- June 15th, 2023, 1:13 pm
#443277
If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.
My system for happiness and incredible success (which come in that order!) is based largely on three important principles, which my book explores in more detail:
1. You don't have to do anything. In other words, there is nothing you must do.
2. Generally, in almost all cases, you can get and have whatever you want. In other words, you can be successful. That is, in terms of whatever success means for you. It's almost always simply a matter of choice. In other words, generally, in the long run, success is a choice. For example, if you weigh 400 lbs, and you want to lose 200 lbs, you can. If you are an alcoholic and you want to recover and stop drinking, you can. If you are home alone lonely and haven't had a romantic partner in months--or years--and you want to get one soon, you can. Or, if you are a sex addict and you want to recover and stop having sex and live the rest of your life as a born again virgin, you can. If you want to make a million dollars and become a millionaire, you can. If you want to become a bestselling author, you can. If you want to start and own your own successful restaurant, you can. If you want to get married, you can. If you want to get divorced, you can. If you want to climb a huge mountain, you can. If you want to sit at home and spend as much time as possible just quietly sitting on your porch drinking tea and staring up at the stars, you can.
3. To get what you want (i.e. to be successful in your goal), there are things you would (conditionally speaking) have to do. They are the price, and you choose whether or not to pay and thereby get what you want. Whether you call it a "need', a "must", or a "have to", or as I would recommend merely an "indirect want", these are the required means to the desired end, with the end being your goal or in other words what you want and can choose to obtain or achieve (or buy). #1 is still true, because you don't have to do the thing you would have to do to achieve a certain end. For example, to see a certain concert, you might have to buy tickets. But that's only conditional. You don't have to buy tickets, but then you can't see the concert. You can't really understand #3 until you understand #1 and #2, because #3 represents the interesting interplay between #1 and #2: There is nothing you must do, and you can get what you want; but, to get you want, there are certain things you would have to do, but you don't have to do them, but then you won't get what you want.
Many people make the conceptual mistake of thinking of needs as somehow more important than wants, but the exact opposite is actually the case. In reality, needs only have meaning in relation to wants, and in that way the needs are merely emergent relativistic figments of imagination. It's the want (a.k.a. choice) that is the primary thing that is actually important, and the need is merely the means that you would be required to do to get the want. The so-called "need" is actually just the price to get the alleged want. But you aren't actually required to get--or, more accurately, to choose to get--the would-be want or achieve the would-be goal, and thus you aren't actually required to do the conditional need. For instance, if you want to get into a certain concert, you might need tickets. A conditional need is just the price you pay for a want. It's really just an indirect want. For that reason, it's generally much more conducive to happiness to do your best to entirely let go of words like 'need', 'have to', and 'must' when talking about your own actions and choices. While it is technically true to say, "I need tickets to get into the concert, and I want to get into the concert", it's generally much more clear, accurate, and conducive to happiness (and thus also success) to reprogram your mind by rephrasing it as follows: "I want the tickets because I want to get into the concert," or I want the tickets so that I can get into the concert, which is what I want." Notice the preceding two example sentences do not contain any words like 'must', 'need to', or 'have to', let alone even more dangerous, words like 'should', 'ought', or 'try'.
Reprogramming your mind with such clear and precise phasing helps avoid the very dangerous pitfall of falsely seeing the conditional wants (or so-called 'needs') as being more important than the ultimate wants/goals/ends on which they are conditional.
This also makes it much easier to understand and see the difference between being a spiritual slave versus being free-spirited (a.k.a. self-disciplined).
Spiritual slaves either don't understand #1, or don't recognize the truth of #1, or forget #1, or become in dishonest denial of #1.
That is why I wrote in page 120 of my book, "Spiritual imprisonment or spiritual slavery is a self-fulfilling illusion." It's a miserable illusion. Happiness--meaning true consistent happiness and invincible inner peace--comes simply from choosing to be honest with oneself and thereby see the simple truth. There is nothing you must do, and, when it comes to your choices, you always get exactly what you want, meaning what you choose.
I am happy even when I run sweating and panting in terrible discomfort on a treadmill because I know it is what I want to being do, and as soon as I don't want to be doing it, I hit stop. If I take a literal bullet for my kids, I'll be happy when I do it, which is why I choose to do it. Indeed I make many sacrificed for my children, but I never sacrifice my happiness for them. As I write in the book: True love isn't sacrificing your happiness; true love is being happy to sacrifice. That's as true for when you are lovingly sacrificing for a literal biological child as it is for when you are lovingly sacrificing for your future self (i.e. the older version of the human you see in the mirror). When it's chosen for true love, extreme discomfort, pain, and fear might be most delicious and wonderful thing in the world.
Happiness comes not from what you do, per se, but rather from being honest with yourself about why you do it.
Misery--meaning unhappiness--comes from either (1) treating something that's isn't your choice as if it were (i.e. not accepting what you cannot control) or (2) treating something that is your choice as if it wasn't (i.e. forgetting or denying the absolute truth of the fact that there is nothing you must do). There are no shoulds; there are no oughts; there are no musts; there are no needs; and there is no try. There is just what is and what will be, which includes what you choose. And, when it comes to your choices, you always get exactly what you want.
Happiness isn't about whether you sit at home binge eating 4,000 calories of pizza and ice cream in a single night or not, or go to the gym and workout hard for two hours straight while fasting or not. Both of the people who do those two different things can be happy, and both can be unhappy. Both can be free-spirited people who are happily doing what they want and happily getting what they choose, and both can be suffering under the self-fulfilling miserable illusion of spiritual slavery, feeling like a prisoner in their own body and a prisoner to the comfort zone, in a futile attempt to self-medicate their misery with comfort, while suffering under the endless illusion of all sorts of imaginary shoulds and musts. "If I can't be happy, truly happy," they might say, "then I might as well just have what little comfort I can as a half-assed relief against in this miserable inescapable prison called my life."
It can seem counterintuitive but there is comfort in lying to oneself about what one can do or imagining musts. An alcoholic can find comfort not only in the alcohol but in repeatedly telling themself the lie and convincing themself of the lie that they have to drink and they cannot stop drinking.
"I had a rough day, so I need a drink."
"I would love to be sober and give up alcohol, but I cannot. It's just not possible. I have to drink."
"I want to stick to my diet, but I am stressed, so I need something tasty to eat. I have to comfort myself with food."
"I'm so lonely and horny, but I can't get a girlfriend. I have to stay at home and live like this, alone."
"I hate parties and love being home alone, but I must go to the party."
"My spouse is abusive, but I can't leave him. I have to stay."
"I don't want to hit you, but look what you made me do."
Happiness isn't about whether you choose to drink or not, in large part because it is different for different people. That's why restaurant menus have more than one item.
Being a gym rat that spends hours looking in the mirror is a peanut butter sandwich. Being a cigarette-smoking beer-drinking person with a Buddha belly and a jolly Santa Claus smile is a tuna sandwich. Give a tuna-lover a peanut butter sandwich, and they might throw up in disgust, or die from allergy. Give a peanut butter lover a tuna sandwich, and they might throw up in disgust. No matter what you've heard, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander; they can choose for themselves. That is the beauty of diversity. That is the beauty of freedom. That is the beauty of nature and the universe itself: so endlessly creative and diversity-loving, its forms endlessly dancing in the sea of timeless eternity.
It's not about whether you choose to hunt animals, run dog fights, or be an animal-rights-supporting vegetarian; who would I be to tell a lion to not get his teeth bloody eating scared antelope? It's about what you want, what you really want, and what you choose.
Likewise, happiness isn't about whether or not you choose to stay home alone night after night, seven nights a week, with no family, friends, or romantic partners visiting. Some people love that; some people don't. Happiness isn't about whether you sleep with a new different person every single night. Some people love that; some people don't.
Happiness comes from realizing you could have either of those things. It's your choice. You get what you really want, meaning what you choose. Even wild lofty dreams--like becoming a millionaire--are surprisingly obtainable, if it's what you really want. To call it easy is an understatement. Making a choice is infinitely easy.
Happiness is about honestly acknowledging that it's your choice, and being at accepting peace with that choice.
And nobody can take that away from you. Nobody can stop you from unconditionally accepting what you cannot control; nobody can stop you from taking 100% full accepting responsibility for what you can; and nobody can stop you from enjoying the wonderful constant consistent true happiness that comes instantly from choosing to do those two things, the kind of happiness you can choose to have right now.
That kind of true happiness--a.k.a. inner peace, or nirvana, or spiritual grace--is invincible.
And, from that kind of grace and happiness, comes incredible success. People will think you're magical. But, really, you're just spiritually free and happy.
With Love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
---
In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program, both for the free option and the paid option. If you follow the program but don't achieve your goal, you'll get your money back plus $100. For the free option, that means you will still get paid $100 if you don't achieve your goal using his free advice and free system.
My system for happiness and incredible success (which come in that order!) is based largely on three important principles, which my book explores in more detail:
1. You don't have to do anything. In other words, there is nothing you must do.
2. Generally, in almost all cases, you can get and have whatever you want. In other words, you can be successful. That is, in terms of whatever success means for you. It's almost always simply a matter of choice. In other words, generally, in the long run, success is a choice. For example, if you weigh 400 lbs, and you want to lose 200 lbs, you can. If you are an alcoholic and you want to recover and stop drinking, you can. If you are home alone lonely and haven't had a romantic partner in months--or years--and you want to get one soon, you can. Or, if you are a sex addict and you want to recover and stop having sex and live the rest of your life as a born again virgin, you can. If you want to make a million dollars and become a millionaire, you can. If you want to become a bestselling author, you can. If you want to start and own your own successful restaurant, you can. If you want to get married, you can. If you want to get divorced, you can. If you want to climb a huge mountain, you can. If you want to sit at home and spend as much time as possible just quietly sitting on your porch drinking tea and staring up at the stars, you can.
3. To get what you want (i.e. to be successful in your goal), there are things you would (conditionally speaking) have to do. They are the price, and you choose whether or not to pay and thereby get what you want. Whether you call it a "need', a "must", or a "have to", or as I would recommend merely an "indirect want", these are the required means to the desired end, with the end being your goal or in other words what you want and can choose to obtain or achieve (or buy). #1 is still true, because you don't have to do the thing you would have to do to achieve a certain end. For example, to see a certain concert, you might have to buy tickets. But that's only conditional. You don't have to buy tickets, but then you can't see the concert. You can't really understand #3 until you understand #1 and #2, because #3 represents the interesting interplay between #1 and #2: There is nothing you must do, and you can get what you want; but, to get you want, there are certain things you would have to do, but you don't have to do them, but then you won't get what you want.
Many people make the conceptual mistake of thinking of needs as somehow more important than wants, but the exact opposite is actually the case. In reality, needs only have meaning in relation to wants, and in that way the needs are merely emergent relativistic figments of imagination. It's the want (a.k.a. choice) that is the primary thing that is actually important, and the need is merely the means that you would be required to do to get the want. The so-called "need" is actually just the price to get the alleged want. But you aren't actually required to get--or, more accurately, to choose to get--the would-be want or achieve the would-be goal, and thus you aren't actually required to do the conditional need. For instance, if you want to get into a certain concert, you might need tickets. A conditional need is just the price you pay for a want. It's really just an indirect want. For that reason, it's generally much more conducive to happiness to do your best to entirely let go of words like 'need', 'have to', and 'must' when talking about your own actions and choices. While it is technically true to say, "I need tickets to get into the concert, and I want to get into the concert", it's generally much more clear, accurate, and conducive to happiness (and thus also success) to reprogram your mind by rephrasing it as follows: "I want the tickets because I want to get into the concert," or I want the tickets so that I can get into the concert, which is what I want." Notice the preceding two example sentences do not contain any words like 'must', 'need to', or 'have to', let alone even more dangerous, words like 'should', 'ought', or 'try'.
Reprogramming your mind with such clear and precise phasing helps avoid the very dangerous pitfall of falsely seeing the conditional wants (or so-called 'needs') as being more important than the ultimate wants/goals/ends on which they are conditional.
This also makes it much easier to understand and see the difference between being a spiritual slave versus being free-spirited (a.k.a. self-disciplined).
Spiritual slaves either don't understand #1, or don't recognize the truth of #1, or forget #1, or become in dishonest denial of #1.
That is why I wrote in page 120 of my book, "Spiritual imprisonment or spiritual slavery is a self-fulfilling illusion." It's a miserable illusion. Happiness--meaning true consistent happiness and invincible inner peace--comes simply from choosing to be honest with oneself and thereby see the simple truth. There is nothing you must do, and, when it comes to your choices, you always get exactly what you want, meaning what you choose.
I am happy even when I run sweating and panting in terrible discomfort on a treadmill because I know it is what I want to being do, and as soon as I don't want to be doing it, I hit stop. If I take a literal bullet for my kids, I'll be happy when I do it, which is why I choose to do it. Indeed I make many sacrificed for my children, but I never sacrifice my happiness for them. As I write in the book: True love isn't sacrificing your happiness; true love is being happy to sacrifice. That's as true for when you are lovingly sacrificing for a literal biological child as it is for when you are lovingly sacrificing for your future self (i.e. the older version of the human you see in the mirror). When it's chosen for true love, extreme discomfort, pain, and fear might be most delicious and wonderful thing in the world.
Happiness comes not from what you do, per se, but rather from being honest with yourself about why you do it.
Misery--meaning unhappiness--comes from either (1) treating something that's isn't your choice as if it were (i.e. not accepting what you cannot control) or (2) treating something that is your choice as if it wasn't (i.e. forgetting or denying the absolute truth of the fact that there is nothing you must do). There are no shoulds; there are no oughts; there are no musts; there are no needs; and there is no try. There is just what is and what will be, which includes what you choose. And, when it comes to your choices, you always get exactly what you want.
Happiness isn't about whether you sit at home binge eating 4,000 calories of pizza and ice cream in a single night or not, or go to the gym and workout hard for two hours straight while fasting or not. Both of the people who do those two different things can be happy, and both can be unhappy. Both can be free-spirited people who are happily doing what they want and happily getting what they choose, and both can be suffering under the self-fulfilling miserable illusion of spiritual slavery, feeling like a prisoner in their own body and a prisoner to the comfort zone, in a futile attempt to self-medicate their misery with comfort, while suffering under the endless illusion of all sorts of imaginary shoulds and musts. "If I can't be happy, truly happy," they might say, "then I might as well just have what little comfort I can as a half-assed relief against in this miserable inescapable prison called my life."
It can seem counterintuitive but there is comfort in lying to oneself about what one can do or imagining musts. An alcoholic can find comfort not only in the alcohol but in repeatedly telling themself the lie and convincing themself of the lie that they have to drink and they cannot stop drinking.
"I had a rough day, so I need a drink."
"I would love to be sober and give up alcohol, but I cannot. It's just not possible. I have to drink."
"I want to stick to my diet, but I am stressed, so I need something tasty to eat. I have to comfort myself with food."
"I'm so lonely and horny, but I can't get a girlfriend. I have to stay at home and live like this, alone."
"I hate parties and love being home alone, but I must go to the party."
"My spouse is abusive, but I can't leave him. I have to stay."
"I don't want to hit you, but look what you made me do."
Happiness isn't about whether you choose to drink or not, in large part because it is different for different people. That's why restaurant menus have more than one item.
Being a gym rat that spends hours looking in the mirror is a peanut butter sandwich. Being a cigarette-smoking beer-drinking person with a Buddha belly and a jolly Santa Claus smile is a tuna sandwich. Give a tuna-lover a peanut butter sandwich, and they might throw up in disgust, or die from allergy. Give a peanut butter lover a tuna sandwich, and they might throw up in disgust. No matter what you've heard, what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander; they can choose for themselves. That is the beauty of diversity. That is the beauty of freedom. That is the beauty of nature and the universe itself: so endlessly creative and diversity-loving, its forms endlessly dancing in the sea of timeless eternity.
It's not about whether you choose to hunt animals, run dog fights, or be an animal-rights-supporting vegetarian; who would I be to tell a lion to not get his teeth bloody eating scared antelope? It's about what you want, what you really want, and what you choose.
Likewise, happiness isn't about whether or not you choose to stay home alone night after night, seven nights a week, with no family, friends, or romantic partners visiting. Some people love that; some people don't. Happiness isn't about whether you sleep with a new different person every single night. Some people love that; some people don't.
Happiness comes from realizing you could have either of those things. It's your choice. You get what you really want, meaning what you choose. Even wild lofty dreams--like becoming a millionaire--are surprisingly obtainable, if it's what you really want. To call it easy is an understatement. Making a choice is infinitely easy.
Happiness is about honestly acknowledging that it's your choice, and being at accepting peace with that choice.
And nobody can take that away from you. Nobody can stop you from unconditionally accepting what you cannot control; nobody can stop you from taking 100% full accepting responsibility for what you can; and nobody can stop you from enjoying the wonderful constant consistent true happiness that comes instantly from choosing to do those two things, the kind of happiness you can choose to have right now.
That kind of true happiness--a.k.a. inner peace, or nirvana, or spiritual grace--is invincible.
And, from that kind of grace and happiness, comes incredible success. People will think you're magical. But, really, you're just spiritually free and happy.
With Love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
---
In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program, both for the free option and the paid option. If you follow the program but don't achieve your goal, you'll get your money back plus $100. For the free option, that means you will still get paid $100 if you don't achieve your goal using his free advice and free system.
My entire political philosophy summed up in one tweet.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
"The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master."
I believe spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) manifests as bravery, confidence, grace, honesty, love, and inner peace.
Favorite Philosopher: Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
Signature Addition: View official OnlineBookClub.org review of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
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View Bookshelves page for In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All
- By Belinda