Brian Johnson delivers a short Heroic +1 segment connecting prior discussions on the ‘dishrag theory’ of motivation and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to the practice of self-compassion. He reassures listeners that unmotivation is common, references Kristin Neff’s concept of "common humanity," and recounts Marsha Linehan gifting a calligraphied passage from Rainer Maria Rilke. Johnson reads and repeats Rilke’s line from Letters to a Young Poet: “do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled…His life has much difficulty and sadness. Were it otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words.” The episode closes with a compassionate exhortation to do one’s best and offer wisdom born of struggle.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last couple ones we chatted about the dishrag theory of motivation and connected that to acceptance and commitment therapy. Beyond helping you do what needs to get done whether you feel like it or not, the main point of those plus ones was simple. I wanted to share the fact that you are not alone when you feel unmotivated to do the things you know you really want to do. I know that the story I used to tell myself was that something was wrong with me because I felt fear and laziness and all the other things was one of my primary contributors to my suffering. Which is why I try to come back to the fact that there are no perfect human beings as often as I do. There's something incredibly powerful about having the self compassion. Check out the notes to Embrace what Kristin Neff calls common humanity. With that in mind, I want to share some wisdom from Reiner Maria Rilke in her great memoir that we discussed not too long ago. Check out our notes on building a Life Worth Living. Marsha Linehan shares an incredible gem from Rilke. She and her colleagues gave a calligraphy version of this wisdom to one of their mentors, and Marsha these days has a copy of it framed on the wall in her therapy office. It in his letters to a young poet, Rilke once said, do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness. Were it otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words. And that's today's plus one. I repeat, do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness. Were it otherwise, he would never have been able to find those words. Amen to that. There are no perfect human beings, and you and I won't be the first. It's the challenges we have struggled with and continue to struggle with that give us the wisdom we are blessed to share. Here's to humbly yet heroically doing our best as we strive to forge the the strength for two and give the world all we've got today.
