective realization and every event in the visible world is the result of an assumption or idea in the unseen world.

The future becomes the present in your mind when you imagine that you already are what you will be when your assumption is fulfilled.

The Immaculate Conception is the birth of an idea in your own consciousness, unaided by another.

The Assumption is the highest use of consciousness when you assume the feeling of the wish is fulfilled and it becomes actual fact.

The natural and only way to lift yourself up to the level of your assumption is by feeling it, not by striving or struggling.

To change your future, you must change your assumption, which will then guide all your conscious and subconscious movements toward its suggested end.

The principle of “Least Action” (using the minimum of energy and time) governs the journey from one state of consciousness to another.

The psychological equivalent of “Least Action” is an assumption, which works through attention and without effort.

Your desired state already exists but is excluded from view. An assumption brings it into sight by changing your perspective.

Assumptions have the power of objective realization and events in the visible world are the result of assumptions in the unseen world.

Control and concentration of attention are necessary to modify or alter your life.

Attention can be attracted from without or directed from within.

The present moment is the only time when assumptions can be controlled.

To assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled is to mentally lift oneself to a higher level.

To achieve a desired state, one must persist in the assumption and be a “doer of the work”.

Essential points for the successful use of the law of assumption include intense desire, the mainspring of action, and the intention to succeed.

To achieve a desired state, one must identify with it and transform oneself into it.

Righteousness is the consciousness of already being what you want to be.

Sin means not attaining your desire or not being the person you want to be.

Righteousness is the only way to be saved from sin.

It is a mistake to focus on things rather than on the consciousness of already having them.

The kingdom of God is within you and righteousness is the awareness that you already possess it all.

There is no free will to do anything except assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled.

Everything happens automatically based on your assumptions, whether conscious or unconscious.

The law of assumption operates automatically, without any effort on your part.

Righteousness is not attained through religion, good deeds, or moral behavior.

The only thing necessary to make the law of assumption work is to feel the wish fulfilled with all your heart.

The principle of persistence, or continuing in the assumption of the wish fulfilled, is essential for the successful use of the law of assumption.

Persistence is demonstrated in the parables of Jacob seeking a blessing, the Shunammite seeking help from Elisha, and the widow seeking help from a judge.

To pray means to give thanks for already having what you desire.

Persistence in the assumption of the wish fulfilled causes subtle changes in the mind that result in the desired change in life.

Other people in the world will respond in harmony with persistent assumptions, rather than being reluctant or resistant.

A maintained attitude of the wish fulfilled, rather than a single isolated act, is necessary for the effective use of the law of assumption.

Frequent assumption of the feeling of the wish fulfilled, rather than the length of time, helps to make it a natural and maintained attitude.

The law of assumption can be compared to a mathematical equation, where persistence in the assumption of the wish fulfilled is the constant factor.

The law of assumption can also be compared to a seed, which needs the constant factors of warmth, moisture, and air to grow and bear fruit.

Persistence in the assumption of the wish fulfilled leads to the realization of the desire, and the end of yearning.

Failure in the use of the law of assumption can be attributed to a lack of feeling of naturalness about the desired outcome.

This feeling of naturalness can be achieved through persistent imagination, envisioning oneself already being or having what is desired.

Success or failure in attaining a desired outcome is solely determined by one’s own state of consciousness.

If an assumption is not fulfilled, it is due to an error or weakness in consciousness that can be overcome.

The time it takes for an assumption to become reality is proportional to the naturalness of being it.

Man’s outer world is a reflection of his inner world and thoughts.

The law of assumption is a universal law that can be applied to any desire.

The use of the law of assumption requires persistence, faith, and a feeling of naturalness.

Destiny is the inevitable experience one must face and is influenced by one’s own consciousness.

It is possible to consciously create one’s own destiny by understanding the causes of one’s experiences and the power of consciousness.

The study of the law of assumption is key to achieving the highest level of destiny.

One’s true self is the consciousness that knows one’s identity, and it is the foundation of the law of assumption and the basis for feelings of reverence and worship.

The deepest feelings, including those of reverence and worship, are often the most difficult to express.

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Super Human by Dave Asprey | Book Summary

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Superhuman: The Bulletproof Plan to Age Backward and Maybe Even Live Forever by Dave Asprey

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From the creator of Bulletproof coffee and the bestselling author of Head Strong and The Bulletproof Diet comes a plan to bypass plateaus and ‘up’ your game at every age.

Dave Asprey suffered countless symptoms of ageing as a young man, which sparked a lifelong burning desire to grow younger with each birthday. For more than twenty years, he has been on a quest to find innovative, science-backed methods to upgrade human biology and redefine the limits of the mind, body, and spirit. The results speak for themselves. Now in his forties, Dave is smarter, happier, and more fit and successful than ever before.

In Super Human, he shows how this is level of health and performance possible for all of us. While we assume we will peak in middle age and then decline, Asprey’s research reveals there is another way. It is possible to make changes on the sub-cellular level to dramatically extend life span. And the tools to live longer also give you more energy and brainpower right now.

The answers lie in Dave’s Seven Pillars of Ageing that contribute to degeneration and disease while diminishing your performance in the moment. Using simple interventions – like diet, sleep, light, exercise, and little-known but powerful hacks from ozone therapy to proper jaw alignment, you can decelerate cellular ageing and supercharge your body’s ability to heal and rejuvenate.

A self-proclaimed human guinea pig, Asprey arms readers with practical advice to maximize their lives at every age with his signature mix of science-geek wonder, candour, and enthusiasm. Getting older no longer has to mean decline. Now it’s an opportunity to become Super Human.

BOOK SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION

What is the first thing you would do if you ever gained control of our own biology? Not die, probably.

The author wants to take things further, aiming to age backward and, finally, heal like a deity, so he can keep getting better with age instead of suffering an inevitable decline.

He wants to go from a mere mortal to a 180-year-old Super Human:

“Someone with the wisdom of age but who heals and regenerates like a teenager.”

Let’s see how he plans to achieve that.

PART 1. DON’T DIE

The Four Killers

“Aging is death by a thousand cuts”, the author says.

These are the four diseases most likely to leave the deepest cuts as you age:

Heart disease (23% risk dying from it),

Diabetes (25% risk dying from it),

Alzheimer’s (10% risk developing it), and

Cancer (40% risk getting it and 20% risk dying from it).

As you age, your mitochondria (responsible for producing lots of energy from the food you eat) become damaged and begin producing an excess of free radicals, which leak into the surrounding cells and lay the groundwork for the Four Killers.

To stop damaging your own body with thousands of (big or small) cuts, focus on the basics:

Good nutrition,

Quality sleep, and

A healthy environment free of toxins that cause more cuts.

Take action now to stop this damage before it stacks up. It’s a lot easier to avoid damage to your mitochondria than it is to reverse it later.

What if you made better choices throughout your life, so you took fewer hits over the course of decades? This is the premise of this book.

THE SEVEN PILLARS OF AGING

PILLAR 1 – Shrinking tissues

Loose skin… no muscle tone… shaky hands… foggy memory… that’s what you think when you picture an old person, right? This is what happens as we age when cells die and are not replaced. Brainwise, this causes cognitive decline and dementia. To avoid a lot of unnecessary cell loss, keep your mitochondria healthy.

PILLAR 2 – Mitochondrial mutations

Your mitochondrial DNA is a lot more susceptible to mutations than your human DNA because mitochondrial DNA has a limited ability to repair itself when it is damaged. Again, you’re going to want to take fewer hits to your mitochondria.

PILLAR 3 – Zombie cells

Some cells eventually no longer divide or function properly, yet they persist and secrete inflammatory proteins, causing all the problems that stem from chronic inflammation. Over time, the accumulation of the damage they create is a major cause of aging and disease.

PILLAR 4 – Cellular strait jackets

The extracellular matrix holds your cells together and gives your tissues their elasticity. When these tissues lose their elasticity, they become stiff and your body has to work harder to push blood throughout your circulatory system.

This can lead to aging, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

PILLAR 5 – Extracellular junk

As you age, waste products build up both inside and outside your cells, they stick together and form plaques that cause aging and disease by getting in the way of healthy cellular interaction.

PILLAR 6 – Junk buildup inside cells

Each cell’s own built-in waste disposal system incinerates unwanted materials of all kinds, keeping your cells free of junk and able to function optimally. When the system malfunctions, the waste products end up just sitting there, clogging up the cell until it can no longer function.

PILLAR 7 – Telomere shortening

Just like your shoelaces, there are endcaps for your DNA to protect your chromosomes from fraying with wear and tear (aka age). These caps naturally deteriorate over time, until they can no longer protect the cell.

The simple interventions to avoid the Four Killers – good food (no fried, grilled, or charred meat!!!), the right environment, moderate exercise, stress control (do you meditate?), and quality sleep – are also the best and most effective ways of slowing down or reversing many of the Seven Pillars of Aging.

FOOD IS AN ANTI-AGING DRUG

When it comes to aging, grains are bad, sugar is bad, charred or fried stuff is bad, and too much or too little protein is bad.

Instead, opt for tons of organic vegetables, limited organic fruit, and meat only from pastured animals.

When you eat enough of the right fats without excess carbs or protein, your body learns to efficiently burn fat for fuel. If you eat excess carbs or protein, your body burns those first.

Ideally, get your protein from gently-cooked grass-fed animals, wild fish, or plants like hemp. Limiting how much protein you eat or intermittent fasting are two of the most painless high-impact ways to live longer.

SLEEP OR DIE

A lack of good sleep directly increases your risk of dying from one of the Four Killers, while good quality sleep promotes skin health and youthful appearance, and healthy cell division.

To improve your sleep, get a sleep tracker. Did it take you a long time to fall asleep? Are you wasting your night with light sleep? Did you snore (sign of inflammation)?

The more time you spend in either REM or deep sleep, the more restorative your sleep will be.

You can increase your sleep quality by meditating, taking a hot bath before sleep, eating better, consuming fewer toxins (including alcohol), reducing blue light exposure at night, or taking the right supplements for your biology.

USING LIGHT TO GAIN SUPERPOWERS

To harness the power of light, first reduce junk light at home by installing dimmers and wearing glasses that filter out blue light.

To look better and have more energy, make sure you are exposed to some red or infrared light every day, or aim for fifteen to twenty minutes of natural sun exposure a day.

For the brave ones, consider trying an infrared sauna to aid in detoxification and boost your mitochondrial function.

For help with wound healing, muscle fatigue, or tissue repair, look into red and infrared light therapy. And if your concerns are primarily skin-deep, yellow light therapy may be an easy fix.

PART II. AGE BACKWARD

Turn Your Brain Back On

It’s pretty hard to concentrate or improve your decision-making skills if your brain is constantly and easily panicked – even if the source of panic is a simple text message.

An hour of neurofeedback can help you learn to self-regulate so your fight-or-flight response isn’t activated quite so easily.

Also shining the invisible LED light down your brain for two minutes a day can dramatically improve your brain function, focus, and mood.

When it comes to food, start a diet that consistently keeps your blood sugar low, avoids spikes, and keeps ketones present in your blood.

There are also plenty of pharmaceuticals and supplements that can help you enhance cognitive function as you age, such as:

Piracetam: Reduces cognitive decline with age

CoQ10: Helps your mitochondria produce energy

PQQ: A powerful antioxidant for anti-aging

Curcumin: Improves memory and attention while acting as an antioxidant

METAL BASHING

Arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury are the most toxic and present metals in our environment. Although the EPA has classified each of them as carcinogens, today we are consuming them in considerable quantities.

Toxic metals, such as lead, thallium, and mercury, have a direct impact on mitochondrial cellular function, leading to premature aging and decline.

It is essential to periodically see a functional medicine doctor, get your urine levels tested for heavy metals, and then purge them from our system. Get an IV of glutathione,

Talk to your doctor about activated charcoal treatment,

Eat chlorella tablets along with fish (a common source of mercury),

Consistently use digestive fiber (15 grams every other day for a year),

Sweat it out in an infrared sauna or by exercising.

POLLUTING YOUR BODY WITH OZONE

Ozone therapy can strengthen your immune system and your mitochondrial function.

Weak cells that are vulnerable to invasion from bacteria or viruses are more susceptible to oxidation. Ozone therapy kills off these weak and damaged cells, while it destroys harmful bacteria, yeast, viruses, fungi, and protozoa.

However, please don’t try ozone gas before consulting a doctor! Accidentally inhaling it can cause permanent lung damage or even kill you.

FERTILITY = LONGEVITIY

Before getting any hormone replacement, get a lab test to learn your current hormone levels. The author has supplemented many of his hormones, i.e.:

Testosterone – necessary for muscles and sexual function

DHEA – a pre-hormone

Oxytocin – best known for its role in making you feel good and bond with others

There are many simple ways to hack your hormones besides hormone replacement therapy:

Get good quality sleep consistently,

Eat the right foods (stop eating sugar, soy, excess omega-6 fats, and refined carbs, and replace these foods with additional healthy saturated fat from grass-fed meat, pastured eggs, and energy fats.),

Go through your toiletries and personal care products and get rid of everything containing phthalates and parabens, which mimic hormones in the body and disrupt your natural hormone function,

Exercise regularly, and

Avoid junk light and other environmental toxins.

YOUR TEETH ARE A WINDOW TO THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

When your bite is misaligned, your jaw is always on guard, trying to keep you from banging your teeth into one another.

This causes the trigeminal nerve to send a threat message to your autonomic nervous system, triggering a fight-or-flight response and releasing cortisol, the stress hormone which is highly inflammatory and has its own profound aging effects.

A corrected bite through something as simple as a plastic bite guard can allow your lower jaw to relax, making a big difference in your nervous system.

In other words, proper jaw alignment can help your entire body feel better and become younger.

HUMANS ARE WALKING PETRI DISHES

There are approximately 39 trillion bacterial cells in the human body. If our balance of microorganisms is off (especially in our gut), we age rapidly, develop disease, and die.

The trick is to focus on eating the foods that help good bacteria grow and reproduce: prebiotic fiber and resistant starch.

You can get prebiotics from vegetables that are rich in soluble fiber like sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus. There is a little prebiotic fiber in coffee and chocolate, too.

The best way for anyone to starve the bad bacteria and feed the good ones is by cleaning up your diet:

Don’t eat grains, legumes, or nightshade vegetables, all of which lay the groundwork for leaky gut syndrome.

Quit eating sugar – bad bacteria love sugar and feed off it.

Never eat industrially-raised animals again, because the antibiotics they receive and the glyphosate in their food will end up in your gut and harm your gut bacteria.

 

Part III. Heal Like A Deity

Finally, although many of the techniques the author mentions in the last part of the book are unregulated and often untested by him, here’s a few ways to practically and realistically heal like a deity:

Spend more time in nature to boost your own natural killer cells and enhance your immune system. Bonus points for frequently visiting a forest with lots of evergreen trees.

Get your hormone levels checked and look at any prescription meds that may be causing a problem. To improve sexual function, simply practice Kegel exercises on a daily basis.

For your skin to look younger than ever:a. Supplement with grass-fed or pastured collagen protein – at least 10 grams per day. You can also make bone broth if you don’t like collagen protein. b. Eat more foods containing polyphenols and antioxidants: vegetables, coffee, tea, and chocolate.

For your hair to look shinier than ever:a. Stop using chemical-laden personal care products and switch to all-natural versions. Throw out anything containing phthalates, parabens, and benzophenones. For women, consider alternatives to hormonal birth control. b. Deal with your stress, already! c. To stimulate blood flow to the scalp, get a head massage or purchase an at-home massager.

Conclusion

Key takeaways

As a general rule, always aim for good nutrition, quality sleep, and a healthy environment free of toxins.

Quit eating grains & sugar, and never eat industrially-raised animals again.

The health and diversity of your gut bacteria is the most important part of your system.

Before trying any advanced biohacking technique or drug, always consult with a doctor.

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In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honoré | Book Summary

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In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honoré

 

We live in the age of speed. We strain to be more efficient, to cram more into each minute, each hour, each day. Since the Industrial Revolution shifted the world into high gear, the cult of speed has pushed us to a breaking point. Consider these facts: Americans on average spend seventy-two minutes of every day behind the wheel of a car, a typical business executive now loses sixty-eight hours a year to being put on hold, and American adults currently devote on average a mere half hour per week to making love.

Living on the edge of exhaustion, we are constantly reminded by our bodies and minds that the pace of life is spinning out of control. In Praise of Slowness traces the history of our increasingly breathless relationship with time and tackles the consequences of living in this accelerated culture of our own creation. Why are we always in such a rush? What is the cure for time sickness? Is it possible, or even desirable, to slow down? Realizing the price we pay for unrelenting speed, people all over the world are reclaiming their time and slowing down the pace — and living happier, healthier, and more productive lives as a result. A Slow revolution is taking place.

Here you will find no Luddite calls to overthrow technology and seek a preindustrial utopia. This is a modern revolution, championed by cell-phone using, e-mailing lovers of sanity. The Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word — balance. People are discovering energy and efficiency where they may have been least expected — in slowing down.

In this engaging and entertaining exploration, award-winning journalist and rehabilitated speedaholic Carl Honoré details our perennial love affair with efficiency and speed in a perfect blend of anecdotal reportage, history, and intellectual inquiry. In Praise of Slowness is the first comprehensive look at the worldwide Slow movements making their way into the mainstream — in offices, factories, neighborhoods, kitchens, hospitals, concert halls, bedrooms, gyms, and schools. Defining a movement that is here to stay, this spirited manifesto will make you completely rethink your relationship with time.

Top Slow Quotes from Others

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” — Gandhi

“For fast-acting relief from stress, try slowing down.” — Lily Tomlin

“Take the time to live more deeply.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.” — Søren Kierkegaard

“To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization.” — Bertrand Russell

“The whole struggle of life is to some extent a struggle about how slowly or how quickly to do each thing.” — Sten Nadolny, author of The Discovery of Slowness

“When things happen too fast, nobody can be certain about anything, about anything at all, not even about himself.” — Milan Kundera, author of the novella Slowness

“It is a Western disease to make time finite, and then to impose speed on all aspects of life.” — Satish Kumar

“Despite what people think, the discussion about speed is never really about the current state of technology. It goes much deeper than that, it goes back to the human desire for transcendence … It’s hard to think about the fact that we’re going to die; it’s unpleasant, so we constantly seek ways to distract ourselves from the awareness of our own mortality. Speed, with the sensory rush it gives, is one strategy for distraction.” — Mark Kingwell, professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto

“Being Slow means that you control the rhythms of your own life. You decide how fast you have to go in any given context. If today I want to go fast, I go fast; if tomorrow I want to go slow, I go slow. What we are fighting for is the right to determine our own tempos.” — Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food

“We want to strike a balance between the modern and the traditional that promotes good living.” — Bruna Sibille

“Reading implies time for reflection, a slowing-down that destroys the mass’s dynamic efficiency.” — Paul Virilio, French philosopher

The Busy Life & Time Sickness

“The world is still straining to do everything faster—and paying a heavy price for it. The toll taken by the hurry-up culture is well documented. We are driving the planet and ourselves towards burnout. We are so time-poor and time-sick that we neglect our friends, families and partners. We barely know how to enjoy things any more because we are always looking ahead to the next thing. Much of the food we eat is bland and unhealthy. With our children caught up in the same hailstorm of hurry, the future looks bleak.”

“All the things that bind us together and make life worth living—community, family, friendship—thrive on the one thing we never have enough of: time.”

“In 1982 Larry Dossey, an American physician, coined the term ‘time-sickness’ to describe the obsessive belief that ‘time is getting away, that there isn’t enough of it, and that you must pedal faster and faster to keep up.’ These days, the whole world is time-sick. We all belong to the same cult of speed.”

“Time-sickness can also be a symptom of a deeper, existential malaise. In the final stages before burnout, people often speed up to avoid confronting their unhappiness.”

“Inevitably, a life of hurry can become superficial. When we rush, we skim the surface, and fail to make real connections with the world or other people.”

“We have forgotten how to look forward to things, and how to enjoy the moment when they arrive.”

“In this media-drenched, data-rich, channel-surfing, computer-gaming age, we have lost the art of doing nothing, of shutting out the background noise and distractions, of slowing down and simply being alone with our thoughts.”

“Instead of thinking deeply, or letting an idea simmer in the back of the mind, our instinct now is to reach for the nearest sound bite.“

“This is where our obsession with going fast and saving time leads. To road rage, air rage, shopping rage, relationship rage, office rage, vacation rage, gym rage. Thanks to speed, we live in the age of rage.“

“And not only do we enjoy going fast, we get used to it, we become ‘velocitized.’ When we first drive onto a motorway, 70 miles per hour seems fast. Then, after a few minutes, it feels routine. Pull onto a slip road, brake to 30 mph and the lower speed seems slow. Velocitization fuels a constant need for more speed.“

“As we go on accelerating, our relationship with time grows ever more fraught and dysfunctional.”

Evolution of our Relationship with Time

“If we are ever going to slow down, we must understand why we accelerated in the first place, why the world got so revved up, so tightly scheduled. And to do that, we need to start at the very beginning, by looking at our relationship with time itself.”

“Survival was one incentive for measuring time. Ancient civilizations used calendars to work out when to plant and harvest crops. Right from the start, though, timekeeping proved to be a double-edged sword. On the upside, scheduling can make anyone, from peasant farmer to software engineer, more efficient. Yet as soon as we start to parcel up time, the tables turn, and time takes over. We become slaves to the schedule. Schedules give us deadlines, and deadlines, by their very nature, give us a reason to rush. As an Italian proverb puts it: Man measures time, and time measures man.“

“Lewis Mumford, the eminent social critic, identified the clock as ‘the key machine’ of the Industrial Revolution. But it was not until the late nineteenth century that the creation of standard time unlocked its full potential.”

“Benjamin Franklin was among the first to envision a world devoted to rest and relaxation. Inspired by the technological breakthroughs of the latter 1700s, he predicted that man would soon work no more than four hours a week.”

“In the United States, meanwhile, a group of intellectuals known as the Transcendentalists exalted the gentle simplicity of a life rooted in nature. One of their number, Henry David Thoreau, retired to a one-room cabin beside Walden Pond near Boston in 1845, from which he decried modern life as a treadmill of ‘infinite bustle…nothing but work, work, work.‘”

“In 1884, Charles Dudley Warner, an American editor and essayist, gave vent to the popular unease, echoing Plautus in the process: ‘The chopping up of time into rigid periods is an invasion of individual freedom and makes no allowances for differences in temperament and feeling.’“

“To teach workers the new time discipline demanded by modern capitalism, the ruling classes set about promoting punctuality as a civic duty and a moral virtue, while denigrating slowness and tardiness as cardinal sins. In its 1891 catalogue, the Electric Signal Clock Company warned against the evils of failing to keep pace: ‘If there is one virtue that should be cultivated more than any other by him who would succeed in life, it is punctuality: if there is one error to be avoided, it is being behind time.’ One of the firm’s clocks, the aptly named Autocrat, promised to ‘revolutionize stragglers and behind-time people.’”

“As the clock tightened its grip and technology made it possible to do everything more quickly, hurry and haste seeped into every corner of life. People were expected to think faster, work faster, talk faster, read faster, write faster, eat faster, move faster.”

“Tempted and titillated at every turn, we seek to cram in as much consumption and as many experiences as possible. As well as glittering careers, we want to take art courses, work out at the gym, read the newspaper and every book on the bestseller list, eat out with friends, go clubbing, play sports, watch hours of television, listen to music, spend time with the family, buy all the newest fashions and gadgets, go to the cinema, enjoy intimacy and great sex with our partners, holiday in far-flung locations and maybe even do some meaningful volunteer work. The result is a gnawing disconnect between what we want from life and what we can realistically have, which feeds the sense that there is never enough time.“

“Part of the answer may lie in the way we think about time itself. In some philosophical traditions—Chinese, Hindu and Buddhist, to name three—time is cyclical. On Canada’s Baffin Island, the Inuit use the same word—uvatiarru—to mean both ‘in the distant past’ and ‘in the distant future.’ Time, in such cultures, is always coming as well as going. It is constantly around us, renewing itself, like the air we breathe. In the Western tradition, time is linear, an arrow flying remorselessly from A to B. It is a finite, and therefore precious, resource. Christianity piles on pressure to put every moment to good use. The Benedictine monks kept a tight schedule because they believed the devil would find work for idle hands to do. In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin summed up the Western obsession with making the most of every minute with a stern call to action: ‘A man who wastes one hour of time has not discovered the meaning of life.’”

“Perhaps the greatest challenge of the Slow movement will be to fix our neurotic relationship with time itself.”

Slow Myth Busting

Slow is not just a rate of change; it’s a philosophy of life

“In this book, Fast and Slow do more than just describe a rate of change. They are shorthand for ways of being, or philosophies of life. Fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity. It is about making real and meaningful connections—with people, culture, work, food, everything. The paradox is that Slow does not always mean slow. As we shall see, performing a task in a Slow manner often yields faster results. It is also possible to do things quickly while maintaining a Slow frame of mind.”

Slow is not Anti-Speed

“Let’s make one thing clear: this book is not a declaration of war against speed. Speed has helped to remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating. Who wants to live without the Internet or jet travel? The problem is that our love of speed, our obsession with doing more and more in less and less time, has gone too far; it has turned into an addiction, a kind of idolatry. Even when speed starts to backfire, we invoke the go-faster gospel. Falling behind at work? Get a quicker Internet connection. No time for that novel you got at Christmas? Learn to speed-read. Diet not working? Try liposuction. Too busy to cook? Buy a microwave. And yet some things cannot, should not, be sped up. They take time; they need slowness. When you accelerate things that should not be accelerated, when you forget how to slow down, there is a price to pay.“

Slow is not Slow Motion or Anti-Technology

“Despite what some critics say, the Slow movement is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. Nor is it a Luddite attempt to drag the whole planet back to some pre-industrial utopia. On the contrary, the movement is made up of people like you and me, people who want to live better in a fast-paced, modern world … Being Slow does not mean being torpid, backward or technophobic.“

Slow is not Anti-Capitalism

“Inevitably, the Slow movement overlaps with the anti-globalization crusade. Proponents of both believe that turbo-capitalism offers a one-way ticket to burnout, for the planet and the people living on it. They claim we can live better if we consume, manufacture and work at a more reasonable pace. In common with moderate anti-globalizers, however, Slow activists are not out to destroy the capitalist system. Rather, they seek to give it a human face.

Slow is not One-Size-Fits-All

“There is no one-size-fits-all formula for slowing down, no universal guide to the right speed. Each person, act, moment has its own eigenzeit. Some people are content to live at a speed that would send the rest of us to an early grave. We all must have the right to choose the pace that makes us happy.  ‘The world is a richer place when we make room for different speeds.’”

Slow Philosophy & Core Tenets

“Though speed, busyness and an obsession with saving time remain the hallmarks of modern life, a powerful backlash is brewing. The Slow movement is on the march. Instead of doing everything faster, many people are decelerating, and finding that Slowness helps them to live, work, think and play better. But is the Slow movement really a movement? It certainly has all the ingredients that academics look for—popular sympathy, a blueprint for a new way of life, grassroots action. True, the Slow movement has no formal structure, and still suffers from low brand recognition. Many people slow down—working fewer hours, say, or finding time to cook—without feeling part of a global crusade. Yet every act of deceleration is grist to the mill.”

Balance & The Middle Path

“That is why the Slow philosophy can be summed up in a single word: balance. Be fast when it makes sense to be fast, and be slow when slowness is called for. Seek to live at what musicians call the tempo giusto—the right speed … Like most people, I want to find a way to live better by striking a balance between fast and slow.”

“What the world needs, and what the Slow movement offers, is a middle path, a recipe for marrying la dolce vita with the dynamism of the information age. The secret is balance: instead of doing everything faster, do everything at the right speed. Sometimes fast. Sometimes slow. Sometimes somewhere in between. Being Slow means never rushing, never striving to save time just for the sake of it. It means remaining calm and unflustered even when circumstances force us to speed up.”

Less But Better

“Many recommend doing fewer things in order to do them better, a core tenet of the Slow philosophy … The twenty-four-hour society is not intrinsically evil. If we approach it in a Slow spirit—doing fewer things, with less hurry—it can give us the flexibility we need to decelerate … Slower, it turns out, often means better—better health, better work, better business, better family life, better exercise, better cuisine and better sex.”

“The central tenet of the Slow philosophy is taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more. Whatever its effect on the economic balance sheet, the Slow philosophy delivers the things that really make us happy: good health, a thriving environment, strong communities and relationships, freedom from perpetual hurry.”

Lifestyle Revolution

“A genuinely Slow world implies nothing less than a lifestyle revolution.”

Origin & Evolution of the Slow Movement

“The Slow movement is still taking shape. It has no central headquarters or website, no single leader, no political party to carry its message. Many people decide to slow down without ever feeling part of a cultural trend, let alone a global crusade. What matters, though, is that a growing minority is choosing slowness over speed. Every act of deceleration gives another push to the Slow movement.“

“Through the twentieth century, resistance to the cult of speed grew, and began to coalesce into broad social movements. The counterculture earthquake of the 1960s inspired millions to slow down and live more simply. A similar philosophy gave birth to the Voluntary Simplicity movement. In the late 1980s, the New York–based Trends Research Institute identified a phenomenon known as downshifting, which means swapping a high-pressure, high-earning, high-tempo lifestyle for a more relaxed, less consumerist existence. Unlike decelerators from the hippie generation, downshifters are driven less by political or environmental scruples than by the desire to lead more rewarding lives. They are willing to forgo money in return for time and slowness.“

“It (The Slow Movement) all started in 1986, when McDonald’s opened a branch beside the famous Spanish Steps in Rome. To many locals, this was one restaurant too far: the barbarians were inside the gates and something had to be done. To roll back the fast-food tsunami sweeping across the planet, Carlo Petrini, a charismatic culinary writer, launched Slow Food. As the name suggests, the movement stands for everything that McDonald’s does not: fresh, local, seasonal produce; recipes handed down through the generations; sustainable farming; artisanal production; leisurely dining with family and friends. Slow Food also preaches ‘eco-gastronomy’—the notion that eating well can, and should, go hand in hand with protecting the environment.“

“Petrini thinks this is a good starting point for tackling our obsession with speed in all walks of life. The group’s manifesto states: ‘A firm defence of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life…. Our defence should begin at the table with Slow Food.’“

“The (Slow Food) group’s manifesto is a call to arms against the cult of speed in all its forms: ‘Our century, which began and has developed under the insignia of industrial civilization, first invented the machine and then took it as its life model. We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Food.’“

“Slow Food has captured the public imagination and spread across the planet because it touches on a basic human desire. We all like to eat well, and are healthier and happier when we do.”

“The Slow movement has its own momentum. Saying no to speed takes courage, and people are more likely to take the plunge knowing they are not alone, that others share the same vision and are taking the same risks. The Slow movement provides strength in numbers. Every time a group like Slow Food or the Society for the Deceleration of Time makes headlines, it becomes a little easier for the rest of us to question speed. What’s more, once people reap the rewards of slowing down in one sphere of life they often go on to apply the same lesson in others.“

“Collectively, we know our lives are too frantic, and we want to slow down. Individually, more of us are applying the brakes and finding that our quality of life improves. The big question now is when the individual will become the collective. When will the many personal acts of deceleration occurring across the world reach critical mass? When will the Slow movement turn into a Slow revolution?“

Spirituality

“Many find that slowing down has a spiritual dimension. But many others do not. The Slow movement is broad enough to accommodate both. In any case, the gap between the two may not be as wide as it seems. The great benefit of slowing down is reclaiming the time and tranquility to make meaningful connections—with people, with culture, with work, with nature, with our own bodies and minds. Some call that living better. Others would describe it as spiritual.“

“These days, many people are seeking refuge from speed in the safe harbour of spirituality. While mainstream Christian churches face dwindling congregations, their evangelical rivals are thriving. Buddhism is booming across the West, as are bookstores, chat rooms and healing centres dedicated to the eclectic, metaphysical doctrines of New Ageism. All of this makes sense at a time when people crave slowness. The spirit, by its very nature, is Slow. No matter how hard you try, you cannot accelerate enlightenment. Every religion teaches the need to slow down in order to connect with the self, with others and with a higher force. In Psalm 46, the Bible says: ‘Be still then, and know that I am God.’”

Mind

“In the war against the cult of speed, the front line is inside our heads. Acceleration will remain our default setting until attitudes change. But changing what we think is just the beginning. If the Slow movement is really to take root, we have to go deeper. We have to change the way we think.”

“Shifting the mind into lower gear can bring better health, inner calm, enhanced concentration and the ability to think more creatively. It can bring us what Milan Kundera calls ‘the wisdom of slowness.’“

“Research has shown that people think more creatively when they are calm, unhurried and free from stress, and that time pressure leads to tunnel vision.”

“My eureka moments seldom come in a fast-paced office or a high-stress meeting. More often they occur when I am in a relaxed state—soaking in the bath, cooking a meal or even jogging in the park. The greatest thinkers in history certainly knew the value of shifting the mind into low gear. Charles Darwin described himself as a ‘slow thinker.’ Albert Einstein was famous for spending ages staring into space in his office at Princeton University.“

“Einstein appreciated the need to marry the two modes of thought: ‘Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid. Human beings are incredibly slow, inaccurate, and brilliant. Together they are powerful beyond imagination.’ That is why the smartest, most creative people know when to let the mind wander and when to knuckle down to hard work. In other words, when to be Slow and when to be Fast.”

“As one Zen master put it, ‘Instead of saying ‘Don’t just sit there; do something’ we should say the opposite, ‘Don’t just do something; sit there.’“

Meditation & Movement

“One way to cultivate inner Slowness is to make time for activities that defy acceleration—meditation, knitting, gardening, yoga, painting, reading, walking, Chi Kung.”

“Meditation is one way to train the mind to relax. It lowers blood pressure and generates more of the slower alpha and theta waves in the brain. And research shows that the effects last long after the meditating ends.”

“Take yoga, an ancient Hindu regimen of physical, spiritual and mental exercises that seeks to bring body, mind and spirit into harmony. The word ‘yoga’ means ‘unite’ in Sanskrit. In the West, though, we tend to focus on the physical side of the discipline—the breathing control, the slow, fluid movements, the postures, or asanas. Yoga can do wonders for the body, firming and toning muscles, fortifying the immune system, boosting blood circulation and increasing flexibility.”

“Yoga can help achieve that core of stillness. It seeks to sustain a person’s chi—the life force, or energy—which can be hampered by stress, anxiety, illness and overwork. Even those who dismiss the idea of chi as mystical claptrap often find that yoga helps them develop a Slow frame of mind. Through the unhurried, controlled movements, they acquire more self-awareness, concentration and patience.”

“Chi Kung is another Eastern exercise regime whose Slow approach to the mind and body is winning converts. Sometimes described as ‘yoga with meditation and movement,’ Chi Kung is a generic term for a range of ancient Chinese exercises that promote health by circulating chi round the body. In a standing position, and using the pelvic area as a fulcrum, practitioners move slowly through a series of postures that elongate the limbs. Slow, deep breathing is also important. Chi Kung is not about pumping up the heart rate and sweating profusely; it is about control and awareness. It can improve balance, strength, posture and rhythm of movement. Even more than yoga, it helps to achieve a relaxed mind while in an active state. Chi Kung has many branches, ranging from martial arts such as Kung Fu to the much gentler Tai Chi.”

“Against that backdrop, walking, the oldest form of exercise, is making a comeback. In the pre-industrial era, people mostly travelled on foot—and that kept them fit. Then came engine power, and people got lazy. Walking became the transport of last resort, a ‘forgotten art’ in the words of the World Health Organization.”

“Travelling on foot can also be meditative, fostering a Slow frame of mind. When we walk, we are aware of the details around us—birds, trees, the sky, shops and houses, other people. We make connections.“

“The same goes for gardening. In almost every culture, the garden is a sanctuary, a place to rest and ruminate. Niwa, the Japanese word for garden, means ‘an enclosure purified for the worship of the gods.’ The act of gardening itself—planting, pruning, weeding, watering, waiting for things to grow—can help us slow down. Gardening does not lend itself to acceleration any more than knitting does. Even with a greenhouse, you cannot make plants bloom on demand or bend the seasons to suit your schedule. Nature has its own timetable. In a hurry-up world, where everything is scheduled for maximum efficiency, surrendering to the rhythms of nature can be therapeutic.“

Education

“‘The notion of the slow school destroys the idea that schooling is about cramming, testing, and standardizing experience,’ Holt writes. ‘The slow approach to food allows for discovery, for the development of connoisseurship. Slow food festivals feature new dishes and new ingredients. In the same way, slow schools give scope for invention and response to cultural change, while fast schools just turn out the same old burgers.’”

“The children still work hard, but without the drudgery of rote learning. Like every other wing of the Slow movement, ‘Slow Schooling’ is about balance.“
“Whenever people talk of the need for children to slow down, play is always high on the agenda. Many studies show that unstructured time for play helps younger children develop their social and language skills, their creative powers and their ability to learn. Unstructured play is the opposite of ‘quality time,’ which implies industry, planning, scheduling and purpose.”

“In the summer of 2001, the dean wrote an open letter to every first-year undergraduate at Harvard. It was an impassioned plea for a new approach to life on campus and beyond. It was also a neat précis of the ideas that lie at the heart of the Slow philosophy. The letter, which now goes out to Harvard freshmen every year, is entitled: Slow Down. Over seven pages, Lewis makes the case for getting more out of university—and life—by doing less. He urges students to think twice before racing through their degrees.“

“When it comes to academic life, Lewis favours the same less-is-more approach. Get plenty of rest and relaxation, he says, and be sure to cultivate the art of doing nothing. ‘Empty time is not a vacuum to be filled,’ writes the dean. ‘It is the thing that enables the other things on your mind to be creatively rearranged, like the empty square in the 4 x 4 puzzle that makes it possible to move the other fifteen pieces around.’ In other words, doing nothing, being Slow, is an essential part of good thinking.“

Work

“For the Slow movement, the workplace is a key battlefront. When the job gobbles up so many hours, the time left over for everything else gets squeezed. Even the simple things—taking the kids to school, eating supper, chatting to friends—become a race against the clock. A surefire way to slow down is to work less.“

“‘Burnout used to be something you mainly found in people over forty,’ says one London-based life coach. ‘Now I’m seeing men and women in their thirties, and even their twenties, who are completely burned out.’“

“For a chilling vision of where this behaviour leads, look no further than Japan, where the locals have a word—karoshi—that means ‘death by overwork.’“

“These days, we exist to serve the economy, rather than the other way round. Long hours on the job are making us unproductive, error-prone, unhappy and ill.”

“Work devours the bulk of our waking hours. Everything else in life—family and friends, sex and sleep, hobbies and holidays—is forced to bend around the almighty work schedule.

“At the top of the corporate food chain, more and more high achievers are choosing to work freelance or as independent contractors. This allows them to work hard when they choose and still have time to recharge their batteries, enjoy hobbies and hang out with the family.”

“As it turns out, people who cut their work hours often take a smaller hit financially than they expect. That is because spending less time on the job means spending less money on the things that allow us to work: transport, parking, eating out, coffee, convenience food, childcare, laundry, retail therapy. A smaller income also translates into a smaller tax bill.”

“Yet working less is just part of the Slow blueprint. People also want to decide when they work.”

“Things are so much better now. I still work the same number of hours, sometimes even more, but my relationship with time is healthier. Now that I control my own schedule, I move through the working day feeling less hurried and resentful.”

“Of course, speed has a role in the workplace. A deadline can focus the mind and spur us on to perform remarkable feats. The trouble is that many of us are permanently stuck in deadline mode, leaving little time to ease off and recharge. The things that need slowness—strategic planning, creative thought, building relationships—get lost in the mad dash to keep up, or even just to look busy.“

“Though sleeping on the job is the ultimate taboo, research has shown that a short ‘power nap‘—around twenty minutes is ideal—can boost energy and productivity.”

“Many of the most vigorous and successful figures in history were inveterate nappers: John F. Kennedy, Thomas Edison, Napoleon Bonaparte, John D. Rockefeller, Johannes Brahms. Winston Churchill delivered the most eloquent defence of the afternoon snooze: ‘Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion helped by people who have no imagination. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one—well, at least one and a half.’“

Leisure

“Whatever happened to the Age of Leisure? Why are so many of us still working so hard? One reason is money. Everyone needs to earn a living, but the endless hunger for consumer goods means that we need more and more cash. So instead of taking productivity gains in the form of extra time off, we take them in higher incomes.”

“How to make the best use of free time is not a new concern. Two thousand years ago, Aristotle declared that one of the central challenges facing man was how to fill his leisure.“

“Plato believed that the highest form of leisure was to be still and receptive to the world, a view echoed by modern intellectuals.”

“Franz Kafka put it this way: ‘You don’t need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Don’t even listen, simply wait. Don’t even wait, be quite still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.’“

“In his 1935 essay, In Praise of Idleness, Russell wrote that a four-hour workday would make us ‘more kindly and less persecuting and less inclined to view others with suspicion.’ With so much leisure, life would be sweet, slow and civilized.”

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Alcoholics Anonymous | Big Book 4th Edition | Book Summary

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Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition

Many thousands have benefited from The Big Book and its simple but profound explanation of the doctrines behind Alcoholics Anonymous, which was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith.

 

Preface

 

THIS IS the fourth edition of the book “Alcoholics Anonymous.” The first edition appeared in April 1939, and in the following sixteen years, more than 300,000 copies went into circulation. The second edition, published in 1955, reached a total of more than 1,150,500 copies. The third edition, which came off press in 1976, achieved a circulation of approximately 19,550,000 in all formats.

 

We think this account of our experiences will help everyone to better understand the alcoholic. Many do not comprehend that the alcoholic is a very sick person. And besides, we are sure that our way of living has its advantages for all.

 

Strenuous work, one alcoholic with another, was vital to permanent recovery.

 

By the end of 1939 it was estimated that 800 alcoholics were on their way to recovery.

 

In the spring of 1940, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave a dinner for many of his friends to which he invited A.A. members to tell their stories. News of this got on the world wires; inquiries poured in again and many people went to the bookstores to get the book “Alcoholics Anonymous.’’ By March 1941 the membership had shot up to 2,000.

 

By the close of 1941, A.A. numbered 8,000 members. The mushrooming process was in full swing. A.A. had become a national institution.

 

Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and really tried, 50% got sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses, and among the remainder, those who stayed on with

 

  • showed improvement. Other thousands came to a few A.A. meetings and at first decided they didn’t want the program. But great numbers of these—about two out of three—began to return as time passed.

 

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious organization. Neither does A.A. take any particular medical point of view, though we cooperate widely with the men of medicine as well as with the men of religion.

 

By March 1976, when this edition went to the printer, the total worldwide membership of Alcoholics Anonymous was conservatively estimated at more than 1,000,000, with almost 28,000 groups meeting in over 90 countries.

 

Each day, somewhere in the world, recovery begins when one alcoholic talks with another alcoholic, sharing experience, strength, and hope.

 

FOREWORD TO FOURTH EDITION

 

THIS fourth edition of “Alcoholics Anonymous” came off press in November 2001, at the start of a new millennium. Since the third

 

edition was published in 1976, worldwide membership of A.A. has just about doubled, to an estimated two million or more, with nearly 100,800 groups meeting in approximately 150 countries around the world.

 

Currently, “Alcoholics Anonymous” has been translated into forty-three languages.

 

Taking advantage of technological advances, for example, A.A. members with computers can participate in meetings online, sharing with fellow alcoholics across the country or around the world. In any meeting, anywhere, A.A.’s share experience, strength, and hope with each other, in order to stay sober and help other alcoholics. Modem-to-modem or face-to-face, A.A.’s speak the language of the heart in all its power and simplicity.

 

We who have suffered alcoholic torture must

 

believe—that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind. It did not satisfy us to be told that we could not control our drinking just because we were maladjusted to life, that we were in full flight from reality, or were outright mental defectives. These things were true to some extent, in fact, to a considerable extent with some of us. But we are sure that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete.

 

Men and women drink essentially because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation is so elusive that, while they admit it is injurious, they cannot after a time differentiate the true from the false. To them, their alcoholic life seems the only normal one. They are restless, irritable and discontented, unless they can again experience the sense of ease and comfort which comes at once by taking a few drinks—drinks which they see others taking with impunity. After they have succumbed to the desire again, as so many do, and the phenomenon of craving develops, they pass through the well-known stages of a spree, emerging remorseful, with a firm resolution not to drink again. This is repeated over and over, and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery.

 

On the other hand—and strange as this may seem to those who do not understand—once a psychic change has occurred, the very same person who seemed doomed, who had so many problems he despaired of ever solving them, suddenly finds himself easily able to control his desire for alcohol, the only effort necessary being that required to follow a few simple rules.

 

The classification of alcoholics seems most difficult, and in much detail is outside the scope of this book. There are, of course, the psychopaths who are emotionally unstable. We are all familiar with this type. They are always “going on the wagon for keeps.’’ They are over-remorseful and make many resolutions, but never a decision.

 

There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot take a drink. He plans various ways of drinking. He changes his brand or his environment. There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger. There is the manic-depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written.

 

Then there are types entirely normal in every respect except in the effect alcohol has upon them. They are often able, intelligent, friendly people.

 

All these, and many others, have one symptom in common:

 

they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the manifestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity. It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanently eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.

 

Chapter 1: BILL’S STORY

 

Liquor ceased to be a luxury; it became a necessity.

 

The remorse, horror and hopelessness of the next morning are unforgettable. The courage to do battle was not there.

 

In alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though it often remains strong in other respects.

 

God had done for him what he could not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors had pronounced him incurable. Society was about to lock him up. Like myself, he had admitted complete defeat. Then he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, suddenly taken from the scrap heap to a level of life better than the best he had ever known!

 

It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning. I saw that growth could start from that point. Upon a foundation of complete willingness I might build.

 

Thus was I convinced that God is concerned with us humans when we want Him enough. At long last I saw, I felt, I believed. Scales of pride and prejudice fell from my eyes. A new world came into view.

 

There I humbly offered myself to God, as I then understood Him, to do with me as He would. I placed myself unreservedly under His care and direction. I admitted for the first time that of myself I was nothing; that without Him I was lost. I ruthlessly faced my sins and became willing to have my newfound Friend take them away, root and branch. I have not had a drink since.

 

I was to test my thinking by the new God-consciousness within. Common sense would thus become uncommon sense. I was to sit quietly when in doubt, asking only for direction and strength to meet my problems as He would have me. Never was I to pray for myself, except as my requests bore on my usefulness to others. Then only might I expect to receive. But that would be in great measure.

 

Simple, but not easy; a price had to be paid. It meant destruction of self-centeredness. I must turn in all things to the Father of Light who presides over us all.

 

These were revolutionary and drastic proposals, but the moment I fully accepted them, the effect was electric. There was a sense of victory, followed by such a peace and serenity as I had never

 

known. There was utter confidence. I felt lifted up, as though the great clean wind of a mountain top blew through and through. God comes to most men gradually, but His impact on me was sudden and profound.

 

Faith without works was dead, he said. And how appallingly true for the alcoholic! For if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead. If he did not work, he would surely drink again, and if he drank, he would surely die. Then faith would be dead indeed. With us it is just like that.

 

Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish.

 

Bill W., co-founder of A.A., died January 24, 1971.

 

Chapter 2: THERE IS A SOLUTION

 

We of alcoholics anonymous know thousands of men and women who were once just as hopeless as Bill. Nearly all have recovered. They have solved the drink problem.

 

We know that while the alcoholic keeps away from drink, as he may do for months or years, he reacts much like other men. We are equally positive that once he takes any alcohol whatever into his system, something happens, both in the bodily and mental sense, which makes it virtually impossible for him to stop. The experience of any alcoholic will abundantly confirm this.

 

The main problem of the alcoholic centers in his mind, rather than in his body.

 

At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail. This tragic situation has already arrived in practically every case long before it is suspected.

 

The fact is that most alcoholics, for reasons yet obscure, have lost the power of choice in drink. Our socalled will power becomes practically non-existent. We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the

 

suffering and humiliation of even a week or a month ago. We are without defense against the first drink.

 

Chapter 3: MORE ABOUT ALCOHOLISM

 

Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows.

 

Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death.

 

We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals usually brief—were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better.

 

We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men. We have tried every imaginable remedy. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn’t done so yet.

 

Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self-deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right-about-face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people!

 

Here are some of the methods we have tried: Drinking beer only, limiting the number of drinks, never drinking alone, never drinking in the morning, drinking only at home, never having it in the house, never drinking during business hours, drinking only at parties, switching from scotch to brandy, drinking only natural wines, agreeing to resign if ever drunk on the job, taking a trip, not taking a trip, swearing off forever (with and without a solemn oath), taking more physical exercise, reading inspirational books, going to health farms and sanitariums, accepting voluntary commitment to asylums—we could increase the list ad infinitum.

 

Though there is no way of proving it, we believe that early in our drinking careers most of us could have stopped drinking. But the difficulty is that few alcoholics have enough desire to stop while there is yet time. We have heard of a few instances where people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism, were able to stop for a long period because of an overpowering desire to do so. Here is one.

 

A man of thirty was doing a great deal of spree drinking. He was very nervous in the morning after these bouts and quieted himself with more liquor. He was ambitious to succeed in business, but saw that he would get nowhere if he drank at all. Once he started, he had no control whatever. He made up his mind that until he had been successful in business and had retired, he would not touch another drop. An exceptional man, he remained bone dry for twenty-five years and retired at the age of fifty-five, after a successful and happy business career. Then he fell victim to a belief which practically every alcoholic has —that his long period of sobriety and self-discipline had qualified him to drink as other men. Out came his carpet slippers and a bottle. In two months he was in a hospital, puzzled and humiliated. He tried to regulate his drinking for a while, making several trips to the hospital meantime. Then, gathering all his forces, he attempted to stop altogether and found he could not. Every means of solving his problem which money could buy was at his disposal. Every attempt failed. Though a robust man at retirement, he went to pieces quickly and was dead within four years.

 

“Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.’’ Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of

 

any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.

 

For those who are unable to drink moderately the question is how to stop altogether. We are assuming, of course, that the reader desires to stop. Whether such a person can quit upon a nonspiritual basis depends upon the extent to which he has already lost the power to choose whether he will drink or not. Many of us felt that we had plenty of character. There was a tremendous urge to cease forever. Yet we found it impossible. This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it—this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish.

 

What sort of thinking dominates an alcoholic who repeats time after time the desperate experiment of the first drink?

 

In some circumstances we have gone out deliberately to get drunk, feeling ourselves justified by nervousness, anger, worry, depression, jealousy or the like. But even in this type of beginning we are obliged to admit that our justification for a spree was insanely insufficient in the light of what always happened. We now see that when we began to drink deliberately, instead of casually, there was little serious or effective thought during the period of premeditation of what the terrific consequences might be.

 

The actual or potential alcoholic, with hardly an exception, will be absolutely unable to stop drinking on the basis of self-knowledge. This is a point we wish to emphasize and re-emphasize, to smash home upon our alcoholic readers as it has been revealed to us out of bitter experience.

 

He was positive that this humiliating experience, plus the knowledge he had acquired, would keep him sober the rest of his life. Self-knowledge would fix it.

 

Not only had I been off guard, I had made no fight whatever against the first drink. This time I had not thought of the consequences at all

 

If I had an alcoholic mind, the time and place would come—I would drink again. They had said that though I did raise a

 

defense, it would one day give way before some trivial reason for having a drink.

 

I knew from that moment that I had an alcoholic mind. I saw that will power and self-knowledge would not help in those strange mental blank spots.

 

An alcoholic mentality was a hopeless condition. They cited cases out of their own experience by the dozen. This process snuffed out the last flicker of conviction that I could do the job myself.

 

The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense. His defense must come from a Higher Power.

 

Chapter 4: WE AGNOSTICS

 

In the preceding chapters you have learned something of alcoholism. We hope we have made clear the distinction between the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic. If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit entirely, or if when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic. If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.

 

To one who feels he is an atheist or agnostic such an experience seems impossible, but to continue as he is means disaster, especially if he is an alcoholic of the hopeless variety. To be doomed to an alcoholic death or to live on a spiritual basis are not always easy alternatives to face.

 

Find a Power greater than yourself which will solve your problem.

 

As soon as we were able to lay aside prejudice and express even a willingness to believe in a Power greater than ourselves, we commenced to get results, even though it was impossible for any of us to fully define or comprehend that Power, which is God.

 

Much to our relief, we discovered we did not need to consider another’s conception of God. Our own conception, however inadequate, was sufficient to make the approach and to effect a contact with Him. As soon as we admitted the possible existence

 

of a Creative Intelligence, a Spirit of the Universe underlying the totality of things, we began to be possessed of a new sense of power and direction, provided we took other simple steps. We found that God does not make too hard terms with those who seek Him. To us, the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men.

 

Are not some of us just as biased and unreasonable about the realm of the spirit as were the ancients about the realm of the material?

 

When we saw others solve their problems by a simple reliance upon the Spirit of the Universe, we had to stop doubting the power of God. Our ideas did not work. But the God idea did.

 

The Wright brothers’ almost childish faith that they could build a machine which would fly was the mainspring of their accomplishment. Without that, nothing could have happened. We agnostics and atheists were sticking to the idea that self-sufficiency would solve our problems. When others showed us that “God-sufficiency’’ worked with them, we began to feel like those who had insisted the Wrights would never fly.

 

When we became alcoholics, crushed by a self-imposed crisis we could not postpone or evade, we had to fearlessly face the proposition that either God is everything or else He is nothing. God either is, or He isn’t. What was our choice to be?

 

For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

 

Chapter 5: HOW IT WORKS

 

 

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely

 

give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way.

 

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

 

  1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol— that our lives had become unmanageable.

 

  1. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

 

  1. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

 

  1. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

 

  1. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

 

  1. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

 

  1. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

 

  1. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

 

  1. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

 

  1. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

 

  1. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

 

  1. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

 

Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.’’ Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to

 

maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

 

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:

 

That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives. That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.

That God could and would if He were sought.

 

Being convinced, we were at Step Three, which is that we decided to turn our will and our life over to God as we understood Him. Just what do we mean by that, and just what do we do?

 

The first requirement is that we be convinced that any life run on self-will can hardly be a success. On that basis we are almost always in collision with something or somebody, even though our motives are good. Most people try to live by self-propulsion. Each person is like an actor who wants to run the whole show; is forever trying to arrange the lights, the ballet, the scenery and the rest of the players in his own way.

 

We alcoholics must be rid of this selfishness. We must, or it kills us! God makes that possible.

 

This is the how and why of it. First of all, we had to quit playing God. It didn’t work. Next, we decided that hereafter in this drama of life, God was going to be our Director. He is the Principal; we are His agents. He is the Father, and we are His children. Most good ideas are simple, and this concept was the keystone of the new and triumphant arch through which we passed to freedom.

 

When we sincerely took such a position, all sorts of remarkable things followed. We had a new Employer. Being all powerful, He provided what we needed, if we kept close to Him and performed His work well. Established on such a footing we became less and less interested in ourselves, our little plans and designs. More and

 

more we became interested in seeing what we could contribute to life.

 

We were now at Step Three. Many of us said to our Maker, as we understood Him: “God, I offer myself to Thee—to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!’’ We thought well before taking this step making sure we were ready; that we could at last abandon ourselves utterly to Him.

 

Our liquor was but a symptom. So we had to get down to causes and conditions.

 

Therefore, we started upon a personal inventory. This was Step Four. A business which takes no regular inventory usually goes broke. Taking a commercial inventory is a fact-finding and a fact-facing process. It is an effort to discover the truth about the stock-in-trade. One object is to disclose damaged or unsalable goods, to get rid of them promptly and without regret. If the owner of the business is to be successful, he cannot fool himself about values.

 

But the more we fought and tried to have our own way, the worse matters got. As in war, the victor only seemed to win. Our moments of triumph were short lived.

 

It is plain that a life which includes deep resentment leads only to futility and unhappiness. To the precise extent that we permit these, do we squander the hours that might have been worthwhile. But with the alcoholic, whose hope is the maintenance and growth of a spiritual experience, this business of resentment is infinitely grave. We found that it is fatal. For when harboring such feelings we shut ourselves off from the sunlight of the Spirit. The insanity of alcohol returns and we drink again. And with us, to drink is to die.

 

If we were to live, we had to be free of anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.

 

The verdict of the ages is that faith means courage. All men of faith have courage. They trust their God. We never apologize for God. Instead we let Him demonstrate, through us, what He can do. We ask Him to remove our fear and direct our attention to what He would have us be. At once, we commence to outgrow fear.

 

Chapter 6: INTO ACTION

 

This is perhaps difficult—especially discussing our defects with another person. We think we have done well enough in admitting these things to ourselves. There is doubt about that. In actual practice, we usually find a solitary self-appraisal insufficient. Many of us thought it necessary to go much further.

 

If we skip this vital step, we may not overcome drinking. Time after time newcomers have tried to keep to themselves certain facts about their lives. Trying to avoid this humbling experience, they have turned to easier methods.

 

More than most people, the alcoholic leads a double life. He is very much the actor. To the outer world he presents his stage character. This is the one he likes his fellows to see. He wants to enjoy a certain reputation but knows in his heart he doesn’t deserve it.

 

The inconsistency is made worse by the things he does on his sprees. Coming to his senses, he is revolted at certain episodes he vaguely remembers. These memories are a nightmare. He trembles to think someone might have observed him. As fast as he can, he pushes these memories far inside himself. He hopes they will never see the light of day. He is under constant fear and tension—that makes for more drinking.

 

The rule is we must be hard on ourselves, but always considerate of others.

 

When ready, we say something like this: “My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.’’ We have then completed Step Seven.

 

Now we need more action, without which we find that “Faith without works is dead.’’ Let’s look at Steps Eight and Nine. We have a list of all persons we have harmed and to whom we are willing to make amends. We made it when we took inventory. We subjected ourselves to a drastic self-appraisal. Now we go out to our fellows and repair the damage done in the past. We attempt to sweep away the debris which has accumulated out of our effort to live on self-will and run the show ourselves. If we haven’t the will to do this, we ask until it comes. Remember it was agreed at the beginning we would go to any lengths for victory over alcohol.

 

Simply we tell him that we will never get over drinking until we have done our utmost to straighten out the past. We are there to sweep off our side of the street, realizing that nothing worth while can be accomplished until we do so, never trying to tell him what he should do. His faults are not discussed. We stick to our own. If our manner is calm, frank, and open, we will be gratified with the result.

 

In nine cases out of ten the unexpected happens. Sometimes the man we are calling upon admits his own fault, so feuds of years’ standing melt away in an hour. Rarely do we fail to make satisfactory progress. Our former enemies sometimes praise what we are doing and wish us well. Occasionally, they will offer assistance. It should not matter, however, if someone does throw us out of his office. We have made our demonstration, done our part. It’s water over the dam.

 

So, we clean house with the family, asking each morning in meditation that our Creator show us the way of patience, tolerance, kindliness and love.

 

The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.

 

We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace. No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows. Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole

 

attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

 

This thought brings us to Step Ten, which suggests we continue to take personal inventory and continue to set right any new mistakes as we go along.

 

That is the miracle of it. We are not fighting it, neither are we avoiding temptation. We feel as though we had been placed in a position of neutrality—safe and protected. We have not even sworn off. Instead, the problem has been removed. It does not exist for us. We are neither cocky nor are we afraid. That is our experience. That is how we react so long as we keep in fit spiritual condition.

 

It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee— Thy will (not mine) be done.’’ These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will.

 

Step Eleven suggests prayer and meditation. We shouldn’t be shy on this matter of prayer.

 

We alcoholics are undisciplined. So we let God discipline us in the simple way we have just outlined.

 

But this is not all. There is action and more action. “Faith without works is dead.’’ The next chapter is entirely devoted to Step Twelve.

 

Chapter 7: WORKING WITH OTHERS

 

Practical experience shows that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail. This is our twelfth suggestion: Carry this message to other alcoholics! You can help when no one

 

else can. You can secure their confidence when others fail.

 

Remember they are very ill.

 

Life will take on new meaning. To watch people

 

recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends— this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.

 

We have no monopoly on God;

 

Helping others is the foundation stone of your recovery. A kindly act once in a while isn’t enough. You have to act the Good Samaritan every day, if need be.

 

This truth: Job or no job—wife or no wife—we simply do not stop drinking so long as we place dependence upon other people ahead of dependence on God.

 

Burn the idea into the consciousness of every man that he can get well regardless of anyone. The only condition is that he trust in God and clean house.

 

Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do. People have said we must not go where liquor is served; we must not have it in our homes; we must shun friends who drink; we must avoid moving pictures which show drinking scenes; we must not go into bars; our friends must hide their bottles if we go to their houses; we mustn’t think or be reminded about alcohol at all. Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so.

 

We meet these conditions every day. An alcoholic who cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status. His only chance for sobriety would be someplace like the Greenland Ice Cap, and even there an Eskimo might turn up with a bottle of scotch and ruin everything!

 

In our belief any scheme of combating alcoholism which proposes to shield the sick man from temptation is doomed to failure. If the alcoholic tries to shield himself he may succeed for a time, but he usually winds up with a bigger explosion than ever. We have tried

 

these methods. These attempts to do the impossible have always failed.

 

After all, our problems were of our own making. Bottles were only a symbol. Besides, we have stopped fighting anybody or anything. We have to!

 

“He wants to want to stop.”

 

Chapter 9: THE FAMILY AFTERWARD

 

All members of the family should meet upon the common ground of tolerance, understanding and love. This involves a process of deflation. The alcoholic, his wife, his children, his “in-laws,” each one is likely to have fixed ideas about the family’s attitude towards himself or herself. Each is interested in having his or her wishes respected. We find the more one member of the family demands that the others concede to him, the more resentful they become. This makes for discord and unhappiness.

 

Henry Ford once made a wise remark to the effect that experience is the thing of supreme value in life. That is true only if one is willing to turn the past to good account. We grow by our willingness to face and rectify errors and convert them into assets. The alcoholic’s past thus becomes the principal asset of the family and frequently it is almost the only one!

 

Cling to the thought that, in God’s hands, the dark past is the greatest possession you have—the key to life and happiness for others. With it you can avert death and misery for them.

 

 

First Things First, Live and Let Live, Easy Does It.

 

Chapter 10: TO EMPLOYERS

 

Understand that he must undergo a change of heart. To get over drinking will require a transformation of thought and attitude. We all had to place recovery above everything,

 

The greatest enemies of us alcoholics are resentment, jealousy, envy, frustration, and fear. Wherever men are gathered together in business there will be rivalries and, arising out of these, a

 

certain amount of office politics. Sometimes we alcoholics have an idea that people are trying to pull us down. Often this is not so at all. But sometimes our drinking will be used politically.

 

Chapter 11: A VISION FOR YOU

 

The familiar alcoholic obsession that few knew of his drinking.

 

They must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary. It was transcended by the happiness they found in giving themselves for others. They shared their homes, their slender resources, and gladly devoted their spare hours to fellow-sufferers. They were willing, by day or night, to place a new man in the hospital and visit him afterward. They grew in numbers. They experienced a few distressing failures, but in those cases they made an effort to bring the man’s family into a spiritual way of living, thus relieving much worry and suffering.

 

Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the Great Fact for us.

 

Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.

 

May God bless you and keep you—until then.

 

DOCTOR BOB’S NIGHTMARE

 

A co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. The birth of our Society dates from his first day of permanent sobriety, June 10, 1935.

 

 

To 1950, the year of his death, he carried the A.A. message to more than 5,000 alcoholic men and women, and to all these he gave his medical services without thought of charge.

 

June 10, 1935, and that was my last drink.

 

As I write, nearly four years have passed.

 

The question which might naturally come into your mind would be: “What did the man do or say that was different from what others had done or said?” It must be remembered that I had read a great deal and talked to everyone who knew, or thought they knew anything about the subject of alcoholism. But this was a man who had experienced many years of frightful drinking, who had had most all the drunkard’s experiences known to man, but who had been cured by the very means I had been trying to employ, that is to say the spiritual approach. He gave me information about the subject of alcoholism which was undoubtedly helpful. Of far more importance was the fact that he was the first living human with whom I had ever talked, who knew what he was talking about in regard to alcoholism from actual experience. In other words, he talked my language. He knew all the answers, and certainly not because he had picked them up in his reading.

 

 

I spend a great deal of time passing on what I learned to others who want and need it badly. I do it for four reasons:

 

  1. Sense of duty.

 

  1. It is a pleasure.

 

  1. Because in so doing I am paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me.

 

  1. Because every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip.

 

Unlike most of our crowd, I did not get over my craving for liquor much during the first two and one-half years of abstinence. It was almost always with me. But at no time have I been anywhere near yielding. I used to get terribly upset when I saw my friends drink and knew I could not, but I schooled myself to believe that though I once had the same privilege, I had abused it so frightfully that it was withdrawn. So it doesn’t behoove me to squawk about it for, after all, nobody ever had to throw me down and pour liquor down my throat.

 

If you think you are an atheist, an agnostic, a skeptic, or have any other form of intellectual pride which keeps you from accepting what is in this book, I feel sorry for you. If you still think you are strong enough to beat the game alone, that is your affair. But if you really and truly want to quit drinking liquor for good and all, and sincerely feel that you must have some help, we know that we have an answer for you. It never fails, if you go about it with one half the zeal you have been in the habit of showing when you were getting another drink.

 

After reviewing these things and realizing what liquor had cost me, I went to this Higher Power that, to me, was God, without any reservation, and admitted that I was completely powerless over alcohol and that I was willing to do anything in the world to get rid of the problem. In fact, I admitted that from then on I was willing to let God take over instead of me. Each day I would try to find out what His will was and try to follow that, rather than trying to get Him to always agree that the things I thought up for myself were the things best for me. So, when they came back, I told them.

 

Whether you quit six days, months, or years, if you go out and take a drink or two, you’ll end up in this hospital tied down, just like you have been in these past six months. You are an alcoholic.” As far as I know that was the first time I had ever paid any attention to that word. I figured I was just a drunk. And they said, “No, you have a disease, and it doesn’t make any difference how long you do without it, after a drink or two you’ll end up just like you are now.” That certainly was real disheartening news, at the time.

 

The next question they asked was, “You can quit twenty-four hours, can’t you?” I said, “Sure, yes, anybody can do that, for twenty-four hours.” They said, “That’s what we’re talking about. Just twenty-four hours at a time.” That sure did take a load off of my mind. Every time I’d start thinking about drinking, I would think of the long, dry years ahead without having a drink; but this idea of twenty-four hours, that it was up to me from then on, was a lot of help.

 

“If they can do it, I can do it!” Over and over he said this to himself. Finally, out of his hope, there burst conviction. Now he

 

was sure. Then came a great joy. At length, peace stole over him and he slept.

 

It was in the next two or three days after I had first met Doc and Bill that I finally came to a decision to turn my will over to God and to go along with this program the best that I could. Their talk and action had instilled in me a certain amount of confidence, although I was not too absolutely certain. I wasn’t afraid that the program wouldn’t work, but I still was doubtful whether I would be able to hang on to the program, but I did come to the conclusion that I was willing to put everything I had into it, with God’s power, and that I wanted to do just that.

 

I remember telling them too that it was going to be awfully tough, because I did some other things, smoked cigarettes and played penny ante poker and sometimes bet on the horse races, and they said, “Don’t you think you’re having more trouble with this drinking than with anything else at the present time? Don’t you believe you are going to have all you can do to get rid of that?” “Yes,” I said, reluctantly, “I probably will.” They said, “Let’s forget about those other things, that is, trying to eliminate them all at once, and concentrate on the drink.”

 

I’ve heard people get up in meetings and say it—is this statement: “I came into A.A. solely for the purpose of sobriety, but it has been through A.A. that I have found God.”

 

I became an active alcoholic from that first day, when alcohol produced a very special effect in me. I was transformed. Alcohol suddenly made me into what I had always wanted to be.

 

Alcohol became my everyday companion. At first, I considered it a friend; later, it became a heavy load I couldn’t get rid of. It turned out to be much more powerful than I was, even if, for many years, I could stay sober for short periods. I kept telling myself that one way or another I would get rid of alcohol. I was convinced I would find a way to stop drinking. I didn’t want to acknowledge that alcohol had become so important in my life. Indeed, alcohol was giving me something I didn’t want to lose.

 

I will keep my job for a year while you go save the drunks.” That is exactly what I set out to do.

 

As I look back on it now, I did everything wrong, but at least I was thinking of somebody else instead of myself. I had begun to get a little bit of something I am very full of now, and that is gratitude.

 

“Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us.” It is very simple—though not always easy. But it can be done.

 

I know the Fellowship of A.A. doesn’t offer any guarantees, but I also know that in the future I do not have to drink. I want to keep this life of peace, serenity, and tranquility that I have found.

 

When I entered a sanitarium for prolonged and intensive psychiatric treatment, I was convinced that I was having a serious mental breakdown. I wanted help, and I tried to cooperate. As the treatment progressed, I began to get a picture of myself, of the temperament that had caused me so much trouble. I had been hypersensitive, shy, idealistic. My inability to accept the harsh realities of life had resulted in a disillusioned cynic, clothed in a protective armor against the world’s misunderstanding. That armor had turned into prison walls, locking me in loneliness—and fear. All I had left was an iron determination to live my own life in spite of the alien world—and here I was, an inwardly frightened, outwardly defiant woman, who desperately needed a prop to keep going.

 

Alcohol was that prop, and I didn’t see how I could live without it.

 

I wasn’t mad or vicious—I was a sick person. I was suffering from an actual disease that had a name and symptoms like diabetes or cancer or TB—and a disease was respectable, not a moral stigma!

 

“We cannot live with anger.” The walls crumpled—and the light streamed in. I wasn’t trapped. I wasn’t helpless. I was free, and I didn’t have to drink to “show them.” This wasn’t “religion”—this was freedom! Freedom from anger and fear, freedom to know happiness, and freedom to know love.

 

“The thing I do is to say ‘God, here I am and here are all my troubles. I’ve made a mess of things and can’t do anything about it. You take me, and all my troubles, and do anything you want with me.’ Does that answer your question?”

 

I am learning that I cannot have my own way as I used to. I blame my wife and children. Anger possesses me, anger such as I have never felt before.

 

Strength has come from weakness.

 

I learn that honesty is truth and that truth shall make us free!

 

Invariably reward myself for my efforts with that “first” drink.

 

Every time I blacked out, and that was every time I drank, there was always that gnawing fear, “What did I do this time?”

 

The mental state of the sick alcoholic is beyond description.

 

But we were staying sober as long as we kept and talked together. There was one meeting a week at Bill’s home in Brooklyn, and we all took turns there spouting off about how we had changed our lives overnight, how many drunks we had saved and straightened out, and last but not least, how God had touched each of us personally on the shoulder. Boy, what a circle of confused idealists! Yet we all had one really sincere purpose in our hearts, and that was not to drink.

 

Our one desire is to stay in A.A. and not on it. Our pet slogan is “Easy Does It.”

 

I got to the place where I’d look forward to the weekend’s drinking and pacify myself by saying that the weekends were mine, that it didn’t interfere with my family or with my business if I drank on the week- ends. But the weekends stretched on into Mondays, and the time soon came when I drank every day.

 

One clear thought came to me: Try prayer. You can’t lose, and maybe God will help you —just maybe, mind you. Having no one else to turn to, I was willing to give Him a chance, although with considerable doubt. I got down on my knees for the first time in thirty years. The prayer I said was simple. It went something like this: “God, for eighteen years I have been unable to handle this problem. Please let me turn it over to you.”

 

Nothing had changed and yet everything had changed. The scales had dropped from my eyes, and I could see life in its proper

 

perspective. I had tried to be the center of my own little world, whereas God was the center of a vast universe of which I was perhaps an essential, but a very tiny, part.

 

There have also been numerous times when I have thought about taking a drink. Such thinking usually began with thoughts of the pleasant drinking of my youth. I learned early in my A.A. life that I could not afford to fondle such thoughts, as you might fondle a pet, because this particular pet could grow into a monster. Instead, I quickly substitute one or another vivid scene from the nightmare of my later drinking.

 

The Six-Step program as it was at that time. The six steps were:

  1. Complete deflation.

 

  1. Dependence and guidance from a Higher Power.

 

  1. Moral inventory.

 

 

 

  1. Continued work with other alcoholics.

 

When you are right and the time is right, Providence will provide.

 

One could not take the moral inventory and then file it away; that the alcoholic has to continue to take inventory every day if he expects to get well and stay well.

 

I was thirty-three years old and my life was spent. I was caught in a cycle of alcohol and sedation that was proving inescapable, and consciousness had become intolerable.

 

Every doctor gets his quota of alcoholic patients. Some of us struggle with these people because we know that they are really very sick, but we also know that, short of some miracle, we are not going to help them except temporarily and that they will inevitably get worse and worse until one of two things happens. Either they die of acute alcoholism or they develop wet brains and have to be put away permanently.”

 

He further explained that alcohol was no respecter of sex or background but that most of the alcoholics he had encountered had better-than-average minds and abilities. He said the alcoholics seemed to possess a native acuteness and usually excelled in their fields, regardless of environmental or educational advantages.

 

“We watch the alcoholic performing in a position of responsibility, and we know that because he is drinking heavily and daily, he has cut his capacities by 50 percent, and still he seems able to do a satisfactory job. And we wonder how much further this man could go if his alcoholic problem could be removed and he could throw 100 percent of his abilities into action.

 

“But, of course,” he continued, “eventually the alcoholic loses all of his capacities as his disease gets progressively worse, and this is a tragedy that is painful to watch: the disintegration of a sound mind and body.”

 

More often, I was having these little moments of clarity, times I knew for sure that I was an alcoholic. Times when I was looking at the bottom of my glass asking myself, Why am I doing this? Something had to give, something had to change. I was suicidal, evaluating every part of my life for what could be wrong. It culminated in one last night of drinking and staring at the problem. It made me sick to think about it, and even sicker to continue drinking it away. I was forced to look at my drinking as the chief suspect.

 

The idea that religion and spirituality were not one and the same was a new notion. My sponsor asked that I merely remain open-minded to the possibility that there was a Power greater than myself, one of my own understanding. He assured me that no person was going to impose a belief system on me, that it was a personal matter. Reluctantly, I opened my mind to the fact that maybe, just maybe, there was something to this spiritual lifestyle. Slowly but surely, I realized there was indeed a Power greater than myself, and I soon found myself with a full-time God in my life and following a spiritual path that didn’t conflict with my personal religious convictions.

 

I started drinking nearly thirty years ago—right after I was married. My first drinking spree was on corn liquor, and I was

 

allergic to it, believe me. I was deathly sick every time I took a drink. But we had to do a lot of entertaining. My husband liked to have a good time; I was very young, and I wanted to have a good time too. The only way I knew to do it was to drink right along with him.

 

 

I am trying now, each day, to make up for all those selfish, thoughtless, foolish things I did in my drinking days. I hope that I never forget to be grateful.

 

I should have realized that alcohol was getting hold of me when I started to become secretive in my drinking.

 

I never knew which came first, the thinking or the drinking. If I could only stop thinking, I wouldn’t drink. If I could only stop drinking, maybe I wouldn’t think. But they were all mixed up together, and I was all mixed up inside. And yet I had to have that drink.

 

After that I sat for a week, a body in a chair, a mind off in space. I thought the two would never get together. I knew that alcohol and I had to part. I couldn’t live with it anymore. And yet, how was I going to live without it? I didn’t know. I was bitter, living in hate. The very person who stood with me through it all and has been my greatest help was the person that I turned against, my husband. I also turned against my family, my mother. The people who would have come to help me were just the people I would have nothing to do with.

 

Nevertheless, I began to try to live without alcohol. But I only succeeded in fighting it. And believe me, an alcoholic cannot fight alcohol. I said to my husband, “I’m going to try to get interested in something outside, get myself out of this rut I’m in.”

 

Mere cessation from drinking is not enough for an alcoholic while the need for that drink goes on.

 

“Half measures availed us nothing”; No one made me drink, and no one was going to make me stay sober. This program is for people who want it, not people who need it.

 

If everyone who needed A.A. showed up, we would be bursting at the seams. Unfortunately, most never make it to the door.

 

Following the principles laid out in the Big Book has not always been comfortable, nor will I claim perfection. I have yet to find a place in the Big Book that says, “Now you have completed the Steps; have a nice life.” The program is a plan for a lifetime of daily living. There have been occasions when the temptation to slack off has won. I view each of these as learning opportunities.

 

 

“You hit bottom when you stop digging.” DENIAL IS THE MOST cunning, baffling, and powerful part of my disease, the disease of alcoholism.

 

I found everything I had ever looked for in Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

I used to thank God for putting A.A. in my life; now I thank A.A.

for putting God in my life.

 

As long as I put A.A. first in my life, everything that I put second would be first class.

 

I asked the therapist I was seeing, sometimes with beer in hand, would I have to stop? His answer was that we had to find out why I drank. I’d already tried but was never able to find out why until I learned the answer in A.A.—because I’m an alcoholic.

 

I learned that alcoholism isn’t a sin, it’s a disease.

 

The slogans on the walls, which at first made me shudder, began to impress me as truths I could live by: “One Day at a Time.” “Easy Does It.” “Keep It Simple.” “Live and Let Live.” “Let Go and Let God.” “The Serenity Prayer.”

 

Commitment and service were part of recovery. I was told that to keep it we have to give it away.

 

HOW CAN a person with a fine family, an attractive home, an excellent position, and high standing in an important city become an alcoholic? As I later found out through Alcoholics Anonymous, alcohol is no respecter of economic status, social and business standing, or intelligence.

 

In the first step of the Twelve Steps of A.A. “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become un-manageable.”

 

The explanation that alcoholism was a disease of a two-fold nature, an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind,

 

The obsession of the mind was a little harder to understand, and yet everyone has obsessions of various kinds. The alcoholic has them to an exaggerated degree. Over a period of time he has built up self-pity and resentments toward anyone or anything that interferes with his drinking.

 

He suggested that for me a good starting point would simply be recognition of the fact that I had failed in running the world—in short, acceptance of the fact that I was not God. He also suggested that I might try occasionally to act as if I believed. Somewhere I had heard that it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting, and this made sense in the context of “acting as if.”

 

I remember telling a friend years ago that I didn’t have a drinking problem, I had a stopping problem. We laughed. It was true, but there was something else going on, something that never occurred to me until I came to A.A. I didn’t just have a stopping problem. I had a starting problem too.

 

In working the steps, my life changed. I think differently today; I feel different today. I am new. We have a sign at the A.A. meetings I go to that says, “Expect a Miracle.” My sobriety is full of miracles.

 

“Don’t drink! Don’t think! Go to meetings!”

 

Many years later, although alcohol is not part of my life and I no longer have the compulsion to drink, it can still occur to me what a good drink tastes like and what it can do for me, from my stand-at-attention alcoholic taste buds right down to my stretched out tingling toes. As my sponsor used to point out, such thoughts are like red flags, telling me that something is not right, that I am stretched beyond my sober limit. It’s time to get back to basic A.A. and see what needs changing. That special relationship with

 

alcohol will always be there, waiting to seduce me again. I can stay protected by continuing to be an active member of A.A.

 

Later I learned the definition of a social drinker: some-one who could take it or leave it.

 

They said I only had to go to meetings on days I would have had a drink. They said I needed to identify, not compare. I didn’t know what they meant. What was the difference? Identifying, they said, was trying to see how I was like the people I was with. Comparing, they told me, was looking for differences, usually seeing how I was better than others.

 

By taking care of the internal environment via the Twelve Steps, and letting the external environment take care of itself.)

 

“I’m a success today if I don’t drink today,”

 

(Today there is absolutely nothing in the world more important to me than my keeping this alcoholic sober; not taking a drink is by far the most important thing I do each day.)

 

It helped me a great deal to become convinced that alcoholism was a disease, not a moral issue; that I had been drinking as a result of a compulsion, even though I had not been aware of the compulsion at the time; and that sobriety was not a matter of willpower.

 

At last, acceptance proved to be the key to my drinking problem.

 

When I stopped living in the problem and began living in the answer, the problem went away.

 

And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.

 

Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could not stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life’s terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes.

 

  • and acceptance have taught me that there is a bit of good in the worst of us and a bit of bad in the best of us; that we are all children of God and we each have a right to be here. When I

 

complain about me or about you, I am complaining about God’s handiwork. I am saying that I know better than God.

 

Before A.A. I judged myself by my intentions, while the world was judging me by my actions.

 

One of the primary differences between alcoholics and non-alcoholics is that non-alcoholic change their behavior to meet their goals and alcoholics change their goals to meet their behavior.

 

“You don’t have to drink over it.”

 

“It’s not how much you drink, it’s what drinking does to you.”

 

The tides of life flow endlessly for better or worse, both good and bad, and I cannot allow my sobriety to become dependent on these ups and downs of living. Sobriety must live a life of its own.

 

There is a saying that alcoholics either get sobered up, locked up, or covered up.

 

From experience, I’ve realized that I cannot go back and make a brand-new start. But through A.A., I can start from now and make a brand-new end.

 

I went to meetings every day and started taking the steps. The First Step showed me that I was powerless over alcohol and anything else that threatened my sobriety or muddled my thinking. Alcohol was only a symptom of much deeper problems of dishonesty and denial.

 

What I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter what hardships and losses I’ve endured in sobriety, I have not had to go back to drinking. As long as I work the program, keep being of service, go to meetings, and keep my spiritual life together, I can live a decent life.

 

As my faith grows, my fears lessen.

 

True happiness is found in the journey, not the destination.

 

Humility is the key.

 

Some people get sober because they’re afraid to die. I knew I would live, and that was far more terrifying. I had surrendered.

 

For each step, I still had to go through the process of recognizing that I had no control over my drinking. I had to understand that the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous had helped others and could help me. I had to realize that if I did want sobriety, I had better do the steps whether I liked them or not. Every time I ran into trouble, I ultimately found that I was resisting change.

 

My mentor had to remind me that A.A. is not just a project. A.A. offers me an opportunity to improve the quality of my life. I came to recognize that there is always a deeper and wider experience awaiting me.

 

All my sobriety and growth, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, are dependent upon my willingness to listen, understand, and change.

 

“There is just one good drunk in every alcoholic’s life, and that’s the one that brings us into A.A.,”

 

The A.A. members who sponsored me told me in the beginning that I would not only find a way to live without having a drink, but that I would find a way to live without wanting to drink, if I would do these simple things. They said if you want to know how this program works, take the first word of your question— the “H” is for honesty, the “O” is for open-mindedness,

 

and the “W” is for willingness

 

“If you have a resentment you want to be free of, if you will pray for the person or the thing that you resent, you will be free. If you will ask in prayer for everything you want for yourself to be given to them, you will be free. Ask for their health, their prosperity, their happiness, and you will be free. Even when you don’t really want it for them and your prayers are only words and you don’t mean it, go ahead and do it anyway. Do it every day for two weeks, and you will find you have come to mean it and to want it for them, and you will realize that where you used to feel bitterness and resentment and hatred, you now feel compassionate understanding and love.”

 

“The only real freedom a human being can ever know is doing what you ought to do because you want to do it.”

 

“A.A. does not teach us how to handle our drinking,” he said. “It teaches us how to handle sobriety.”

 

It’s no great trick to stop drinking; the trick is to stay stopped.

 

I have come to realize that the name of the game is not so much to stop drinking as to stay sober. Alcoholics can stop drinking in many places and many ways—but Alcoholics Anonymous offers us a way to stay sober.

 

God willing, we members of A.A. may never again

 

have to deal with drinking, but we have to deal with sobriety every day.

 

THE A.A. TRADITION

 

The Twelve Traditions

 

One—Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.

 

Two—For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority— a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

 

Three—The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

 

Four—Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.

 

Five—Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

 

Six—An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.

 

Seven—Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

 

Eight—Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.

 

Nine—A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.

 

Ten—Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

 

Eleven—Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.

 

Twelve—Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

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Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin | Book Summary

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Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich by Duane Elgin 

 

 

First published in 1981, VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY was quickly recognized as a powerful and visionary work in the emerging dialogue over sustainable living. Now-more than 44 years later and with many of the planet′s environmental stresses more urgent than ever-Duane Elgin has once again revised and updated his revolutionary book.

VOLUNTARY SIMPLICITY is not a book about living in poverty; it is a book about living with balance. Elgin illuminates the changes that an increasing number of Americans are making in their everyday lives-adjustments in day-to-day living that are an active, positive response to the complex dilemmas of our time. By embracing the tenets of voluntary simplicity-frugal consumption, ecological awareness, and personal growth-people can change their lives and, in the process, save our planet.

 

What is Voluntary Simplicity?

It turns out voluntary simplicity has a lot of synonyms that Elgin uses throughout the book including:

Green lifeways, Earth-friendly living, soulful living, simple living, sustainable lifestyles, living lightly, compassionate lifeways, conscious simplicity, Earth-conscious living, simple prosperity

What does “voluntarily” mean?

“To live more voluntarily is to live more consciously. To live more consciously is to live in a life-sensing manner. It is to taste our experience of life directly as we move through the world.”

“To live more voluntarily is to live more deliberately, intentionally, and purposefully—in short, it is to live more consciously…To act in a voluntary manner is to be aware of ourselves as we move through life. This requires that we pay attention not only to the actions we take in the outer world, but to ourselves acting—our inner world.”

What does “simply” mean?

“To live more simply is to live in harmony with the vast ecology of all life. It is to live with balance—taking no more than we require and, at the same time, giving fully of ourselves.”

“To live more simply is to live more purposefully and with a minimum of needless distraction…To live more simply is to unburden ourselves—to live more lightly, cleanly, aerodynamically. It is to establish a more direct, unpretentious, and unencumbered relationship with all aspects of our lives: the things that we consume, the work that we do, our relationships with others, our connections with nature and the cosmos, and more. Simplicity of living means meeting life face-to-face. It means confronting life clearly, without unnecessary distractions. It means being direct and honest in relationships of all kinds. It means taking life as it is—straight and unadulterated.”

And, when you put it all together into “voluntary simplicity”:

“When we combine these two concepts for integrating the inner and outer aspects of our lives, we can then say: Voluntary simplicity is a way of living that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich. It is a way of being in which our most authentic and alive self is brought into direct and conscious contact with living.”

 

What are the Goals of Voluntary Simplicity?

Simplicity can be applied to every aspect of your life. Elgin acknowledges that those who adopt life changes of simplicity often do so after “deep soul-searching.”

He sums up the objective as:

The objective of the simple life is not to dogmatically live with less but to live with balance in order to realize a life of greater purpose, fulfillment, and satisfaction.

First, we must wake up:

We can awaken ourselves from the dream of limitless material growth and actively invent new ways to live within the material limits of Earth.

With conscious simplicity, we can seek lives that are rich with experiences, satisfaction, and learning rather than packed with things.

You can change your life and change the world:

By embracing a lifeway of voluntary simplicity — characterized by ecological awareness, frugal consumption, and personal growth — people can change their lives. And in the process, they have the power to change the world.

And, connect directly with the world:

Simplicity fosters a more conscious and direct encounter with the world.

In living more simply we encounter life more directly—in a firsthand and immediate manner. We need little when we are directly in touch with life.

 

How You Can get Started with Voluntary Simplicity and Live Simply:

The simplicity movement is a global “leaderless revolution.” But, there are many ways you can get involved if you choose to do so (and I hope you do!):

“When people ask me, ‘What can I do?’ I often reply that one of the most powerful things we can do is to start talking with other people about our personal hopes and fears for the future.”

“As individuals we are not powerless. Opportunities for meaningful and important action are everywhere: in the food we eat, the work we do, the transportation we use, the manner in which we relate to others, the clothing we wear, the learning we acquire, the compassionate causes we support, the level of attention we invest in our moment-to-moment passage through life, and so on. The list is endless, since the stuff of social transformation is identical with the stuff from which our daily lives are constructed.”

“The character of a society is the cumulative result of the countless small actions taken day in and day out, by millions of persons.”

“Traditional political and economic perspectives fail to recognize the most radical change of all in a free-market economy and democratic society: the empowerment of individuals to consciously take charge of their own lives and to begin changing their manner of work, patterns of consumption, forms of governance, modes of communication, and much more.”

“Simplicity is simultaneously a personal choice, a community choice, a national choice, and a species choice.”

“The outcome of this time of planetary transition will depend on the choices that we make as individuals. Nothing is lacking. Nothing more is needed than what we already have. We require no remarkable, undiscovered technologies.”

“Our choice is ruin or responsibility.”

“As we become empowered to take charge of our lives, we feel that no one is to blame other than ourselves if our experience of life is not satisfying.”

“To live sustainably, it is vital that we each decide how much is ‘enough.’”

“Conscious simplicity is not an alternative way of life for a marginal few; it is a creative choice for the mainstream majority, particularly in developed nations.”

 

The History of Simplicity:

Simplicity has been a theme in all the world’s wisdom traditions: Christian, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Puritan, Quaker, Transcendentalist, you name it. The Greeks have the “golden mean” and the Buddhists have the “middle way.”

“Living more consciously seems to be at the core of a path of simplicity and, in turn, makes it clear why this way of life is compatible with Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sufism, Zen, and many more traditions.

“An old Eastern saying states, ‘Simplicity reveals the master.’ As we gradually master the art of living, a consciously chosen simplicity emerges as the expression of that mastery. Simplicity allows the true character of our lives to show through.”

“Historian of the simple life David Shi describes the common denominator among the various approaches to simpler living as the understanding that the making of money and the accumulation of things should not smother the purity of the soul, the life of the mind, the cohesion of the family, or the good of the society.”

Elgin spends some time highlighting the work of Richard Gregg, who coined the term “voluntary simplicity” in the 1930s:

“(Richard Gregg) said that the purpose of life was to create a life of purpose.”

“Gregg saw a life of conscious simplicity and balance as vital in realizing our life purpose because it enables us to avoid needless distractions and busyness.”

“Simplicity is a relative matter depending on climate, customs, culture, and the character of the individual.” — Richard Gregg

“Voluntary simplicity involves both inner and outer condition. It means singleness of purpose and sincerity and honesty within, as well as avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions irrelevant to the chief purpose of life. It means an ordering and guiding of our energy and our desires, a partial restraint in some directions in order to secure greater abundance of life in other directions. It involves a deliberate organization of life for a purpose. Of course, as different people have different purposes in life, what is relevant to the purpose of one person might not be relevant to the purpose of another…The degree of simplification is a matter for each individual to settle for himself.” — Richard Gregg

 

Simple Living Myths & Misconceptions:

Elgin says, “Contrary to media myths, consumerism offers lives of sacrifice while simplicity offers lives of opportunity.” In the media, simplicity is often presented as: 1) Crude or Regressive Simplicity (anti-technology, anti-innovation, back-to-nature movement), 2) Cosmetic or Superficial Simplicity (shallow simplicity, green lipstick on our unsustainable lives), or 3) Deep or Conscious Simplicity.

Myth #1: Simplicity means poverty

“It makes an enormous difference whether greater simplicity is voluntarily chosen or involuntarily imposed.

“Simplicity is not about a life of poverty, but a life of purpose.”

“Voluntary simplicity is not about living in poverty; it is about living with balance.”

“Poverty is involuntary and debilitating, whereas simplicity is voluntary and enabling. Poverty is mean and degrading to the human spirit, whereas a life of conscious simplicity can have both a beauty and a functional integrity that elevates the human spirit. Involuntary poverty generates a sense of helplessness, passivity, and despair, whereas purposeful simplicity fosters a sense of personal empowerment, creative engagement, and opportunity.”

“A conscious simplicity, then, is not self-denying but life-affirming. Voluntary simplicity is not an ‘ascetic simplicity’ (of strict austerity); rather, it is an ‘aesthetic simplicity’ where each person considers how his or her level and pattern of consumption can fit with grace and integrity into the practical art of daily living on this planet.”

Myth #2: Simplicity means rural living

“Instead of a ‘back to the land’ movement, it is much more accurate to describe this as a ‘make the most of wherever you are’ movement.”

Myth #3: Simplicity means ugly living

Myth #4: Simplicity means economic stagnation

“Although the consumer and material goods sectors would contract, the service and public sectors (education, health care, urban renewal) would expand dramatically. When we look around at the condition of the world, we see a huge number of unmet needs: caring for the elderly, restoring the environment, educating illiterate and unskilled youth, repairing decaying roads and infrastructure, providing health care, creating community markets and local enterprises, retrofitting the urban landscape for sustainability, and many more. Because there are enormous numbers of unmet needs, there are equally large numbers of purposeful and satisfying jobs waiting to get done. The difficulty is that in many industrialized nations there is such an overwhelming emphasis placed on individual consumption that it has resulted in the neglect of work that promotes public well-being.”

 

Wake up & break out of Society’s Automation:

“Simplicity is the razor’s edge that cuts through the trivial and finds the essential.”

“To live voluntarily requires not only that we be conscious of the choices before us (the outer world) but also that we be conscious of ourselves as we select among those choices (the inner world). We must be conscious of both the choices and ourselves as the chooser. Put differently, to act voluntarily is to act in a self-determining manner. But who is the ‘self’ making the decisions? If that ‘self’ is both socially and psychologically conditioned into habitual patterns of thought and action, then behavior can hardly be considered voluntary. Therefore, self-realization—the process of realizing who the ‘self’ really is—is crucial to self-determination and voluntary action.”

“If we do not become conscious of these automated patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving, then we become, by default, human automatons.”

“An old adage states, ‘It’s a rare fish that knows it swims in water.’ Analogously, the challenge of living voluntarily is not in gaining access to the conscious experiencing of ourselves but rather in consciously recognizing the witnessing experience and then learning the skills of sustaining our opening to that experience.”

“The capacity to move through life with conscious awareness is central to our species identity. We have given ourselves the scientific name Homo sapiens, which means that we are a species that not only ‘knows’ but ‘know that it knows.’ We have identified our core trait as a species—our capacity for reflective consciousness. Living ever more consciously goes to the very heart of our species natures and to our core evolutionary journey as a human community.”

“To the extent that we are able to see or know our automated patterns, we are then no longer bound by them. We are enabled to act and live voluntarily.”

“As we learn to watch ourselves ever more precisely and intimately, the boundaries between the ‘self-in-here’ and the ‘world-out-there’ begin to dissolve. In the stage beyond self-reflective consciousness, we no longer stand apart from existence as observers; now we are fully immersed within it as conscious participants.”

 

On Media (TV & Internet):

“As the Internet fosters a new capacity for rapid feedback from citizens and organizations around the world, the human family is developing a level of collective awareness, understanding, and responsiveness to the well-being of the Earth that previously would have been unimaginable.”

TV: “Mass entertainment is used to capture the attention of a mass audience that is then appealed to by mass advertising in order to promote mass consumption.”

“Because television’s being programmed to achieve commercial success, the mind-set of entire nations is being programmed for ecological failure.”

“The most precious resource of a civilization—the shared consciousness of its citizenry—is literally being prostituted and sold to the highest corporate bidders.”

“Because the overwhelming majority of prime-time hours on television are devoted to programming for amusement, we are entertainment-rich and knowledge-poor.”

 

On Identity:

“The hallmark of a balanced simplicity is that our lives become clearer, more direct, less pretentious, and less complicated. We are then empowered by our material circumstances rather than enfeebled or distracted by them. Excess in either direction—too much or too little—is complicating.”

“When we engage in ‘identity consumption,’ we become possessed by our possessions, we are consumed by that which we consume.”

“We begin a never-ending search for a satisfying experience of identity. We look beyond ourselves for the next thing that will make us happy…But the search is both endless and hopeless, because it is continually directed away from the ‘self’ that is doing the searching.”

“It is transformative to withdraw voluntarily from the preoccupations with the material rat race of accumulation and instead accept our natural experience — unadorned by superfluous goods — as sufficient unto itself.”

“A self-reinforcing spiral of growth begins to unfold: As we live more consciously, we feel less identified with our material possessions and thereby are enabled to live more simply. As we live more simply and our lives become less filled with unnecessary distractions, we find it easier to bring our undivided attention into our passage through life, and are thereby enabled to live more consciously.”

 

On Inner & Outer Alignment:

“Simplicity has as much to do with each person’s purpose in living as it does with his or her standard of living.”

“Voluntary simplicity, then, involves not only what we do (the outer world) but also the intention with which we do it (the inner world).”

“The ecological crisis we now face has emerged, in no small part, from the gross disparity that exists between our relatively underdeveloped inner faculties and the extremely powerful external technologies at our disposal.”

“Throughout history, few people have had the opportunity to develop their interior potentials because much of the human journey has been preoccupied with the struggle for survival.”

“Simpler living integrates both inner and outer aspects of life into an organic and purposeful whole.”

 

On Work:

“Given the drive to find meaningful work coupled with the shortage of such work in today’s economy, it is not surprising that many choosing a simpler way of life are involved in starting their own small businesses.”

“When our work is life-serving, then our energy and creativity can flow cleanly and directly through us and into the world without impediment or interruption.”

“Overall, people viewed work in four primary ways:

As a means of supporting oneself in activity that is meaningful and materially sustaining

As an opportunity to support others by producing goods and services that promote a workable and meaningful world

As a context for learning about the nature of life—using work as a medium of personal growth

As a direct expression of one’s character and talents—as a celebration of one’s existence in the world”

 

On Money & Materialism:

“Once a person or family reaches a moderate level of income, here are the factors that research has shown contribute most to happiness: good health, personal growth, strong social relationships, service to others, connection with nature.”

“Until the last few generations, a majority of people have lived close to subsistence, so an increase in income brought genuine increases in material well-being, and this has produced more happiness. However, in a number of developed nations, levels of material well-being have moved beyond subsistence to unprecedented abundance.”

“The more materialistic values are at the center of our lives, the more our quality of life is diminished…reported lower levels of happiness and self-actualization and higher levels of depression, anxiety, narcissism, antisocial behavior, and physical problems such as headaches.” — Tim Kasser

 

Questions to Ponder:

Elgin poses many thought-provoking questions throughout the book. Here are my favorites that are worth thinking about:

“Who are these people who want to slow down, lighten their impact on the Earth, and grow the quality of their relationships with the rest of life?”

“Why would an individual or couple adopt a way of life that is more materially frugal, ecologically oriented, inner-directed, and in other ways removed from the materialism of much of Western society?”

“What is the pathway from consumer to conserver?”

“If the material consumption of a fraction of humanity is already harming the planet, is there an alternative path that enables all of humanity to live more lightly upon the Earth while experiencing a higher quality of life?”

“Instead of visualizing how material limitation can draw out new levels of community and cooperation, many people see a life of greater ‘simplicity’ as a path of sacrifice and regress. Living within the limits that the Earth can sustain raises a fundamental question: Can we live more lightly on the material side of life while living with greater satisfaction and meaning on the nonmaterial side of life?”

“They all share 3 concerns:

How are we to live sustainably on the Earth?

In harmony with one another?

And in communion with the universe?”

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