Jowelden De Leon

Welcome to my blog! I post valuable things that I've seen in books, podcasts, articles etc. Enjoy! x

[wedarkacademia]

I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. ― Carl Gustav Jung

[jowelden-deleon]

"I sit down every evening and ask myself: What is my story from today? What is the thing about today that has made it different from any previous day?"

Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks 

[jowelden-deleon]

The Resistance to Start

It's hard for us to start doing that thing that we really need to and should do.

So most of us probably just don't bother. Personally, as I'm writing this blog I'm being pulled away by the resistance not to do so. That voice in my head that's saying, "no one will read it anyway" lol.

BUT it's important to just begin without holding any high expectations. We don't bother to do things that can benefit us because we make it hard to do them. By not setting a high standard as to how our task should turn out to be we are reducing our resistance towards that task. And it makes us more likely to begin.

So instead what we should do is to simply just start doing that task that you've been postponing for days on end. May that be writing, projects, studying for a test or even cleaning your room!

Start by being bad at writing essays, studying, blogging or whatever it may be and don't be reliant on being motivated to do it because as Jeff Haden says in his book The Motivation Myth:

"Real motivation comes after you start. Motivation isn't the result of hearing a speech or watching a movie or crisping your soles. Motivation isn't passive; motivation is active."

[jowelden-deleon]

Children & overprotectiveness

I've heard this podcast last week from Not Overthinking by Ali and Taimur Abdaal about how we should care more about children's opinions & questions about various things in life and how we shouldn't primarily sugar coat our responses/answers to them.

The main point that the podcast stresses on is the fact that we shouldn't use baby talk as a way of speaking to children or infants and that we should perhaps take children more seriously.

We should talk to them as we would talk to a normal human being. Taimur talks about how we as children are in need of being exposed by a new way of thinking by someone else who has already thought of it. Although, the 'thinking' part should also be left to the individual instead of imposing our own opinions down their throat.

Basically, if we answer children's question in a more 'serious way' as per Taimur, this could change the child's ways of thinking in a very crucial way that could lead to their further  development in later areas of life.  The fact that their question was taken seriously instead of sugar coating it could lead the child to be far more smarter in later life.

Another thing to be taken into account is by what author & psychologist Jordan B. Peterson said: "you either hurt your child from protecting them from the harshness of the world or you hurt them from exposing them into reality."

[phoebe-does]

about two months ago I was told by my squash coach “the greater the degree of change, the greater discomfort. If you’re doing something that feels uncomfortable at first, you know you’re making a big change.” This was in reference to my swinging technique but I think this also applies to other areas of life, such as studying. You might not necessarily feel discomfort after doing a massive amount of study after a habit of not doing much, but you’ll probably want to go back to not studying much because it’s the safer option of the two because it’s what you’re used to. It also applies to personality things, such as learning to apologies or admit fault, or learning gratitude. It also applies to fitness or an up-haul in lifestyle. The point is, don’t give up because what at first gives you discomfort will gradually change to being your norm and your comfort if you keep at it for long enough. The greater the degree of discomfort, the greater the change will be.