Anger can be a weapon...If you control it, use it. Otherwise you can get lost in it.﻿

Anger

Don't Be Sorry, Be Better.

Learn From Mistakes

In war, a soldier sees beauty only in the blood of his enemy. The rest of him is lost...sometimes never to return.

Do not mistake my silence for the lack of grief.

Grief 

Wars are fought for two things- survival or advantage. Battles may be won by the better soldier. Wars are won by those who are willing to sacrifice everything to ensure victory.

Sacrifice 

Keep your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed.

Expectations

Atreus: So I'm a man now, like you. No. We are not men. We are more than that. The responsibility is far greater. And you must be better than me.

Responsibility 

We win because we are determined. Disciplined. Not because we feel ourselves superior.

Discipline

Athena: There is one unavoidable truth you will never escape. You cannot change. You will always be....a monster. I know. ﻿But I am your monster no longer.

Choice

Do not concern yourself with what might be, focus on what is.

Anxiety

We will be the Gods we choose to be, not those who have been.

The power of this weapon, any weapon, comes from your heart...but only when tempered by your mind. By the discipline, the self-control, of the one who wields it. That is where the true strength of a warrior lies. You must never forget that.

True Strength

I killed many who were deserving... And many who were not. The cycle ends here. We must be better.

Accepting The Truth

Wisdom of Kratos in his own words. A person who has grown old in a profession where men die young. 

The novelization of the highly anticipated God of War game. His vengeance against the Gods of Olympus years behind him, Kratos now lives as a man in the realm of Norse gods and monsters. It is in this harsh, unforgiving world that he must fight to survive... and teach his son to do the same. This startling reimagining of God of War deconstructs the core elements that defined the series-- satisfying combat; breathtaking scale; and a powerful narrative--and fuses them anew.

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

entertainment

Entertainment

anime

Anime

The novelization of the highly anticipated God of War game. His vengeance against the Gods of Olympus years behind him, Kratos now lives as a man in the realm of Norse gods and monsters. It is in this harsh, unforgiving world that he must fight to survive... and teach his son to do the same. This startling reimagining of God of War deconstructs the core elements that defined the series-- satisfying combat; breathtaking scale; and a powerful narrative--and fuses them anew.

J. M. Barlog

God of War - The Official Novelization

The following post is a guestpost by Walter Chen, founder of a unique new project management tool <a href="https://idonethis.com/">IDoneThis </a>. More about Walter at the bottom of the post. So, here is the thing right at the start: I’ve always been uncomfortable with the traditional ideal of the professional — cool, collected, and capable, checking off tasks left and right, all numbers and results and making it happen, please, with not a hair out of place. An effective employee, no fuss, no muss, a manager’s dream. You might as well be describing an ideal vacuum cleaner.

So, here is the thing right at the start: I’ve always been uncomfortable with the traditional ideal of the professional — cool, collected, and capable, checking off tasks left and right, all numbers and results and making it happen, please, with not a hair out of place. An effective employee, no fuss, no muss, a manager’s dream. You might as well be describing an ideal vacuum cleaner. I admit that I’ve never been able to work that way.  There is one thing that always came first and most importantly for me: How am I feeling today? I found that it can easily happen to think of emotions as something that gets in the way of work. When I grew, I often heard that they obstruct reasoning and rationality, but I feel that we as humans can’t shut off our humanness when we come to work.

I admit that I’ve never been able to work that way.  There is one thing that always came first and most importantly for me: How am I feeling today? I found that it can easily happen to think of emotions as something that gets in the way of work. When I grew, I often heard that they obstruct reasoning and rationality, but I feel that we as humans can’t shut off our humanness when we come to work. Feelings provide important feedback during our workday. It doesn’t make sense to pretend that it’s best or even possible to keep our emotions and work separate, treating our capacity for emotion and thought as weakness. I wanted to look into whether there was anything besides a gut feeling to my suspicions behind keeping the head and the heart separate in business.

Feelings provide important feedback during our workday. It doesn’t make sense to pretend that it’s best or even possible to keep our emotions and work separate, treating our capacity for emotion and thought as weakness. I wanted to look into whether there was anything besides a gut feeling to my suspicions behind keeping the head and the heart separate in business.

It turns out, quite a lot. Emotions play a leading role in how to succeed in business because they influence how much you try and this is widely misunderstood by bosses and managers.Psychologists Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer interviewed over 600 managers and found a shocking result. 95 percent of managers misunderstood what motivates employees. They thought what motivates employees was making money, getting raises and bonuses.

What Does Emotion Have To Do With Our Work

In fact, after analyzing over 12,000 employee diary entries, they discovered that the number one work motivator was emotion, not financial incentive: it’s the feeling of making progress every day toward a meaningful goal. In Fact, Dan Pink found that actually the exact oposite is true:

“The larger the monetary reward, the poorer the performance. – money doesn’t motivate us, at all, instead emotions do.” In the famous expriment by Dr. Edward Deci clarified again whether emotional feedback or money would engagement with work.  People were sitting in a room and tried to solve a puzzle while Deci measured how much time they put in, before giving up.  For Group A, he offered a cash reward for successfully solving the puzzle, and as you might expect, those people spent almost twice as much time trying to solve the puzzle as those people in Group B who weren’t offered a prize.

A surprising thing happened the next day, when Deci told Group A that there wasn’t enough money to pay them this time around: Group A lost interest in the puzzle.  Group B, on the other hand, having never been offered money in exchange for working on the puzzles, worked on the puzzles longer and longer in each consecutive session and maintained a higher level of sustained interest than Group A. So if it not money what else really motivates us?

Pink <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc">explains </a>further that there are in fact just 3 very simple things that drive nearly each and everyone of us to work hard: <ul><li>Autonomy : Our desire to direct our own lives. In short: “You probably want to do something interesting, let me get out of your way!” </li><li>Mastery : Our urge to get better at stuff. </li><li>Purpose : The feeling and intention that we can make a difference in the world. </li> </ul>

3 Real Reasons That Motivate Us To Work Hard Everyday 

If these three things play nicely together, Amabile and Kramer<a href="http://www.progressprinciple.com/">called this </a>the somewhat obvious “inner work life balance” and emphasize its importance to how well we work. Inner work life is what’s going on in your head in response to workday events that affects your performance.

These components: motivation, emotions, and perceptions of how the above three things work together feed each other. So ultimately our emotional processes impact our motivation to work. They end up being the main influencer of our performance. Deci’s experiment showed that payment actually undermined intrinsic motivation because such external rewards thwart our “three psychological needs- to feel autonomous, to feel competent and to feel related to others.” As he told BBC, “You need thinkers, problem solvers, people who can be creative and using money to motivate them will not get you that.”

Amabile and Kramer tell us this: So how does our brain deal with emotion and connect it to such practical results like motivation and productivity? Well, the ironic part is that the parts of the brain that deal with emotions are actually connected to those that deal with cognition . Richard J. Davidson explains how emotional and cognitive functions interrelate. To get all “brainy” with this: Emotions are wired straight into our thinking and cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and reasoning.

What’s going on inside our brains that connects our emotions to motivate you as a thinker and problem solver?

health

Health

habits

Habits

mentalhealth

Mental Health

The Science Behind What Motivates Us to Get Up for Work Every Day

The neural impulses from your taste buds and your ears get transmitted to your brain, which process them and dump them into working memory-so by the time you know you are experiencing something, it's already in the past. Already a memory.Everything we experience us this careful, tape-delayed reconstruction.

Is There Something As Present?

We are homesick most for the places we have never known.

All living really is one long goodbye to those we love.

More like our perception of it is so flawed that it may as well be an illusion. Every moment is equally real and happen ing now, but the nature of our consciousness only gives us access to one slice at a time. Think of our life like a book. Each page a distinct moment. But in the same way we read a book, we can only perceive one moment, one page, at a time. Our flawed perception shuts off access to all the others.

Is Time An Illusion?

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

When a person dies, he only appears to die. He is still very much alive in the past... All moments, past, present and future, always have existed, always will exist. It is just on illusion we have here on Earth that one moment follows another one, like beads on a string, and that once a moment is gone it is gone forever.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix film. “Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel.”—The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • BookRiot Reality is broken. At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself. In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back. Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos. Praise for Recursion “An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian “Another profound science-fiction thriller. Crouch masterfully blends science and intrigue into the experience of what it means to be deeply human.”—Newsweek “Definitely not one to forget when you’re packing for vacation . . . [Crouch] breathes fresh life into matters with a mix of heart, intelligence, and philosophical musings.”—Entertainment Weekly “A trippy journey down memory lane . . . [Crouch’s] intelligence is an able match for the challenge he’s set of overcoming the structure of time itself.”—Time “Wildly entertaining . . . another winning novel from an author at the top of his game.”—AV Club

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

timemanagement

Time Management

books

Books

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Dark Matter and the Wayward Pines trilogy comes a relentless thriller about time, identity, and memory—his most mind-boggling, irresistible work to date, and the inspiration for Shondaland’s upcoming Netflix film. “Gloriously twisting . . . a heady campfire tale of a novel.”—The New York Times Book Review NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Time • NPR • BookRiot Reality is broken.   At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery—and what’s in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself.   In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth—and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back.   Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy—before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos. Praise for Recursion “An action-packed, brilliantly unique ride that had me up late and shirking responsibilities until I had devoured the last page . . . a fantastic read.”—Andy Weir, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian “Another profound science-fiction thriller. Crouch masterfully blends science and intrigue into the experience of what it means to be deeply human.”—Newsweek “Definitely not one to forget when you’re packing for vacation . . . [Crouch] breathes fresh life into matters with a mix of heart, intelligence, and philosophical musings.”—Entertainment Weekly “A trippy journey down memory lane . . . [Crouch’s] intelligence is an able match for the challenge he’s set of overcoming the structure of time itself.”—Time “Wildly entertaining . . . another winning novel from an author at the top of his game.”—AV Club

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the forthcoming novel, Dark Matter, for which he is writing the screenplay for Sony Pictures. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015’s #1 show. With Chad Hodge, Crouch also created Good Behavior, the TNT television show starring Michelle Dockery based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado with his family.

Blake Crouch

Recursion

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Use the power of self-discipline to journey toward your goals without fear, doubt or distraction.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Cultivate your aspirations by discovering your purpose – the “Why” behind your goals.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Once you realize your true aspirations, establish the “How” of achieving your goals by building self-awareness.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Advance your aspirations with decisive action.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Implement self-discipline in your daily life by integrating your activity with your aspirations and values.</li></ul>

Mindful Self-Discipline

Living with Purpose and Achieving Your Goals in a World of Distractions.

If you want to live a life of purpose, build good habits and achieve your goals, there is one skill that is more important than anything else: Self-Discipline. Self-discipline is not about punishment, it's about self-respect. It is not about being inflexible, but about living your best life. It is the superpower of focus in a world of distractions - allowing you to overcome procrastination, excuses, bad habits, low motivation, failures, and self-doubt. With it, you can stay on track with your values and goals even through the times when you are least inspired. Self-discipline allows you to choose who you want to be and live by design rather than by default. As a meditation teacher and self-discipline coach, Giovanni Dienstmann has helped hedge fund managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, artists and pro athletes to live a more focused and disciplined life. Since 2014 he has been successfully coaching people to overcome distractions, procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and other forms of self-sabotage. Whatever self-discipline challenge you face, whatever excuse you are telling yourself - Mindful Self-Discipline is a collection of all these years of experience, converted into a tool for you to use. This revolutionary book is a comprehensive and practical guide for you to develop self-discipline in a balanced way - without beating yourself up. It emphasizes the use of mindfulness and awareness as key components for building habits, rather than forcefulness and willpower. If you have tried other methodologies and failed, then this is for you. This manual for living your life purposefully contains: Over 50 step-by-step exercises Over 100 illustrations and diagrams Links to the scientific studies about each topic Many, many examples - all to make it as easy as possible for you to actually apply all this knowledge and transform your daily life. If you have tried other approaches (Miracle Morning, Atomic Habits, Willpower Instinct, Tiny Habits, Discipline is Freedom, Hooked, Can't Hurt Me) and didn't get the results you were after, then this is for you. Mindful Self-Discipline goes much beyond building habits, time management, and forcing yourself. It is gentler, more achievable, and rooted in living a life of purpose. Think you are not made to be self-disciplined? Think again.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mindfulness

Mindfulness

meditation

Meditation

If you want to live a life of purpose, build good habits and achieve your goals, there is one skill that is more important than anything else: Self-Discipline.Self-discipline is not about punishment, it’s about self-respect. It is not about being inflexible, but about living your best life. It is the superpower of focus in a world of distractions — allowing you to overcome procrastination, excuses, bad habits, low motivation, failures, and self-doubt. With it, you can stay on track with your values and goals even through the times when you are least inspired.Self-discipline allows you to choose who you want to be and live by design rather than by default.As a meditation teacher and self-discipline coach, Giovanni Dienstmann has helped hedge fund managers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, ambitious professionals, artists and pro athletes to live a more focused and disciplined life. Since 2014 he has been successfully coaching people to overcome distractions, procrastination, self-doubt, fear, and other forms of self-sabotage. Whatever self-discipline challenge you face, whatever excuse you are telling yourself — Mindful Self-Discipline is a collection of all these years of experience, converted into a tool for you to use.This revolutionary book is a comprehensive and practical guide for you to develop self-discipline in a balanced way — without beating yourself up. It emphasizes the use of mindfulness and awareness as key components for building habits, rather than forcefulness and willpower. If you have tried other methodologies and failed, then this is for you.This manual for living your life purposefully contains:— Over 50 step-by-step exercises— Over 100 illustrations and diagrams— Links to the scientific studies about each topicMany, many examples — all to make it as easy as possible for you to actually apply all this knowledge and transform your daily life.If you have tried other approaches (Miracle Morning, Atomic Habits, Willpower Instinct, Tiny Habits, Discipline is Freedom, Hooked, Can’t Hurt Me) and didn’t get the results you were after, then this is for you. Mindful Self-Discipline goes much beyond building habits, time management, and forcing yourself. It is gentler, more achievable, and rooted in living a life of purpose.Think you are not made to be self-disciplined? Think again.

Giovanni Dienstmann

Letting go has a lot of similarities to quitting, but one big difference.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">When someone quits it’s generally highly emotional and filled with frustration or anger that something isn’t going as well as they thought.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Letting go no longer has an emotional attachment. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">It’s a moment where you realize this person, thing or situation isn’t serving you anymore, it’s not something you want anymore, and it no longer causes you stress. It’s a feeling and action of peace, of freedom.</li></ul>

Letting Go Vs. Quitting 

Quitting is a bright red faced, loud, screaming toddler while letting go is an old woman with long white hair sitting in a peaceful green garden smiling.

The only question you need to answer to know the difference : Why am I doing this?<ul><li>When you can really clarify why you’re doing something, why you’re doing it for you, not anyone else, it will either make you realize you need to keep working hard to get what you want and you’re feeling a little moment of wanting to quit or it will make you realize there is no reason why. </li><li>When you can’t clarify why you’re doing something, it means it’s time to let it go.</li></ul>

How do you recognize the difference

The difference between letting go and quitting 

When you’re a kid, you hear things like, “Winners never quit and quitters never win” (Vince Lombardi). Then suddenly as an adult you start to think that any time you stop doing something, you’re a…

career

Career

loveandrelationships

Love & Relationships

The Difference Between Giving Up and Letting Go

<ul><li>Which activities energize me and which are the ones that drain me?</li><li>With each thing that you do in a day, imagine a button where you can fast forward to the end of the thing.</li><li>Ask yourself: Do you press the button?</li></ul>

The Fast-Forward Test

Ask yourself 3 questions:<ol><li>Five years from now, what does my life look like? Does it excite you?</li><li>Five years from now, what does my life look like if I were to take a different path? Does it excite you?</li><li>Five years from now, what does my life look like if I didn't have to worry about money or societal expectations?</li></ol>You don't have to commit to one of these paths.The purpose of this is to know what it means to have a life that I love and generate ideas.

The Odyssey Plan

You never know how things will look like unless you try them out. So avoid getting caught in an analysis paralysis and start taking steps.

An Important Reminder

<ul><li>After generating ideas, don't think of being successful with them first. Just think of them as experiments to know if you actually enjoy doing them.</li><li>If the fear of even just getting started is stopping you from experimenting, do the smallest step you can take first.</li><li>Figuratively, throw some spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks.</li></ul>

Experiment

If a method doesn't work, don't quit right away. Just think of another method.<ul><li>For example: if your gym coach isn't good in helping you meet your ideal gym experience, it doesn't mean you don't want to be fit anymore. Just get a different coach.</li></ul>

Iterate

Not knowing what you want in life can get you stuck for a long time.

This video is sponsored by Curiosity Stream. Get access to my bonus content on Nebula when you sign up for Curiosity Stream using this link - http://curiositystream.com/ali How do we build a life that we love? In this video which I recorded during a live stream, we're going to look into the principles, strategies and tools that we can use to genuinely build a life that we love. Enjoy x 🎙 Check out my weekly podcast, Deep Dive - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ - It's also available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc. ⏱ Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:28 Step 1 - Identify 03:27 The Fast-Forward Test 05:49 The Odyssey Plan 09:55 Step 2 - Experiment 13:15 Step 3 - Iterate 17:42 Tips 💌 Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets MY FREE ONLINE COURSES: 🚀 Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity 🎓 How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying 🎬 YouTube for Beginners - Everything You Need To Know To Start - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners MY CREATOR COURSES 🎬 Part-Time YouTuber Academy - My 6-week live online course on becoming a part-time YouTuber → https://go.aliabdaal.com/parttimeyoutuberacademy 🏆 Creatorpreneur - My flagship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle → https://creatorpreneur.academy/course 🗣 Camera Confidence - My self-paced course on how to improve your creativity, career, or communication skills → https://cameraconfidence.aliabdaal.com/ MY FAVOURITE GEAR 🎥 My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal ⌨️ My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) -https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard 📝 My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike 🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk MY FAVOURITE TOOLS 🚀 VidIQ - How I optimise my YouTube videos - https://go.aliabdaal.com/vidiq ✍️ Shortform - The BEST summaries of books - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform 📚 Readwise - How I remember what I read - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise 🎵 Epidemic Sound - Where I get my music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound MY KEY LINKS 🌍 My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com/ 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal 📸 Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal WHO AM I: I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets). PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

This video is sponsored by Curiosity Stream. Get access to my bonus content on Nebula when you sign up for Curiosity Stream using this link - http://curiositystream.com/ali

How do we build a life that we love? In this video which I recorded during a live stream, we're going to look into the principles, strategies and tools that we can use to genuinely build a life that we love. Enjoy x

🎙 Check out my weekly podcast, Deep Dive - https://www.youtube.com/c/DeepDivewithAliAbdaal/ - It's also available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc.

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:28 Step 1 - Identify
03:27 The Fast-Forward Test
05:49 The Odyssey Plan
09:55 Step 2 - Experiment
13:15 Step 3 - Iterate
17:42 Tips

💌  Sign up to my weekly email newsletter - https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets

MY FREE ONLINE COURSES:
🚀  Productivity Masterclass - Principles and Tools to Boost Your Productivity - 
 https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/productivity
🎓  How to Study for Exams - An Evidence-Based Masterclass - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/studying

🎬 YouTube for Beginners - Everything You Need To Know To Start  - https://go.aliabdaal.com/course/YouTube-for-Beginners

MY CREATOR COURSES
🎬 Part-Time YouTuber Academy - My 6-week live online course on becoming a part-time YouTuber → https://go.aliabdaal.com/parttimeyoutuberacademy
🏆 Creatorpreneur - My flagship course for scaling up your creative side-hustle → https://creatorpreneur.academy/course
🗣 Camera Confidence - My self-paced course on how to improve your creativity, career, or communication skills → https://cameraconfidence.aliabdaal.com/

MY FAVOURITE GEAR
🎥  My YouTube Camera Gear - https://kit.co/AliAbdaal
⌨️  My Keyboard - Wireless Coral mechanical keyboard (Cherry Blue) -https://go.aliabdaal.com/keyboard
📝  My favourite iPad Screen Protector - Paperlike - https://go.aliabdaal.com/paperlike
🎒 My Desk Accessories + Todo List - Ugmonk - https://go.aliabdaal.com/ugmonk

MY FAVOURITE TOOLS
🚀 VidIQ - How I optimise my YouTube videos - https://go.aliabdaal.com/vidiq

✍️ Shortform - The BEST summaries of books - https://go.aliabdaal.com/shortform

📚  Readwise - How I remember what I read - https://go.aliabdaal.com/readwise

🎵  Epidemic Sound - Where I get my music (amazing for YouTubers) - https://go.aliabdaal.com/epidemicsound

MY KEY LINKS
🌍  My website / blog - https://www.aliabdaal.com/
🐦  Twitter - https://twitter.com/aliabdaal
📸  Instagram - https://instagram.com/aliabdaal

WHO AM I:
I’m Ali, a YouTuber, podcaster, soon-to-be author and ex-Doctor working in London, UK. I make videos that explore the strategies and tools that help us live happier, healthier and more productive lives. I also have a weekly podcast called Deep Dive (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfo46ZNOV-vtehDc25A1Ug), and I write a weekly email newsletter that contains some quick thoughts + links to interesting things (https://go.aliabdaal.com/subscribe-sundaysnippets).

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

📚 Check out my first book Feel-Good Productivity here: https://www.feelgoodproductivity.com/

Hey, I'm Ali, a doctor turned entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert 😜 

On this channel, we explore evidence-based strategies and tools that can help us be more productive, and build a life that we love. 

If that sounds interesting, consider subscribing! See you in the next video x

Ali Abdaal

How To Build A Life You Love

Have you ever been talking to someone and no matter how much you tried, you just weren't clicking with them? They just didn't seem to understand what you were asking, or maybe they misunderstood everything you said. What can you do to get on the same page as someone, communication-wise?

If the person you're speaking with gives you an unsatisfactory answer — a lie, or a response that's confusing or unclear — don't ask the question again. Instead, <a href="https://www.yourtango.com/2021344128/types-eye-contact-what-they-say-about-someones-attraction-you">simply focus in on their eyes </a>and don't say anything. This technique will make him or her feel a bit trapped, and they'll feel compelled to continue their thoughts.

1. Wait it out.

If someone screams at you, don't do anything, as your reaction can lead them to anger. Once the anger dissipates, they'll probably feel guilty for their aggressive and unpleasant behavior, and will apologize.

2. Stay cool.

If you know that a person is going to criticize, blame or make comments about you, face your fear and try to sit or stand beside them. If you're close, that person will be less negative about you than if you were at a distance.

3. Remain nearby.

Eating a meal is often associated with safety and feeling relaxed, so if you're worried about an encounter with someone, chew some gum. It will fool your brain into thinking that you're eating and that there's nothing to be alarmed about. You'll feel much more confident.

4. Chew gum.

<a href="https://www.yourtango.com/experts/lisa-petsinis/how-interview-well-get-that-job">If you have a job interview </a>or have to take an important test, pretend that the interviewer or proctor is a close friend. You'll feel calmer and will be able to answer questions easier.

5. Imagine that the person you need to impress is a good friend.

If a group of people begin laughing at the same time, everybody in that group will instinctively look at the person they like the most or the person with whom they want to get closer to. If you focus on people's eyes after comedy gold, you'll get some valuable information.

6. Look at people's eyes after telling a joke.

Every time you meet someone, articulate a little more happiness than usual toward the person: smile sincerely or try to say their name kindly and warmly. Over time, you'll start relating much better with this person, and the enjoyment of meeting will be sincere.

7. Be happier than normal when meeting someone.

If your work is connected to people, it's possible to encourage them (without their knowledge) to behave better. Generally, people always try to look their best in a mirror, and never want to appear to themselves as jerks. If there's a mirror behind you, people will see their reflections, and will smile and be nicer.

8. Put a mirror behind yourself at work.

If you want to get the attention of someone you like, look at something directly behind their shoulders. Once you know that you've caught the other person's sight, quickly look into their eyes and smile.

9. Apply the one-two rule.

When we're stressed, we have a tendency to breathe deeper, while our heart pounds ridiculously fast. When this happens, try to force yourself to breathe at a more regular pace and calm down your heartbeat. <a href="https://www.yourtango.com/health-wellness/18-quick-ways-relax-instantly-according-science">You have the power to relax </a>right out of the stress zone.

10. Control your stress.

If you want to make a great first impression with a potential love interest or get someone's sympathy, focus on their eye color; intense eye-contact can be effective in building trust and connection with another person.

11. Don't underestimate the effectiveness of eye contact.

When you're first making your terms known, make them exceedingly high, knowing that the person you're negotiating with will probably not agree to them. However, the person might agree on the actual terms you offer later. People tend to cave in on a smaller request or requirement when they've denied you on something larger beforehand.

12. Raise the bar.

People are drawn to others with self-confidence in themselves and their actions. So even if you're not extremely self-assured, if you look like you are, people will believe it. Much of being a good communicator is in eye contact, smiling, acting confident, and tricking yourself into being relaxed. And these are skills you already have in your power.

13. Exhibit self-confidence.

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Stress is a normal reaction that is a part of life. Stress manifests itself in different ways. Initially, stress activates our flight or flight response. Chronic stress can build into as tension, irritability and even depression.

What is Stress?

Our 'fight or flight' response is just our body's way of handling the stress that we are facing. We become more alert and ready to protect ourselves if necessary.

What is 'fight or flight'?

<ul><li>easily frustrated or agitated</li><li>feeling overwhelmed</li><li>low energy </li><li>headaches</li><li>insomnia</li><li>inability to focus</li><li>being pessimistic </li><li>constant worry </li><li>not eating or eating too much</li><li>procrastinating </li><li>more nervous behaviors( nail biting, pacing etc) </li><li>increased use of alcohol, cigarettes or drugs</li></ul>

Symptoms of Stress

Depression, anxiety, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, eating disorders, acne, hair loss, eczema, gastroinestinal problems (GErD, irritable colon etc)

Consequences to Long-Term Stress

<ol><li>Exercise </li><li>Yoga</li><li>Meditation</li><li>Cuddling, hugging etc </li><li>Reading</li><li>Crying </li><li>Talking about it, implement a plan to deal with the stressor</li></ol>

Stress Relievers

Did the tips here help you? If so, like 👍When I'm stressed, I use a combination of cuddling, reading and talking about it

Final Thoughts

Stress is a natural reaction to what life throws at you. Learn about it. 

Stress can seriously affect your body and mind. Learn more from WebMD about our response to stress, both healthy and unhealthy.

Stress Symptoms: Effects of Stress on the Body

Humans are social animals, that's why society was created.Society is a complex, based on relationships between people, and is a result of activities done by them to assure material and spiritual wealth for individual and group living.Nowadays we must respect rules of everyone's nurture and tolerate anyone's whims.If you have different opinions from the mass and you're the one with deviant behaviour.

People can't be alone

As we grow, we become a personality as we show a unicity of principles we either observe and imitate or build them from zero.Of course the education, surroundings, people and relationships differ from person to person. But one thing remains, the intrinsic understanding of what is right and what is wrong, and if this thing is altered our life will be destroyed.Getting diamond-type value principles will help to at least try to attain the life of a high-value person.

Your personal principles

You'll be bullied by the groups you belong to and soon you'll be alone.It is very hard to be alone in first stages of the loneliness: when everyone you know become just your acquaintances, here appears early stages of depression and apathy.As you progress you understand it's quite good to be alone as you can move faster without anyone grabbing and pulling you back.But there's still a need of someone, who can be your mentor or same level as you, to move together and achieve bigger goals.

Stay alone

Usually we belong to groups that aren't high-valuable, and when we start becoming better than those who are around us, they will envy you and passively kick you out.Those who aren't comfortable being alone or facing hard times will let go of their dreams and goals in order to get accepted by group members.The other ones will move alone and become successful materially, spiritually, personally and only then they will observe a phenomenon of high-value people wanting to found a good relationship/partnership

Self-improving

You need people like you, who are eager to develop, level up and move towards their goal.You'll act out of scarcity in finding friends (they usually will not be high-value)But once you get more experience and become more successful in different spheres of your life, you will attract more high-value personalities .

You need people

Do not get under others' rules of life, instead make your ones stronger

When I started my self-improving I usually felt alone and isolated from my friends . Now I feel like getting more mentors and people like me.

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We all <a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/mental/what-to-know-about-anxiety-signs-to-be-aware-of-and-how-to-cope/">experience anxiety </a> at some point, but when it starts to interfere with your daily functioning, it can become a disorder. According to the American Psychiatric Association, roughly <a href="https://psychiatry.org/patients-families/anxiety-disorders/what-are-anxiety-disorders">30% of people experience anxiety disorders </a>. This more recent estimate is significantly higher than the 19% <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder">reported in the early 2000s </a> by the US National Institute for Mental Health. Thankfully, anxiety is treatable, and there is a wide array of treatment options.

9 Tips To Relieve Anxiety Without Medication 

Medications and therapy are two of the most common treatments for anxiety, and they're highly effective. But there are also natural anxiety remedies like exercise, meditation and breathing exercises that may be able to address your symptoms.

Anxiety -- in small doses -- is a normal part of human life. However, it can become a serious problem when it becomes too frequent, intense or disconnected from reality. Healthy anxiety levels can help warn us about potential threats and increase our reaction speeds. But with an anxiety disorder, people may feel <a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/how-to-stop-an-anxiety-attack-in-2-steps/">overwhelming worry </a> or fear about otherwise mundane matters. In these situations, the brain can become unable to function normally. Some of the more prevalent <a href="https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/facts-statistics">types of anxiety disorders </a> are listed below.

<ul><li>Generalized anxiety disorder : This is the most common type of anxiety disorder. When the onset of anxiety can occur around many different situations or events, without clear linkage to one kind, it is often categorized as generalized anxiety.</li><li>Obsessive-compulsive disorder : OCD involves a combination of obsession and compulsion. The compulsions are often rituals or methods to prevent or reduce the intrusion of obsessive thoughts and feelings.</li></ul>

Panic disorder: Panic is similar to anxiety but dramatically heightened. A panic episode can feel like a heart attack or other life-threatening event and comes on with an overwhelming sense of fear or dread.Post-traumatic stress disorder: PTSD is a response to a particular traumatic event or series of events. The impact of these events is so extreme that the mind and body can feel it recurrently.

Social anxiety disorder: Many people feel some anxiety when engaging in or thinking about social situations. However, it may be a social anxiety disorder if these feelings are debilitating and recurring.

Although natural remedies for anxiety can be helpful for many people, these are not always enough to deal with anxiety disorders. If you find that natural remedies don't sufficiently help with your anxiety, consider speaking about anxiety treatment with a medical expert in mental health.

9 Natural Remedies For Anxiety 

Caffeine is a stimulant, and in many ways, anxiety is a state of overstimulation. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4668773/">Caffeine intake can impact anxiety </a>in individuals, but the relationship is sometimes complicated. Some research has indicated that a high level of caffeine consumption is linked to increased anxiety in men but not women. However, other instances have shown that low levels of caffeine intake may be linked to reducing experiences of anxiety.

1. Limit caffeine intake

How caffeine affects your body can vary significantly between people. Suppose you notice heightened anxiety in the first hour or two after consuming caffeine. In that case, you might try consuming less next time and see if it reduces the anxiety.

Smell plays a special role in the human body. This sense is more <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10982/">directly connected to the brain </a>than the other senses. Based on smell, our brains can determine important information about our environment and how we should respond. For instance, in a state of anxiety, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3782615/">the sense of smell becomes biased towards detecting threats </a>.

2. Use aromatherapy to relax

Smell plays a special role in the human body. This sense is more directly connected to the brain than the other senses. Based on smell, our brains can determine important information about our environment and how we should respond. For instance, in a state of anxiety, the sense of smell becomes biased towards detecting threats .Pleasant, comforting scents may be a helpful way to interrupt this cycle. Removing smells associated with threats and replacing them with ones related to comfort, pleasure and safety may ease anxiety.

If you experience high anxiety levels, a warm cup of <a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/mental/best-teas-for-anxiety-and-stress/">herbal tea </a> could help in more than one way. The ritual of sitting still and drinking tea, as well as the consumption of warm liquid, can all help to calm and soothe the body. Add to this that research has shown some positive links between drinking some teas and reducing anxiety, and this anxiety home remedy begins to look even better.

3. Try herbal tea or supplements

Studies have selectively shown instances of herbal tea consumption being linked to a decline in experiences of anxiety. These studies have been limited in the scope of teas used and the demographics involved. However, many of them have provided significant data. One showed that lavender herbal tea could have a strong ameliorating effect on anxiety in older individuals. Another study is pursuing the long-term effects of chamomile on generalized anxiety disorders , with preliminary research showing some promise.

Many therapists and psychologists recommend <a href="https://www.cnet.com/health/relieve-stress-with-these-5-simple-breathing-exercises/">breathing techniques </a> for reducing anxiety and finding calm. One benefit of deep (diaphragmatic) breathing is a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5455070/">reduction of the presence of cortisol </a>-- the stress hormone -- in the body. One deep breathing technique that's shown significant promise is known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513238/">box breathing </a>. The core of this technique involves taking full breaths and holding for a count of four at each stage of breath. The simple version looks like this: breathe in for four, hold for four, breathe out for four, hold for four and repeat the process.

4. Practice deep breathing

Both meditation and mindfulness techniques have been shown to reduce experiences of anxiety. However, studying these approaches within a clinical framework has been challenging, and further research is needed.

5. Meditation and mindfulness

9 Tips to Relieve Anxiety Without Medication 

Relieve anxiety naturally with these tried-and-true tips.

9 Tips to Relieve Anxiety Without Medication That Actually Work

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