book

chapter 1: how to start, mental tiger cages, fear of failure, problem solving, unpleasant memories, self confidence:

• possibility thinking. your cells begin getting activated to get you to where you need to get to, even your blood starts thinking in that direction

• possibility thinkers don’t just immediately write off every creative idea that seems impossible, but they instead start to deeply question the problem space of the seemingly impossible idea.

• impossibility thinking is the true oppressive power

• sanctified exploitation: believing there is positive in everything and if you just continue to try to exhaust all positive ways to extract the most positive values out of something, you will be able to

• you become your own tyrant when you surrender your will to the negative thoughts that you carelessly allow admittance into the sacred and unguarded areas of your mind

• only person who has the power to cast the dying vote that kills your dream is you.

• we put ourselves in mental tiger cages similar to tiger cages used on the american prisoners of war during the vietnam war. we have to break free out of the cage that we learn as we grow up that constrains our god given creative imagination.

• no power on this earth is greater than man’s power to dream, visualize, and imagine.

• mental cages made by our own minds that determine how far we can dream, how much we can keep hoping, the possibilities we see in the world, how much positive we can extract from any given situation, and so much more. we have to break free out of our own constructed mental tiger cages.

• nothing more sad than dying in a state where you imprisoned your god given creative imagination for your entire life.

• fear of failure is another huge mental block we have in our minds.

  • fear of failure = fear of embarrassment. you can’t be “disgraced” publicly if you never try and so we avoid taking the leaps and trying. if its fear of embarrassment it means to some degree i still have a big ego. i still care what people think clearly because just how i dropped out of [redacted] interview process and try to justify it by other excuses when it was really the fear of embarrassing myself in front of their team.

• to get over the fear of failure - know that failure isn’t a bad thing or disgrace. whats bad and what is true failure is limiting ourselves, and having a low bar for what we think we are capable of. the one who has tried their best to overcome huge obstacles that didn’t materialize or work out has succeeded in showing themselves where their peak is and the things they need to work on to get to the next level.

• real failure isn’t failure to meet your goal, but failure to reach as high as you possibly can.

• if you never fail at something, it won’t be apparent to you where you are at and what you can make happen. you have to fail to get to the next level. instead of running away from it just embrace it. ask

  • do i want to get to the next level?
  • will i place the fear of embarrassment and judgement from others (who lets be real aren’t even thinking of me and even if they do it wont be for more than 10 minutes because they have their own lives to worry about and if it is for more than 10 minutes, clearly they have no life and even if it is for hours, why would i let someone else thinking of me stop me ) over the fear of failure to become successful and reach new possibilities?

• question for myself: what do i want to fail miserably at in these next few months? i want my entire summer to be full of failure so i can grow exponentially and grow like i’ve never grown before. i thought i peaked at 16, and then now i though maybe this is my peak after all these internships, but no no i’m not going to accept that. i can create a new peak for myself at any time. and this next peak is going to be INSANE. design engineer + highly technical person, going deep into my coursework. i don’t even know what i don’t know yet but i want to keep an open mind of endless possibility.

• build a framework for problem solving. problems arent a bad thing they are normal and honestly probably a good thing because they give you the chance to exercise your creative muscles while also helping you get to your goal.