APN93 - How Am I That?

You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson More Wisdom in Less Time this is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.

How am I that? Speaking of shadows, another really powerful way to deal with that disintegrated, murky stuff we project onto others is is this little game I often play. Think of someone who recently annoyed you. Identify what it is about them that really bugs you. Are they greedy? Hyper? Ambitious? Impatient? Do they cut people off in mid sentence and never really listen? Do they act like they know it all? What is it about them that gets you all wound up? Got it? Sweet. Now ask yourself, how am I that? And make that a practice. What you'll notice if you're like me is that we tend to be most annoyed by people who are demonstrating qualities that we are still working on. Debbie Ford says it's kind of like having electrical sockets on our chest. If we've recognized and accepted our own greed, selfishness, impatience, whatever. It's as if we've put one of those childproof covers over the socket and no one can plug into that energy. We may notice a certain quality in people, but we're no longer triggered by them. But run into someone who demonstrates qualities we haven't integrated into our lives and yikes, they plug into that open socket and we get all pissy again. The solution is relatively simple. Notice when you're being super critical of other people and know that you're just observing something within you that you need to address. Then celebrate the opportunity to grow as you count how many fingers are pointing back at you. Attend your own lectures and ask, how am I that? A little footnote here. Got this awesome little game from the great book the Power of Full Engagement by Jim Lehrer and Tony Schwartz. As always, check out the philosopher's note in the book if you're feeling it.

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