Aristotle's keys to persuasion, and how to stay declutter
Spend more time implementing wisdom, not collecting it.
Category - Productivity
Episode: Carlos Alvarenga: The rules of persuasion and great communication
Podcast episode length: 48 minutes
Persuasion is getting someone to believe something willingly. It is getting others to consider something that you believe to be true.
According to the philosopher Aristotle, Persuasion is the demonstration of something that is true or cares to be true.
A basic human need is to find people who care about and believe in similar ideas. This is why understanding persuasion is critical.
Persuasion isn’t about changing someone’s opinion. It’s about changing what they believe.
According to Aristotle, persuasion is caused by
1) The power of the person speaking (authority or expertise)
2) Evidence or arguments presented.
3) Emotion the audience feel as they listen.
Ai-driven News Feed with a ‘nutrition label’ for every news article. otherweb.com. It’s free.
Persuasion is caused by character (societal position), style (attributes), association (how people relate to you), origin, and history of the character, and language (common language vs. IV league)
Persuasive communication is about delivery. Medicine is chemistry. But the same medicine can be delivered as an injection, a pill, a capsule, or a syrup. Great persuaders know the right channel of delivery. They know how to weave the story. They know when to use words, images, emotion, and silence.
Storytelling is the oldest, most persuasive delivery mechanism.
Want to be more persuasive? Start with this question: " What about who I am would get you to believe?”Category - Productivity
The Productivity Show: Asian Efficiency
Episode - Crafting a clutter-free life: Essential habits for organization
Podcast episode length: 54 minutes
Happy people are productive people.
You can share your unwanted stuff with local people instead of throwing it away using this APP.
Staying organized and decluttered depends on these three habits -
1. Have a daily decluttering or organizing routine.
2. Make a place for everything, and everything has a place. You don’t put your toothbrush in different places every night. Do you?
3. Declutter is delayed decisions. Clutter happens when we don’t know where a particular thing goes. This happens over and over again, causing clutter.
Before you finish up the day, declutter to get your inbox and desk ready for the next day.
Be mindful of what you buy and bring into your house. The easiest thing to declutter is the thing you never purchased.
Mindful purchases prioritize quality. Buy one high-quality item over buying cheap, low-quality items.
Category - Relationships & Love
451: 4 ways to spark your relationship
Podcast episode length: 48 minutes
Stop combative criticism. Don’t use sentences that begin with - You need to do X. Instead, use sentences starting with - Could you please help me with X?
Forgive your partner’s minor flaws. This will remove constant agitation. Example: forgive their messiness. Ask them how they can help you tidy the environment because a cleaner place helps you emotionally.
Communicate clearly. Be mindful of what you say. Ask yourself if your words will help escalate or resolve an issue.
You will disagree with each other. Learn how to communicate your disagreements respectfully.
Do you want to be right or be happy? Communicate accordingly.
Balance constructive criticism or asks with three times the positive feedback.
Complacency is the enemy of intimacy.
Romance is about paying attention and noticing your partner.
Ask your partner what their sexual triggers are, i.e., specific music.
Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design
#768 - Dr. K Healthy Gamer - How to control your emotions and become mentally strong
Podcast episode length: 2 hours 10 minutes
Don’t use your phone screen as an anesthetic. Don’t use your phone and social media to suppress or avoid dealing with negative emotions. This is a terrible long-term strategy for your mental health.
Don’t self-soothe by scrolling.
Trauma is an undigested conclusion from an experience. Example: At five years old, you tried petting a dog, and the dog bit you. Conclusion: Don’t pet dogs. Or, you feel fear when you try petting dogs. One experience created a life-long belief about dogs. To recover from your trauma, question your assumptions about the world. Ask why you believe what you believe. This will reveal experiences or stories that shape those beliefs.
Neuro-Economics: Your brain doesn’t want to perceive reality. It wants to adjust reality for your survival. If you imagine negative occurrences, your brain produces stress hormones. It doesn’t create happy hormones if you imagine happy occurrences. Your brain is hard-wired to avoid negative experiences.
Anxiety cost is the cost of thinking about doing something throughout the day. You pay less anxiety cost if you get things done early in the day. Now, instead of anxiety, you get a dopamine hit every time you think about that task.
The root causes of anxiety and depression are shame and regret. Your mind can focus on the Past, Present, and Future. Depression can be caused by shame or regret from your ‘past’ experience.
A future focus causes anxiety. This is where modern addiction to technology comes in. Social media, games, or pornography removes your focus from the future.
The root of anxiety and depression is attention management. Modern technology brings your focus to the present. But, over time, your brain becomes dependent on technology. Now, you are addicted to scrolling all day long, which becomes its own problem.
The biggest problem with gaming is that failure comes at no cost because you can play again. In contrast, failure in real life comes at an astronomical cost. For example, if you fail a class, it can have a permanent effect on your GPA score.
For men, the best way to experience emotion is physically. Example: where do you feel the pain, tension, or chills? Then, ask what emotion could be causing those physical sensations.
Men who don’t feel emotions are glorified—men with icy veins, etc. Just because you ignore the feelings doesn’t mean they don’t exist. A man who can face and deal with his emotions will be stronger for it.
Anything left in the mind will compound. Household abuse often involves secrecy. The person getting abused doesn’t share it due to shame or fear. These undealt emotions cause lasting trauma.
Use language to express trauma. Venting out your emotions may provide temporary release, but don’t forget to take the necessary action to remedy the situation.
Whatever you want to cultivate, keep within yourself. Don’t speak of it often or at all, as you are using the energy in speaking that could otherwise be used to create action.
Two yogic practices to improve focused self-awareness.
1) Fixed point gazing: Sit quietly and focus on one single object without blinking. Work your way up slowly to longer and longer times.
2) Perfect Stillness: Sit for as long as you can without moving any body part—not even tiny movements. Both of these practices teach you to focus on your breath in the midst of discomfort, which improves self-awareness.
How to do well in therapy: Date at least three therapists before choosing. Share what’s on your mind, unedited. Tell your therapist what is working and what is not working for you. It’s a joint effort.
Some people talk to think, and others think to talk. During therapy, you don’t have to make sense; it’s your therapist's job to put the pieces together.
Emotional healing doesn’t have to come from talking.
Content creators are incredibly lonely. Their personal life is constantly persecuted. So, be compassionate next time you see a public figure experiencing a setback. This is still a human being dealing with suffering.
If you want to learn more about how your experiences shape you, check out healthygamer.gg
Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design
Episode: Life Ignition Tools with Jeff Karp (part II)
Podcast episode length: - 44 mins
If you stumble by someone’s questions, instead of being defensive, think, why aren’t these coming to you organically? Why aren’t you thinking about these questions?
The difference between a professional and an amateur chess player is pattern detection. You can improve this skill by asking better questions.
Questions are a wealth of information. They reveal what is essential. Example: If you deliver a sales presentation every week, start collecting all the questions you are asked at the end of the presentation. After a few weeks, analyze all the questions. Group them to find similarities. These questions will tell you what is truly important to your audience. You can use this to improve your presentation and your product.
Asking questions is a skill you can get better at.
In social settings, do not ask common questions, i.e., what do you do for a living, etc. Ask questions that are driven by genuine curiosity. Ask questions about someone’s journey through life and what brings them to this place.
Avoid talking ‘at’ people by managing your question-to-statement ratio. Simply put, pause to ask questions. Engage with the other person rather than simply talking at them.
Are there people you have known for years whom you have never asked a question or vice versa?
Create a list of interesting icebreaker questions. For example, do you think a caterpillar knows it's going to become a butterfly? Would you want it to know?
Category - Self Improvement & Lifestyle design
Episode#731: Dr. David Spiegal, Stanford U, - Practical Hypnosis, Meditation Vs. Hypnosis, Pain management without drugs, and more
Podcast episode length: 1 hour 45 mins
Hypnosis has three main components.
1) Disassociation
2) Highly focused attention or absorption
3) Suggestibility
Hypnosis helps people manage their problems better by letting go of their usual premises.
Tiger Woods used hypnosis during golf tournaments. His caddy was trained in hypnosis.
Meditation and mindfulness are different than hypnosis. Meditation is about observing and being, whilst hypnosis is about doing. Example: A person with epilepsy might try to induce a seizure during hypnosis with the intention of controlling its intensity. Over time, the intensity is lowered to a negligible level, thus curing the condition.
You might be genetically more predisposed to being hypnotized if you have a moderate metabolic rate, which keeps a stable amount of dopamine in your brain. This can be identified via a quick blood test.
An expert hypnotist can also run a 6-minute hypnotic test to identify how responsive you are to hypnosis. This test is called the Hypnotic Induction profile. The eye roll test is only moderately correlated to hypnotisability (your ability to be hypnotized).
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy that uses eye movement.
Therapy, including hypnosis, works by restructuring the way one perceives the trauma and the traumatic event.
Your hypnotisability can be improved by using specific brain stimulation (ETMS).
Hypnosis is most useful for pain management and reducing stress.
You can try self-hypnosis here - https://www.reveri.com
Category - Health & Wellness
Episode: Coleman Ruiz - Overcoming physical and emotional challenges
Podcast episode length: 3 hours 18 mins
The top 3 things every person who passes BUD/S training are:
1. They were a varsity athlete
2. Their parents were divorced.
3. They got suspended from school.
Divorce creates a lack of belonging. An absence of family unit. So, the BUD/S team becomes a family that a person will do anything to protect and stay with. School suspensions meant you were comfortable challenging the status quo and had enough confidence to follow your beliefs (for right or for wrong)
Coleman recommends Joseph Cambell’s book - Hero with Thousand Faces. The seven stages in the book can be mapped to anyone’s life.
Coleman rejected that he had PTSD. He, over time, understood the symptoms and tried psychedelic treatments. He defines his DMT experience as one of the most profound experiences of his life. During his DMT physician-assisted treatment, he felt connected to all the warrior cultures over time. However, a few months later, his ‘bottom fell out’ and things took a negative turn. He went through severe depression. He was utterly dysfunctional.
Caution: Psychedelics are powerful and can have life-lasting positive and negative effects. Be responsible and only work with medically trained professionals with experience in this area.
For depression, don’t be afraid to explore pharmaceutical drugs. They can help you get over or deal with a difficult time. You don’t have to be on them for life unless needed.
Prior to most suicides, there is a disruption in the person’s sleep schedule.
Seek help, get therapy, coaching, and direction, surround yourself with support, and create your safety net.
Unlike a physical injury, emotional injury and trauma can be hard to detect. Coleman referred to it as ‘low-grade pain.’ It could be something that doesn’t feel right. Something that constantly nags at you emotionally.
Sometimes, it takes you hitting rock bottom before you commit to change.
Quote - You don't change until the point of staying the same is more than the pain of change.
Physical movement is how you tell your brain and nervous system that you are still needed on this planet. It reminds your nervous system of your utility.
Sauna, cold exposure, and sleep are fundamentals of recovery.
Avoid drinking coffee in the first 90 minutes of waking up. This avoids the afternoon crash.
Don’t overgrip things - don’t try to control everything. Surrender.
You don’t have to hit each branch on the way down.
Category - Fun
Strait jackets were invented in the 1770s to keep mentally unstable people from harming themselves or others.
The word strait stands for narrow or tights. Hence, a strait jacket - a tight jacket.
Houdini stole his famous strait jacket act from his brother.
Some jails are opting for more humane strait jackets
Category - Business
Episode: I spent 7 days with the richest men in Texas. 10 things I learned
Podcast episode length: 40 minutes
Investing is not a team sport. Investing is about contrarian thinking. A team will always favor a safe bet.
You will make more money on things that are either hated or loved.
Invest more time and effort in building one thing in an industry where you are already successful instead of starting in a new industry from scratch.
Read a variety of genres, from biology to macroeconomics to science fiction. Breadth of knowledge creates wisdom.
Winners win. High performers in competitive sports or activities are likelier to win in business. If you can learn to win in one game, you can transfer those skills to another.
Pay attention to what other people pay attention to. This can tell you what is of value in their world.
One hook (attention-grabbing caption) can make a company.
Be useful to others even if there is nothing in it for you. This will make you truly valuable.
You are often wrong about your predictions about value. It is often not found in the areas you predicted it to be. So, don’t obsessively focus on one area for returns.
Business, networking, and entrepreneurship are a roller coaster. Learn to enjoy the journey.
Please share your top 3 takeaways or most useful ideas in the comments below.
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