Before you embark on any path ask the question, does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it and then you must choose another path. The trouble is that nobody asks the question. And when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart the path is ready to kill him.
~ Carlos Castaneda
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Because endless growth and data collection is the foundation of their business, and that necessitates doing gross invasive things to their users. They need you to feed the beast, and they certainly don’t want you to think about it. So they use cartoon animals and sneaky happy paths to make sure you stay blissfully ignorant.
~ Jonas Downey from, «https://m.signalvnoise.com/how-youre-being-manipulated-by-software-7ad939e46852»
What’s the solution? I vote with my feet, attention, and dollars. I think about where does that food come from? What are the principles of the people who run that company? Do I need this thing I’m considering buying? What signals am I sending into the marketplace (economic and ideologic) with my choices?
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Unlike money, everyone is ultimately on a level playing field when it comes to time. We all get the same allowance of twenty-four hours a day. Just as there are ineffective ways of investing your money, there are ineffective ways of investing your time.
If we all have the same amount of this essential resource, why do some people achieve so much, and others so little? Where we start from — in terms of economic class, skills and education — certainly has something to do with it, but there are just as many riches-to-rags stories as there are rags-to-riches stories, so obviously there is another factor at play here.
~ David Cain from, The Only Resource More Precious than Time
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I found the realization that it’s really my attention that is my limiiting resource to be both liberating and scary. Liberating because it means that all I need to do is focus my attention and long-term success is within my grasp. Applying my attention, even in short stretches, inevitably leads to progress on my favorite projects. And scary because every time I’m tired, run-down, don’t want to do something– every time, food or the Movie-monster call my name, entertainment or distraction– there are so many opportunities for me to turn my attention away from the things I find valuable.
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I must die. If instantly, I will die instantly; If in a short time, I will dine first, since the hour for dining is here, and when the time comes, then I will die. How? As becomes a person who is giving back what is not his own.
~ Epictetus
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Which type of Muppet are you? You’d think your answer would depend a lot on your innate personality. But it turns out that the tightness or looseness of your environment plays a big part in whether you’re more Gonzo or Kermit.
~ Michele Gelfand from, «https://www.quietrev.com/mirror-check-are-you-a-t-or-an-l/»
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If you don’t know who the Muppets are—or, were, oh gawd, old, OLD I tell you…—I cannot help you.
Anyway.
I’ve always wished I was Animal, but I think I’m really just Bert.
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In fact, I’ve let years of my life go by this way. I could be working on something I truly love, and then I’d hit a snag. I’d get frustrated, then avoid it for the rest of the day. I just wouldn’t want to be frustrated anymore, so I wouldn’t touch it. There’s always later. Perhaps if a better mood came along I’d be willing to tackle it.
~ David Cain from, Protect Your Dreams From Contamination
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I’m not sure I agree with how easy it sounds the way he puts it. But he’s dead on with the point.
Here’s another spin on it, the late, great, Jack Vance as Curly.
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In theory, we can let go of every single possession. Sure, for practical purposes, we’ll need at least one outfit and shelter and a way to eat and use the bathroom. And even more practically, we’ll need a house and things to wear for a job and so on. But letting go of a possession that you don’t absolutely need for practical purposes is theoretically possible. So what stops us?
~ Leo Babauta from, How to Let Go of Any Possession – Zen Habits Website
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This skill—and it is totally a skill that I had to practice and practice and practice—is one I USED to struggle with. Years ago, it was definitely fear that was holding me back from letting go of possessions.
Today is it 100% the guilt that I do not want to incur by throwing things into a land-fill. I have a cubic yard of books… not worth a dime, and I’ve already spent a ton shipping hundred of books all over the world racking up points in bookmooch.com—you want these books? I have TWO Davis Mark 15 marine sextants, …want one? I have a great chain saw that’s probably worth a couple hundred if I had a few hours to waste [I do not] dealing with idiots on Craig’s List. …want an old Jeep that’s fun to play with off road? …how about a perfectly working ink-jet printer? …a swage-fitting tool? …how about a one-hundred-year-old, fully restored billiard table?
I’m serious. Hit reply, or join the mailing list and hit reply tomorrow…
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The assumed paradigm is that a mattress is essential to good sleep just like a chair is essential to sitting. But why did mattresses become mainstream? When did the buffalo robe and pile of leaves go out of fashion? Could a good night’s sleep be had if, for instance, we slept on a sandy beach or the equivalent? Why did ‘they’ start saying a firm bed is best, and still provide a two to three foot thick ‘system’ of mattresses just to get you to that ‘firm bed’ effect?
~ Patrick Clark from, Sweet Dreams On A Hard Surface: The Ergonomics Of Sleep – Carolina Morning
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I wish I’d found this 12 years ago. It took me forever to figure out a lot about sleep. I’m still working on the shoulder range-of-motion required to side-sleep without a pillow. (I still wake up feeling like I’ve dislocated my sternoclavicular joint.)
…anyway, yes, harder and flatter is unquestionably, always better for me. If I’m having trouble sleeping, I sometime get up, and get out my favorite, 1-inch-thick, inflatable air-mattress on the floor—so so comfortable . . . with my fave silk-cotton-blend sleep sack . . . and my fave little pillow . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz every time.
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What can we learn about the intersection of philosophy, personal growth, and structured systems within the practice of parkour?
Sandro Widmer discusses ParkourONE’s TRUST concept, his current research and movement journey. Along the way he describes his time in America, and the struggles of studying parkour coaches. Sandro also reminds us to walk through this world with an open mind, as we can never fully understand each other’s experiences.
I think what’s most important is to walk through the world with an open mindset. Be tolerant, be open-minded, and have a smile on your face.
~ Sandro Widmer (27:00)
The conversation explores the philosophy of ParkourONE, focusing on the TRuST concept that emphasizes values such as respect, modesty, and trust. This philosophy is visualized through the fingers of a hand, representing key principles like “no competition” and “courage.” ParkourONE’s unique approach to training and community building in Switzerland and Germany is discussed, highlighting the organization’s layered membership process and the responsibilities of its members.
The discussion transitions to Sandro’s master’s thesis on how personal philosophy influences coaching methods. He shares his methodology for collecting data from Swiss parkour coaches and explores topics such as open versus closed exercises and how parkour principles can be translated into broader life lessons. The conversation concludes with reflections on cultural exchanges during international training events and the importance of maintaining an open and tolerant mindset.
Takeaways
No competition — ParkourONE emphasizes non-competitive practice to foster inclusivity and personal growth.
Be cautious — Practitioners are encouraged to respect their physical limits to ensure sustainable training.
Respect — Respect is shown to the environment, fellow practitioners, and the discipline of parkour itself.
Trust — Trust in oneself and others is a cornerstone of both practice and teaching in ParkourONE.
Modesty — Humility is key to recognizing the continuous challenges within parkour.
Membership as responsibility — ParkourONE’s membership process is selective, emphasizing community contributions and adherence to shared values.
Cultural exchange — Parkour fosters a universal culture of openness and tolerance, as seen in events like American Rendezvous.
Influence of philosophy on coaching — Sandro’s research explores how a coach’s philosophy shapes their teaching methods and practice.
Open versus closed exercises — ParkourONE values giving students space to explore and develop their own solutions.
Sustainability in movement — Long-term physical and mental health is prioritized to ensure lifelong mobility.
Resources
ParkourONE — Philosophy and values behind ParkourONE’s training approach.
American Rendezvous — An event fostering cultural and training exchanges among parkour practitioners.
ADAPT Qualifications — Certification system mentioned in comparison with ParkourONE’s coach training.
Johanna Herrmann’s Thesis — Research referenced in Sandro’s master’s thesis on parkour philosophy.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.
~ Amelia Earhart
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When you’re trying to stay focused on the actions, thoughts will come up and attempt to occupy your attention again. Most thoughts are not useful in the moment; they’re just conditioned mental reflexes, and there are triggers all over the place. To keep your attention on what you’re doing, make a general policy of dumping a train of thought unless the thought determines the next action you take. Nineteen times out of twenty, it doesn’t, and you’re better off ditching it.
~ David Cain from, How to Improve Your Quality of Life by up to 90 Percent
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There’s a serious down-side to this once you’re good at it: The rest of the sheeple don’t think this way, so interacting with them requires a bit more effort.
But it’s also a chance to be a positive influence on the world, so there’s that. I suppose it’s a question of whom do I place first, myself or everyone else. Care to guess my answer? (Hint: In case of sudden loss of cabin pressure, whose oxygen mask are you advised to put on first?)
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Meanwhile, privately, we all know that much of life consists of trying to hide the extent of our own stupid-aspect, while accentuating the smart stuff so that others might think we’re made of it through and through.
~ David Cain from, The Problem Is That We Are All Stupid
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Hey now! …if you’re going to call it like it is, that’s just not fair.
If only there was some way that I could… you know, apply self-awareness and self-assessment to work on my stupid-aspect. How cool would that be?
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They who wanted to do each other good are now handling one another in an imperious and intolerant manner, and in the struggle somehow to get out of their untenable and unbearable state of confusion, they commit the greatest fault that can happen to human relationships: they become impatient.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
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Watching TV, for example, or playing massively multiplayer online games, can feel relaxing and even stimulating at times. But those hours spent relaxing and stimulating yourself can really add up, and when you tally the eventual sum of the life benefits, it ends up awfully close to zero. Many other leisure pursuits (complaining, ATV riding, shopping) often end up the same way.
~ Peter Adeney from, The Surprising Effect of Small Efforts over Time
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I try not to get all preachy about how I think everyone should live their lives. After all, I’ve still plenty of room for improvement.
But just in case you are still wasting your life doing any of the above . . .
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To see things in the seed, that is genius.
~ Lao Tzu
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What does such a statistic have to do with your personal chance of success? Nothing at all.
~ Steve Pavlina from, What Are the Odds of Becoming a Black Belt? – Steve Pavlina
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This has nothing to do with martial arts.
If you—you reading this right now—are NOT making mistakes, you are not learning.
Put another way: If you are always certain—or if you can’t take action until you are certain—then you are not doing the work you need to be doing.
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The practice of triage is a challenge of consciousness. It’s easy to lose sight of the big picture when you’re staring at a project screaming for your attention. But you still need to muster the awareness to ask, “Is this the most important thing that must be done by me right now?” Whenever you fail to ask this question, you can bet there’s a more important project being stalked by the Grim Reaper.
~ Steve Pavlina from, Triage – Steve Pavlina
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There are many variations of this. My favorite is currently a large note above my desk which reads…
2018: “HELL YES!” or “no”
Regardless, Covey’s quadrants are an excellent way to triage things.
I’m adamant however, that one’s goal should be to do nothing in Covey’s quadrants 3 and 4—things which are “not important”, wether they are urgent or non-urgent. See also, Time management.
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Before you require a second factor to login to your accounts, you should understand the risks, have a recovery plan for when you lose your second factor(s), and know the tricks attackers may use to defeat two-factor authentication.
~ Stuart Schechter from, Before You Turn On Two-Factor Authentication… | by Stuart Schechter | Medium
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I repeat: Do not enable two-factor authentication until you understand how it works and what you are doing. You know who is usually locked out of your car, house, etc. right? You are!
This is a great article surveying a myriad of things you should consider before enabling two-factor security. Yes, it is more secure, but that means it is also more likely that you’ll lock yourself out, permanently.
So…
Are you currently really good at keeping track of passwords and security questions?
Do you use a unique password for every service and web site?
…are the answers to your security questions completely random things you made up and stored in your security system, or did you really use your easily-learned mother’s maiden name?
…and is your “security system” not post-it’s on your monitor, but rather a real, secure, system?
And how about…
Do you have a system in place to give your beneficiaries access to your stuff—and ways to permanently lock-and-destroy things you don’t want passed along?
…if not, then turning on two-factor is not a good idea. You’re about to make things even more complicated when you are currently not doing the basic things well. Instead of blindly enabling two-factor authentication, you should move off of the bell curve and stop being an easy traget.
Step one: Learn how to use a password manager like 1Password or LastPass, and start using unique passwords.
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