What are /r/DecidingToBeBetter's favorite Products & Services?

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There are single use toothbrushes and flossers that I keep by my bed and find very helpful. You can get biodegradable flossers (or just use regular floss), the toothbrushes are plastic but I'm willing to use them to save my teeth and gums. I use Wisp, you don't need water or anything to use them:

Wisp on amazon

“Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!" It seems to me that there is nothing which would stimulate a man's sense of responsibleness more than this maxim, which invites him to imagine first that the present is past and, second, that the past may yet be changed and amended.”

― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Just went through a similar open period. So he is some things I did.

1. Establish a good evening and morning routine

2. Figure out which habits you want and make notes/phone reminders/anything to make sure you do them until they turn into autopilot habits

3. Read books on anything that might even casually interest you. Maybe you'll find something you like and it will turn into a hobby

4. Exercise and eat right

5. Have fun!

But there is a sea of things you can do, this is just what I focused on. Goodluck!

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield.

Know the enemy, know yourself, wrote Sun Tzu in his classic The Art of War, and your victory will be certain. For anyone who is stuck at a level below their God-given potential, who can't seem to get on track to do the things they need to do in order to achieve their most authentic goals, knowing the enemy and knowing yourself are one and the same.

Just a few thoughts on this:

• Put a system in place to keep track of whether or not you achieved your daily goals. It's easy to have a week go by not achieving your goals while at the same time reinforcing behaviour you'd like to cut out.
• Get more specific with those items. Drink more water --> Drink 2l of water a day. Makes it possible to decide quickly whether or not the goal has been reached.
• I'd set an automatic alarm every day for 7am, but that's just me.

You might want to hop over to /r/theXeffect/ and put your goals on cards. I use an app called Loop - Habit Tracker to keep track of my daily goals.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.isoron.uhabits

Also, these are my daily goals in case you or someone else needs inspiration:

Morning Habits

• No Snooze
• Drink 0,5l / 16oz of Water first thing
• Make your bed
• Do Molding Mobility (a mobility program, takes ~10mins)
• Do Starting Streching (a flexibility program, takes ~20mins)
• Meditate for at least 10mins

Day Habits

• 30mins of stuying flashcards
• NoFap
• Sports (3 out of 7 days; evelated heart rate for at least 20mins, may be jogging, or just taking my bike to the grocery store)
• Don't smoke pot (5 out of 7 days)

Evening Habits

• Start evening routine on time (usually at 9.45)
• Facial Hygiene
• 5mins of tidying up my room
• Pack my bag for next day
• Meditate for at least 20mins
• Stretch to achieve lotus sit
• Read for 30mins

If you have trouble with your to-dos and shit, I can highly reccommend habitica. Its basically a Role Play Game where you have to complete To Do's and Dailies and get rewarded with XP. You can group up, fight monsters and do lots more. I guess its not for everyone but you should check it out

I've been reading The Power of Now, which is helping me realize how the present moment is all we have and is the only thing that can give us inner peace. I am still reading it, but the book has certainly helped me better understand this. "All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry -- all forms of fear -- are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence." (Eckhart, p. 61)

As a photographer, my first thought is you need a different lens to look at yourself through. One that is without harsh criticism and judgement, and filled with love and kindness for yourself. That accepts you for you and forgives you for your shortcomings. You are great just the way you are, even as a work in progress.

Some things in the outside world you can change, and some you can't. But you can change the way you see yourself and the stories you tell yourself about you. Imagine a version of you that you love. A version of you that is healthy and attractive and outgoing (or whatever traits you envision). Now imagine what that version of you would do to stay that way. What books would that version of you read, what activities would you pursue, what would you eat, how would you live? Now, you can't change everything all at once, but you can start slowly making small decisions that are in line with the person that you want to become -- because I believe you already are that person on the inside. You just have to learn to express it outwardly. Big, bold changes are great, but the most sustainable changes are the very small ones that point you in the right direction. I'm listening to James Clear's Atomic Habits, and I would highly recommend it for building better habits.

No need to answer here if you don't want, but what are some things you do like about yourself? And why? What do other people like about you? My bet is you are your own worst critic. Maybe even ask some friends what they like about you so you can learn to see the good stuff too. I have no doubt there is lots to like~

Thinking, Fast and Slow is one of the best books I've ever read. While the beginning was a bit dry, it covers a wide swathe of topics and presents technical topics in a very layman-accessible way.

Since this is /r/DecidingToBeBetter, I would also recommend Make It Stick, a book about how to improve your learning and memory. It is a very practical book that summarizes proven, repeated studies and tells you their conclusions and offers advice on how you can improve your learning ability.

The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns. It's basically diy cognitive behavioral therapy that worked better for me by some magnitude than in person cbt with a pysclogist did for dealing with depression and anxiety. It changed my life.

I’m a little younger but have been struggling with many of the same issues. having a clear vision of where to start is so key - that’s what I’ve been working on over the past few months.

Here’s how I’ve been getting a start:

1. Seeing a therapist - this has been worth every dollar. I’ve learned a lot about myself and about things in my past that have hurt me and I haven’t let go of; learned how to change patterns of thought that were keeping me stuck despite wanting so badly to move forward; had someone I can rely on to support me consistently in my efforts.

2. I read a book called The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People, by Carol Eikleberry. Reading this book has been the main factor in the progress I’ve made so far. It’s helped me to learn about myself, to put together a plan, and to feel better. I never expected to experience all of that just from reading a book, but truly, I’d still be totally lost without it. I’ve actually read a bunch of other books as well, and none have quite come close to this one. Judging from some of the content of your post, it seems like this book could be well-suited to your personality and your situation. If not, it is full of references to other useful titles along this vein. Here’s a link to the amazon listing!

I really have the best wishes for you and I hope you can find a starting place. Reading this book and going to therapy are how I found mine, and I think it’s absolutely worth your time to check out. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about anything more!

Habits I'm building

• Wake up at 6am
• Meditate every day
• Practice German for 30 min every day

Habits I'm destroying:

• Video games during the workweek
• Smoking weed
• Masturbation

I had other habits in April and May that were successfully integrated/defeated, and I moved on from them (one was waking up at 6:30am).

I have to give a lot of credit to /r/theXeffect for giving me a consistent manner in which to track progress and hold myself accountable. It's really gratifying to see the X marks day after day after day and TO KNOW that my brain is being rewired to want these things by the new cue/routine/reward cycle I'm enforcing.

If you want more knowledge about the actual science of habit formation (it helps me understand the why and the how, not just the what), pick up a copy of The Power of Habit - it's actually a very entertaining read as well.

Here is the list: 1 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 2 Body for Life 3 The Greatest Salesman in the World 4 Think and Grow Rich 5 How to Win Friends & Influence People 6 Brain over Binge 7 Rhythm of Life 8 It Works 9 Awaken the Giant Within 10 No Excuses

This is a form of magical thinking, and I think a lot more people have this fear than you realize; falling shoe syndrome. You're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and when good things happen to you, you react by expecting bad things to "balance it out".

I remember reading something about a biological balancing in the brain; it was a study where they looked at fMRIs of people experiencing pleasure, and found that there tended to be a pain/fear/anxiety effect which followed to some degree. It may be related to that.

Ultimately, it sounds like you have an unstated belief or rule for your life: Whenever anything good happens to me, something bad will happen to me to balance it out. This is magical thinking.

Check out Learned Optimism, by Martin Seligman. I think you'll find it perfectly relevant.

You may want to check out cognitive distortions - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion - they're basically nasty little inner voices that affect your reasoning and make you think you are less than you actually are. There's an accessible self-help book on them called "The Feeling Good Handbook" (corny title, corny cover art, good book ;) that helped me a lot.

Also, you may want to find some subreddits for victims of abuse/bullying?

And take it one step at a time. Your first step is being proactive enough to realize you want to make a change and then to go looking for resources. fist bump

I can relate to this. I dont get fully lost in this feeling, but sometimes it emerges quite strongly in me...

Since 1-2 years I keep my Jar of Awesome. Its a big glas jar that is sitting on top of my cupboard. Everytime I archieve something, reach some goal or just experience something worth it, I put a little note in it.

I got this idea from here: https://lifehacker.com/keep-a-jar-of-awesome-to-remind-yourself-to-celebrate-1791488244

Whenever I feel sad like you mentioned I can come back to this and see how beautiful my life actually is. How much I archieved and what I can look back upon. It really makes you celebrate your small wins more :)

Besides this I also like to just write down my thoughts in a journal. Just write everything down thats on your mind. Sometime I fill two pages of weird seemingly unconnected thoughts. But in the end oftentimes I come to realize something and can restructure myself.

Hope it helps ;)

Declare war on <em>Resistance</em>, on unfulfilled potential, and in not giving it your all.

When you work, then work. When you play, play. When you rest, rest.

Whatever you do, make it count and don't fuck about.

Your future self will thank you and be grateful, and so will those who are around you.

there's an app called forest you might like! it's good at getting me to put down my phone for a while.

also, there's something to be said for just deleting the apps you waste the most time on off your phone. this doesn't have to be cold turkey if the thought freaks you out too much. just start with one. give yourself maybe a week to get used to that and then do another.

My advice is two fold.

In the long term, it sounds like you have some anxieties going on. In my experience, the only way to possibly remove these things from triggering your anxiety is through counseling of some kind. Going to a therapist weekly or biweekly and starting to talk about the source of the anxiety might help these feelings from being triggered.

That's long term though. In the short term, I think with some mindfulness you could find yourself breathing a lot easier. Personally, in my head, there's anxious Griffmaster9000, and normal Griffmaster9000. Something that's helped me immensely have been Mindfulness and CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) tools.

Just from listening to myself and my reactions to things, I'm now pretty familiar with what anxious Griffmaster9000 looks like. He's afraid of irrational things, he's emotional, and he's reactive rather than proactive. It's like being in a fog.

Just catching yourself when you're being irrational can be a huge help. You won't automatically feel the knot in your stomach go away, and you won't stop having those thoughts forever, but you can control your reactions to these anxieties, and start to live as positively as possible!

Books that might help are Search Inside Yourself, or Mindfulness: An Eight-Week plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World.

If there's any other way to help, let me know!

Khan Acedemy may be able to help you brush up on your maths and physics.

Coursera might be a good place to start with mechanical engineering.

my daily targets is as follows:

steps: 10,000 (normally 7km- 10km walk as soon as i wake up)

exercise: 30 mins (body weight workout routine)

deliberate practice: 60 mins (currently doing a Bachelors degree at Uni, but some days this is goal setting, journaling, etc)

water: 3000 mL

language: 15 mins (currently Spanish on Duolingo app)

reading: 40 pages (person development book, such as Think and Grow Rich etc)

mediation: 15 mins (app: 1 Giant Mind)

posture: 15 mins (laying on a posture pole to straighten back to avoid future issues)

i track progress on a spreadsheet.

And.. what's the problem, then? I use Reddit for good opinions on something, complex things (what is the best vpn reddit) to even simple thing (what's the best product for acne reddit). It's not about literally trusting 100% what other people says here, but it's just about giving me a general idea/direction, so I can make a choice for myself.

Taking in account the first two examples: the "best" VPN mentioned here are NordVPN, ExpressVPN, PIA but no one talked about Mullvad, which is the one I use now. Benzoyl peroxide/AHA/BHA are the best products for acne, but might just now work well for you or things like that.

Of course, when you're talking about a PERSONAL problem, like you said, well then, you might not receive the best opinions.

This might help you. I am reading it right now and it basically about exactly what you are saying. Getting rid of your limiting beliefs and dealing with all your baggage to re-wire your brain to a new belief system. Divine Intelligence: A Scientific Process to Awaken the Creator Within https://www.amazon.com/dp/0989084426/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_BACfCb5ZZ46HJ

• Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
• The Chimp Paradox - Steve Peters
• Learned Optimism - Martin Seligman
• Impulse - David Lewis
• Getting Things Done - David Allen
• Thinking, Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
• Mindfulness: A practical guide - Mark Williams
• The Minimalist Budget - Simeon Lindstrom
• Your Money or Your Life - Joe Dominguez & Vicki Robin
• The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason
• Superhuman by Habit - Tynan
• On the Shortness of Life - Seneca
• 365 Best Inspirational Quotes - K.E. Kruse
• The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom - Dalai Lama XIV
• The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living - Dalai Lama XIV & Howard Cutler
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking - Susan Cain
• Considerations - Colin Wright
• From Good to Amazing - Michael Serwa
• Sane New World: Taming the Mind - Ruby Wax
• The Charisma Myth - Olivia Fox Cabane
• Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
• As a Man Thinketh - James Allen
• Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
• Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up - Marie Kondo (except the last chapter where she goes a bit mental and suggests talking to/thanking your possessions)

Here's a few on Minimalism. I've kept them as a separate list as not everyone wants to rid themselves of materialistic habits, but they fit into your two categories as the benefits are well documented.

• Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life - Joshua Fields Millburn
• The Joy of Less - Francine Jay
• Enough - John Naish
• Simplify - Joshua Becker

That's pretty much all of the best ones I've read and would recommend. Hope it helps and good luck with your site! It's a great idea and should help a lot of people who decide to make a change.

1. Pick a topic (If you're not sure what topic to pick, I recommend personal finance because it's important)
2. Go to subreddit
3. Hope that subreddit is developed enough to have a sidebar showing you how to get started (Usually it says something like "Get Started Here!" or "FAQ")
4. Dive straight in!

As a side note, I also recommend Coursera's course on Learning How to Learn or just the professor's book. It's based off of scientific research which motivated me to follow it and has worked for me really well so far. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

Did you see this? Maybe there is something in there that sparks your interest.

Personally, I would recommend you to pick up an instrument. It's good for your soul.

Alternatively, drawing is a universal skill.

That was fast ;) But for real I've found that people struggle with going offline unless they can replace that time with something fulfilling. You could try searching online (eg. on facebook, meetup.com) to find some events to go to? Things like seeing a movie, joining a class, picking up a hobby or whatever it may be would help. Also try as best you can to treat the internet mindfully when you do use it - so with that sub for example you could search the top posts of all time for any tips that could help then try to stay off of reddit until you can think of something specific you want to check on or search, you know? Subs like /r/Mindfulness and /r/Meditation have some good posts on how to get rid of that dopamine 'need stimulation need stimulation need stimulation' addiction spiral.

Awesome!!! That's a HUGE step forward! If you haven't progressed to booking a therapist yet, that's ok. It seems like you're pretty self-motivated; I would recommend looking into cognitive behavioral therapy workbooks like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Worry-Workbook-Cognitive-Behavioral/dp/160623918X

There are also similar courses on Udemy and Coursera, which have the added benefit of videos/audio if that helps you learn more easily.

Remember, it can be a quick saunter down to rock bottom, but it's a long way back, and it's okay to slip and stumble your way through self-improvement. I, an anonymous internet stranger, am ridiculously proud of you!

Address this as an overall mental health difficulty. The following can be helpful:

• Know that you are experiencing a normal but temporary reaction. It will probably pass.
• Ensure you're getting enough sunlight during the day. 10-30 minutes outside or using a 10,000 Lux light therapy box in the morning can absolutely change your energy levels for the better. Taking Vitamin D right now since it's dark in the U.S. can also help this.
• Wake up whenever you can (8 hours of sleep is a good standard), but ensure that you fall asleep at the same time every night. Melatonin can help you to adapt your sleep schedule and get restful sleep.
• Get behaviorally activated. Pick one thing that gets you up and moving every day. Maybe it's going to the grocery store, taking a walk, doing yoga. Just pick one thing to get you moving!
• Meditate.
• Watch your caffeine intake. No caffeine after lunch!
• Limit fast/junk food.
• Continue practicing positive hygiene. Don't feel like taking a shower? That's exactly why you need one.
• Stay hydrated, drink water!! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THIS ALONE.
• Do things you enjoy. It's deceptively simple, but pleasurable activities can distract you while your body is detoxing.
• If symptoms persist after 2-3 weeks, consider speaking with a doctor and request some bloodwork to see if you are deficient in anything. There's no shame in reaching out for help.

Try reading "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. You can listen to it here but you should patronize the author. He talks about this force called "Resistance" that originates inside us, and takes the form of procrastination, self-sabotage, drug use, masturbation, etc. all to keep us from doing our "work." The good thing is, we can use this destructive force as a compass to find our way. It only opposes us when we try to move from a lower sphere to a higher sphere, so if you feel this "resistance", you know you are going in the right direction. I know it helped me. I hope it can help you, and others, find your way.

stepping in to recommend www.Mint.com and their budget tools. They have sliders where you can pick the amounts you want to budget for all of the important items in your life and you connect it to all your accounts so it can monitor transactions. You might need to finagle things a bit at first to get it where you want it but it's the best tool I can find to visually SEE what my budget looks like each month and how much I'm spending on everything.

I like hobbies that teach me something - a new skill, for instance. I am learning guitar currently; there's a fantastic website called Justin Guitar with a free beginner's course for aspiring guitarists. Duolingo is a free option for learning a language.

On another note, if you like running, consider martial arts. I practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai. Not only are they excellent fitness builders, but it's fun watching my skills improve, and I get to make new friends and occasionally help out newer students just like others have helped me (and continue to do so). The potential self-defense applicability is a bonus, but since the chances of me ever needing those skills are low, it's not a huge concern of mine.

You've probably read this somewhere, but use meetup.com if you can. There's gotta be at least one of your interests on there, and you can meet so many new people that way. Otherwise, try typing in your "interest + area" on google and see if anything comes up. Let me know what works; I'll be moving to a new area in a few weeks, so I'll be using the same methods as described above.

Definitely go with uBlock Origin. Maintained as a fork by the original uBlock developer and updated more recently than seven months ago (a couple days ago, to be specific). Though yeah, I'd say the uBlock project is the best possible of such tools out there right now.

I have uBlock0 and also saw both Facebook ads, but I'm running it more loosely on some sites like social stuff than you probably are, so that might be it. Though it definitely is an arms race between the blockers and the ads, and sometimes you get to see ads do some spectacular stuff to get over the wall.

Idk if you’ve read How To Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. You might find it useful. Its about psychedelics. It’s practical as well as spiritual.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Change-Your-Mind-Psychedelics/dp/0241294223/ref=nodl_

I really feel how you're stuck between a rock and a hard place having ended up living life like that. It feels so beyond control. :(

When I was stuck in a negative spiral I used Wysa a while back which is a chatbot app for your phone that is like a free CBT therapist. It's really good at helping reframe thoughts from negative to positive. So for example if I think "I have so much to do today and I am already tired" the positive intent is that I want to tick everything off my to do list and I have already been working so hard I am tired. So I can reframe my thought as "The day has just begun! I have so much time left to achieve what I want to achieve."

Can you feel that difference? I immediately felt lighter and like things were within reach. Wysa helps you tackle all kinds of different negative thoughts.

These are just some examples that I personally used but Wysa seriously helped me a lot!!

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bot.touchkin

IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wysa-ai-coach-cbt-dbt-chatbot/id1166585565

I am/was in the same boat. First and foremost you have to really want to change, otherwise nothing will get better because there is no magic bullet that doesn't take effort on your part. Setting a goal worked for me. Find something you like to do- write, build models, build electronics, wood working, anything you like to do that takes effort. Then reward yourself with a half hour of gaming/social media/porn/whatever you are doing on the phone for every hour you spend working towards your goal or hobby. It's hard at first, but building momentum towards a goal helps break the phone/pc addiction. Laziness is like a snowball effect, takes time to break out. Alsio, addiction is addiction, you are psychologically addicted to the phone like an alcoholic is addicted to the bottle (unfortunately I have experience with both). In my case, anyway, it was all about distracting myself from my problems and goals that are hard to deal with/achieve. I highly reccomend two books by Steven Pressfield called The War of Art and Do the Work. They talk about apathy and entropy in ways that really helped me overcome my mental blocks with laziness and addiction. I found it hard to just lay around after reading them because I felt like they spoke directly at the core of my laziness/psychological addiction to distraction.

To help you figure out what to do with your free time, I would first recommend reading the following books:

1.) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People 2.) Essentialism 3.) Never Eat Alone

Those books will help you think about what you might want to do with your life. As silly as this may sound, I find having a personal mission statement to be very helpful, which all three books will touch upon. Whenever there is any question of what you should do with your time, having the mission statement to go back to will help remind you of what is most important.

If I were to suggest just one book to someone it would be The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. I've read few others (Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg) but I can honestly say this one is the most down to earth and easy to apply by anyone while at the same time having the potential to change your life.

like /u/Boldleego says below, put your effort into merge your interests and try and design a game. Starter resources are more available than you realize. checkout /r/learnprogramming and Unreal Engine 4 was just released for free. Download it and tinker, there is literally no risk.

Hey. As a former social media addict, I can give you some advice I think:

• First off, delete all your social media accounts. By all, I mean every of them. You can keep Reddit but only if you will log in on youır computer. And be wary of the time you spend on Reddit. Keep it on something like an hour or so. There are programs for that to limit your time. Here is one of them. It is not free but not with a high-price either.
• Then, what it worked for me is that I started to use burner phone for the greater good. It's been 2 years for me already.
• After you did that, you will have lots of free time on your hands. Time to be creative! Use it to have some quality time. What can you do? Well, there are lots of things you can do, honestly. For instance, hit the gym, take up some hobbies, read books or anything that is your interest.
• Adopt a pet if you don't have any. They are the best companion ever.
• Watch documentaries(it would be better you watch on TV)
• Go out just for the sake of going out. Even you don't do anything, fresh air every now and then is needed for us.
• Relevant to taking up hobbies, join clubs. Try to interact with people.

I hope this helps! Have a good day and good luck :)

Passion tends to develop when you're good at something. That means you can become passionate about pretty much anything. Check out Cal Newport's book "So Good They Can't Ignore You". This might be of great help to you right now.

Also, just generally read a lot of books. This will give you new ideas and perspectives.

Good luck!

I think the main point of his podcast is to introduce you to the ideas and mechanisms of other people. Some of the advice and ideas that I've heard from some of his guests have genuinely changed my life.

His new book Tools of Titans is a really great collection of all the good bits of his podcasts, which I'd highly recommend

Same problem with me! I've read a ton of books like Think and Grow Rich, The Alchemist, etc.. And I'm always like yea, I'm going to change. And then a week later im right back to the same negative thoughts and habits. What it seems like to me is a matter of will power and consciousness. I need the willpower to maintain the commitment to change as well as the consciousness or awareness to realize whether or not I'm actually sticking to it. Idk something needs to change. let me know when you find what works! Ps first reddit post so excuse me if I didn't meet the parameters.

You're welcome. Anxiety is one of those things that creeps up on you. I find that I have to remind myself of those stoic ideas fairly often.

A good combination of books is the aforementioned stoicism one and Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Really puts things into perspective (although Man's Search is quite sad).

That's awesome! Thanks fur sharing.

You can start by training your brain to focus on the good stuff. You might be used to focusing on the negative - which is how our brain evolved to survive. If you want to give it a go, start by keeping a journal of wins - each night write down three small victories.

I also recommend picking up the book Learned Optimism to enhance your resilience. Keep in mind that there's ups and downs - one feeling won't last for ever.
I'd recommend to start looking into working on that perfectionism. It's one of those things that's both a beneficial and harmful.

Again, congrats and good luck!

Do you have any hobbies that you enjoy? Something new that you'd like to try? Something you want to learn? The key to making good use of your free time is to do something that progresses you to any one of your goals, whether it be learning how to program through Codecademy, finishing an art project, biking a certain distance, or even beating a video game on the hardest mode.

One thing that I've come across this past year is The Impossible List. The Impossible List is like a bucket list on steroids. It's a tiered list of goals that helps you be productive and keep being productive in your life. Use it to devote your free time to any one of your goals, even if it seems like a small one. That way, you're progressing towards something and not just letting your time waste away.

That said, it's okay to relax once in while! I find that playing Skyrim, watching my favorite TV show, or browsing reddit are all things I do when I need some time to recompose myself.

• no news, TV, films, internet (apart from certain subreddits). Instead of mindlessly consuming content try to create something - keep a journal, record your questions, be curious, go to Wikipedia and find answers to them.
• read: Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations" will help you accept reality and will give you some perspective on life. Go back to this book on regular basis. Instead of fiction, try reading more about reality - journalists' stories, diplomacy, art, history, biology, etc.
• going for a 2k swim every second day, no matter what
• eat porridge with some nuts and seasonal fruit every morning, no matter what // give up sugar altogether
• enjoy your life, no matter what. Find these little things that you can appreciate, count your blessings
• going 100% is a lot easier than going 99%. Stop secondguessing your decisions. You have already made them, now you have no choice. Go and do what you need to do.
• decide what your life goal is and chaing yourself to it. Find a project, always have a project. No matter what.

[edit] * and if you do a lot of computer work in the evenings, this software is a godsend https://justgetflux.com/

Smart of you to stop now. Trust me, the addiction only gets worse. If you struggle, this book has helped a lot of people, including me. It helps to change the way you view smoking. Nicotine is highly addictive, but it's a fairly mild addiction in terms of physical withdrawal (unlike heroin, for example). 95% of the trouble is psychological, and tackling the psychological component makes quitting much easier.

> 0) Develop Your Mindset.

This is what I came here to say. There's a book called 'Mindset' and the tldr; is that there's the Fixed mindset, and the Growth mindset, and which one you are will determine so much of the kind of life you'll lead.

One comment about the pain you feel: you get to the point where the pain of changing is greater than the pain of staying the same, that's when real progress occurs.

I do have a book to recommend that had a strong influence on me during my college years, and I still think about it decades later. It is called The Road Less Traveled (Amazon) and here's a brief summary from /r/Decidingtobebetter.

As you can't afford to fix your truck, PM me your snail-mail address and I buy you a copy myself (serious, from a random internet stranger).

All the best.

Hey !

If you want to reinvent yourself, you need to know that you won't be change everything at once, and if you try, you will certainly fail.

But don't worry there are just a few things you need to know before starting your journey.

First you will need to change your bad habit for good habits. There is a great book that I would like to recommend for you : The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Here is quick video review of the book made by fight mediocrity (who does a lot of good videos about personnal development) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxy8dDSHHaw

We also wrote an article on how to stay motivated for a long time : https://omprove.com/how-to-stay-motivated-for-a-long-time

If you want we can chat to establish the best plan to help you change.

Anyway, good luck !

Here is the list: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Body For Life, Greatest Salesman in the World, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Think and Grow Rich, Brain Over Binge, Awaken the Giant Within, No Excuses, It Works, Rhythm Of Life

I've read some of them. Those that I read are indeed good.

However, in the context of deciding to be better, I'd recommend to drop Pinker's "Blank Slate". It's a good book, but it's mostly about an academic and political debate. If you already accept that genes affect the mind, there's a better way to spend your time.

I'd also recommend to replace Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow", and Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" with &quot;The invisible Gorilla&quot; by Charbis and Simmons. The latter book covers a similar ground to the first two, but it does so with less personal anecdotes.

I'd also recommend to replace the books from Oliver Sacks with Eagleman's &quot;Incognito. The Secret Lives of the Brain.&quot; Eagleman is also funny, he covers similar ground, but his book is a bit more systematic.

My self-talk was a non-stop flood of corrosive negativity. Like, so fucking cruel and toxic it was agonizing.

I can suggest some things that helped me quiet those voices:

• Read Feeling Good and do some online research on CBT

• Keep a journal. It'll help you be mindful of your thoughts

• Remember that just because you have a thought, it doesn't mean that thought is true.

• Challenge your dis-empowering thoughts and look for evidence against them.

• Start each day listening to something from Tony Robbins, Wayne Dyer, Earl Nightingale, Owen Cook, etc. Also read (or read the online summary) of The 4 Agreements, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the 6 Pillars of Self Esteem, Dale Carnegie, Brian Tracy...

• Take positive action. I started doing volunteer work, and helping others really helped me

• Continue to write in your journal.

You can beat this.

Supposedly, taking a cold shower one hour before bed will help trigger sleep signals, resulting in a deeper sleep. I've yet to test this theory out myself, but I see this benefit listed all over the place, including this lifehacker article.

For those who haven't read Napoleon Hill's Think And Grow Rich, it's available for free at the internet archive. I'd also recommend Andrew Carnegie's autobiography, which you can grab on gutenberg.

Try the Headspace App - it's free (with options to purchase more guided meditations) and a lot of people I know have used it and found it really effective. And it has built in reminders to keep you disciplined which can be really tough when you're starting out.

I'm sure there are other options out there, and there are a lot of ways to "do" meditation... but I've been doing the 10 minutes a day/10 days free course from https://www.headspace.com/ recently using their iOS app, which I think is well done. It presents things without any specific religious/philosophical approach, focused less on "making thoughts go away", and more on simply observing and quieting the mind. I know they offer other paid courses (I'm still unsure whether I want to take that step), but the one I've been working through is well worth it.

I'm sure you can also find a lot of resources by simply googling for "beginner guided meditation" or similar.

Check out if there are any interesting groups near you on Meetup.com. It's like instant friends to do things with - a good way to meet new people and try new things without any awkwardness or a big commitment.

First of all I gotta suggest going back to therapy - sometimes it takes a few tries to find someone you hit it off with. And like you said, you have to want to change or it's not going to work.

That being said...maybe start by brainstorming and writing out some life goals. Try making a mind map. Can be big stuff like marriage/kids or little stuff like getting back into a hobby.

When it comes to implementing changes, habit stacking can be really helpful. That means you identify a habit you already have and attach a new one to it - maybe you already make coffee in the morning, so add in 5 minutes of meditation while it's brewing. Do one habit at a time and take it slow.

And keep in mind, it's going to feel cheesy and uncomfortable at first. You're gonna feel some resistance. Good luck!

Get yourself a tongue scraper and one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00QSNP80U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_4V3bGbTX2WJ7C?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

The angle and length make flossing SO much easier. Less plastic waste, too.

Also, just to throw a mouthwash in the ring: look for store brand, usually blue, alcohol-free antiseptic mouthwash with "cetylpyridinium chloride 0.07%" as the active ingredient. It's the same as Crest's gum protection stuff here: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07H9KY6MV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_YZ3bGb8PH05G2

Plus it gunks up on your teeth if you didn't brush well enough, so that's a handy way to check how you're doing.

I recently read through Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Very long book, but extremely well written and interesting.

I'll be honest, though...I'm not sure how much I got out of it in the long run. It seems like the basic summary is: You can roughly imagine your brain as two parts, a fast, instinctive, approximating part and a slow, reasoning, deliberate part. The fast is useful in some situations, the slow is useful in others. In particular, relying too much on the fast can lead you to make a lot of errors and misjudgements.

Also, as with every other book of this kind ever written, it again emphasizes that people are absolutely atrocious at statistics.

So yea, it's a really interesting read, but as far as "deciding to be better" I don't think there's much of practical use in the book. 100% definitely read it if you're interested in psychological findings, but you'll probably give up on the ~600 pages if your goal is finding practical lessons.

Check out r/meditation and take a look at the side bar. What really helped me in the beginning was reading "Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life" by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Zinn put's meditation (which can be difficult to grasp) into easy to understand and engaging language.

I'd recommend checking out a few of these:

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield

Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey

Mindset by Carol Dweck

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday

Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl

None of the obstacles you listed are insurmountable, and at 20 you are too young to have blown any opportunities unless you're in prison for life. (I'd say the same to a 30, 40, or 50 year old too).

You need to change your attitude. It's not an easy thing to do, but that would be my advice. I apologize if that seems like a dick thing to say, but I am basing this on personal experience. If all you let yourself see are obstacles and negative things, you will not be able to thrive in life. (Again, based on experience.)

I recommend the book "Man's Search for Meaning" by Victor Frankel as a good place to start. Read that and see if it helps. It helped me a lot.

The Pomodoro Technique

You schedule periods of productivity but also periods of rest. Then you don't feel guilty when you are resting.

Liz Ryan's points in this article are so important for career changers: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-switch-careers-without-starting-over-liz-ryan

I recently reviewed a "career changer" resume for a friend, and my friend listed all of her non-transferable accomplishments. After we chatted a little more, she changed the resume completely to highlight her relevant experience.

People feel like they need "permission" to rebrand themselves. They don't! It just takes some careful consideration of what skills one already has.

I feel your pain. My screen time skyrocketed during the pandemic. Disrupted sleep, microscopic attention span, difficulty concentrating. I research sciencey wellness stuff online for fun and it became unhealthy. Meditation is the antidote; the best way to reliably build attention and ability to focus. And anxiety will definitely reduce. Immediately. In 5 years which will you be glad you did? Even 5 min a day, done consistently, will change your life. Checkout https://www.headspace.com. Or google Richie Davidson’s work (UW-Madison) work. Good luck!

It is, you can download and install the APK manually if you're impatient like me:

https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/calendar/calendar-5-4-119043132-release-release/google-calendar-5-4-119043132-release-android-apk-download/

Just make sure you have 'install from unknown sources' checked in your settings.

I recommend listening to a few episodes of Esther Perel's 'Where Should We Begin?' podcast. While they may not apply to your situation directly you may find a new way to look at it.

Here is an article: https://www.audible.com/blog/arts-culture/esther-perel-unpacks-desire-infidelity-and-partnerships-in-a-new-podcast/

Link to podcast episodes: https://www.audible.com/ep/estherperel?source_code=BLGORWS120616002I

Meditation is a practice, not something that you just do. Look into mindfulness meditation, which is not about suppressing thoughts but about being fully present to what you are experiencing. A useful phrase is "Begin Again". You try to be present, notice your attention has wandered, so you simply begin again. Reframe your expectations. I've been meditating casually for a few years and being fully present for 10 breaths in a row can still be a challenge.

Also, I haven't tried it yet, but Reddit highly recommended the Headspace mediation app

Two suggestions learned from long experience:

• Use the Pomodoro Technique to stay focused.
• Study until you understand. Don't quit because it doesn't make sense or you're distracted or it's hard or it's "irrelevant."

You'll be fine.

First turn off notifications for those stupid apps, most the time there's the option in the app settings if not you can block them in the phone's settings. You'll probably find you forget about them without the reminders, occasionally go through and uninstall those distracting apps you're not using.

And I'll echo a recommendation for Forest, it really helps me cut off time to focus to study.

I'm on a similar page as you -- brushing and flossing my teeth daily takes real effort! Using Habitica to gamify and tabulate my every day habits has been great, and might work for you as well.

It's just a habit building app. It's designed to work like an RPG if your into that.

Of course, it's a tool, and it's all in how you use it. One quest stands out to me as an answer to your question.

Awesome!

Btw you might like ifttt.com. You can create a 'recipe' that sends you a text reminder every morning at a certain time. That way you get a text every morning reminding you of your resolution.

Makes it easier to focus on it that way!

The fact that you're aware enough to make this post and ask for help speaks volumes towards how well your going to do at beating this thing.I've been battling addiction myself too while trying to achieve a degree, so your not alone . Here's some things I learnt:

Stay away from people, and places you associate using with.

Evaluate your circle , you become the sum of your friends.

Don't beat yourself up when you relapse, restart and restart, do it as many times as it takes.

Take your addction seriously, while your having a good day removing yourself from your usual routine of relapsing your addiction is doing press ups outside your door.

Do not remain idle.Find something you either need to do or want to do.Don't day nap or intentially daydream this leads to you rationalising relapsing.

Meditate. Alot of the triggers are in your head which lead to actions which lead to relapsing.(apps for meditation: Wim hof ;https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.deckeron.apps.innerfire

Headpspace:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getsomeheadspace.android)

Be transparent and ask for help.This is one of the hardest things but one of the most effective.

Excersise, something as simple as going for walks or light bike riding .I'm not talking intensive weight lifting.Even people without serious addictions struggle with this , no one expects you to do this either.

Forgive yourself each time you relapse and move on.

Think and talk postively about yourself but not in a fake or toxic way , it's okay to have bad days and get angry sometimes.

I hope that helped.

Good luck ❤

Thanks for your advice. I have been playing this cool little game Habit hunter app (link IOSor link Android).. It's an RPG, the point of it is to put habits your trying to make and habits your trying to break on it. Every time day or week you do it, you check it off and you get gold to unlock clothes and other things. When you don't or you do a negative habit you lose hp. This is great to keep your goals going...hope it helps someone else. My list is longer than this now. Keeping little me alive

Try the wim hof method it's an easy and effective form of meditation.

Video explaining it:

https://youtu.be/0BNejY1e9ik

Link to the app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.deckeron.apps.innerfire

Well I think this may possibly be more complex than Feeling Good as I think Feeling Good is really palatable. I think the Feeling Good Handbook is better to keep and look up tidbits from the table of contents.

But my one suggestion is &quot;A Guide to Rational Living&quot; by Albert Ellis. This is REBT which is like the progenitor of CBT.

It basically hammers home one concept, one exercise, and that's ABC(DE).

• A = Activating Event
• B = Beliefs (both rational and irrational)
• C = Consequences
• D = Disputing
• E = More Effective ways to think, feel and behave.

In this book many of the chapters and concepts are taught through a conversation between client and therapist.

It's simpler as it focuses on one thing, ABCDE. However, goes deeper because of the narrowed scope.

It's pretty logical, clean, and elegant system. Though, seems quite opposite from ‘Your Erroneous Zones’ from what I see from the pages on Amazon, more rigid.

Check out the table of contents and pages I've linked from Amazon and see if you're interested.

For sketching: r/ArtFundamentals

It goes through the basics of form and dexterity practices, how to hold the pencil, how to draw from sight, how to teach yourself drawing/sketching, how to see 3D forms in 2D space. Very good stuff.

---

For the Viola: A*dults actually have an easier time learning instruments than children*, because they have the attention span to actually sit down and earnestly practice 1 hour every night to improve themselves. Those practice hours COUNT more than a child's average practice session, because it's done for the want of learning, not because you have to. Of course it's impressive for a 12-year-old to play complex music, but when it comes down to it, adults are faster at learning, because they know how to learn, and how to stay focused. This myth of 'Adults learn everything slower' is so tiresome and just hurts us all. We have less time to set aside, but that time is so much more fruitful because we know it's valuable.

Many of the violin tutorial vids on Youtube will also work for the Viola. (Viola is the superior instrument IMO. Cello is a close second in my heart)

You can get a beginner's Viola + kit on Amazon. It won't be professional quality, but you don't NEED professional quality when you're just learning the strings and how to hold the bow and properly change notes.

&#x200B;

EDIT: to add link

Hi, sorry to hear about your anxiety attacks. I've been trying Headspace app, it has been helping me quite abit. Here you go. All the best https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.getsomeheadspace.android

If you have overall motivation to get out of bed earlier (just not when you actually have to), Alarmy could help a lot. You can set it so only a barcode will disable it. (I have to scan my toothpaste). This forces you to get up at the alarm.

I don't know much to say about the second part. It might be worth going to a therapist to see if it is depression. That way you can either rule out depression, or start working on getting rid of it.

As the other guy said, the things you reach for in the moment are not bringing you any happiness. Perhaps temporary satisfaction. Your logic is being subverted by your desires. A lot of Stoicism is about choosing the right desires. I'd recommend you buy the book: A Guide to the Good Life; The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. Great introduction to the ideas and concepts.

Best of luck dude.

I've had some nasty depression periods but always seem to pull through... losing passion for music/dancing/exploring/connections and such definitely sucks, but coping and self love is meaning in its own way. Just getting by and surviving my mind gives meaning to my life and when I come out of that kinda cacoon into something more passionate I feel like there's a lot more willpower goin on.

Some of these books might help: 'Man's Search for Meaning' - Victor Frankl 'Prometheus Rising' and 'Cosmic Trigger' - Robert Anton Wilson

there's pdfs around online

When was the last time you actively sought out inspiration?

Look into MBSR - Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Jon Kabat-Zin's book Full Catastrophe Living is a good starting point, or if you can find a place that offers courses in it that's great too! (I'm currently taking one offered by UPenn) Apps like Headspace and 10% Happier also use mindfulness meditation.

If you are overweight take care of that first. I had absolutely NO motivation when I was overweight. Once my weight came off (calories in, calories out) I was able to motivate myself to do more. Download the myfitnesspal app to track everything you eat.

Start small. Make your bed every day. Then add cleaning your room. Then add walking for 30mins a day. Then add weightlifting. Then add study 1 page. Then 3 pages. etc. It takes 66 days to form a habit.

Check out: r/nonzeroday and also the books "Man's Search for Meaning" and "The Power of Habit"

Good luck!

Try the myfitnesspal app - it's free and really helpful. Keep at it and up with the other folks advice. Check out Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or r/stoicism - some fantastic self improvement lessons in there too.

The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield. Talks about overcoming inner battles such as procrastination and doubt. He talks about the creative process but applies to everything in life. Its all about getting shit done.

I think the best approach in your case is to start small. Set aside 5-10 minutes a day, at a specific place and time every day, and have one of your textbooks waiting in that space for you. You could even have a page bookmarked in advance.

Every time you walk into that room, just pick up the book and read a paragraph or two. Read with curiosity rather than a feeling of "I have to do this" and just try to find the key idea from that paragraph. If you want, have a pad of paper there and write down one sentence that summarizes what you just read.

(This post was inspired by the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Check libraries near you, or pick up a copy at the bookstore. Very useful book.)

William Irvine's book on Stoicism A Guide to the Good Life has been pretty helpful for me in deconstructing and understanding my emotional habits regarding anger, anxiety, fear, etc. Definitely worthwhile.

I can't recommend The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns enough. It literally changed my life when I was deeply depressed. It's an entire book of tools for dealing with depression and anxiety. It's a cognitive behavioral therapy self help book.

The daily mood log is an amazing tool by itself, which you can find online, but the book itself goes into detail about the cognitive distortions (twisted thoughts) specifically which make it a lot more useful. Though the first time I or anyone I know read it, we said "yeah OK, I have some of those twisted thoughts"then after paying attention for a few weeks you realize you have all of them. It's so useful for learning how to identify twisted thoughts and find ways to replace them with rational thoughts. You don't even realize how twisted your thoughts are when you're in that state of mind. You just believe your thoughts and then feel terrible.

I'm rambling but I really can't say enough about how much this book has helped me and others that I've introduced it to (who actually read the whole thing.)

It took me a long time, but after years of struggle I broke my alcohol habit.

I actually made an animated video that touched on how to break bad habits and install new good habits. Mostly inspired from the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

To put it in extremely simplistic terms, whenevr I get a craving to drink, I do something to make me feel good.

This includes drinking water, eating food, socializing, and even masturbating.

Today, I'm 1 month and 9 days sober and going strong as hell!

It's a good introduction to mindfulness if you're not familiar. If I recall correctly, the cds are guided meditations, and it's really great to have them. But it's also nice to get off of guided meditations pretty quickly and do them on your own. At least, I find someone giving me instructions while meditating to be frustrating. Try the metta (lovingkindness) meditation, though. It's great.

All that being said, I'd probably recommend something by Thich Nhat Hanh, like The Miracle of Mindfulness, over it. But I guess it depends whether you want your mindfulness with science on the side or Buddhism.

I really recommend the book: Mindset by Carol Dweck.

It presents an interesting idea. This idea is about, that talent is no more than a head start. But talent only, will not make you successful or get you to the top. Talent without effort is wasted talent.

From the description you made I think you are talented, but you never had to experience "hard work" or effort to get ahead in life so far.

Accept the fact there is no progress without effort and occasional failure. This is a hard and it doesn't happen overnight.

I was a very sore loser and had to work very hard on my mindset to turn it around. It still happens to me sometimes. I blame bad luck or something occasionally, but my results speak for themselves.

WARNING: CLISHÉ ALERT

Imagine a baby boy who is learning to walk. Will he give up after the first 3 falls? I think not.

Hey bud, I don't have all the answers, and definitely don't know if what works for me will work for you, but I'm just going to share my experience, take it as you please. First of all, you're on your way man. I know it may not feel like it, but look, you're here right? Asking for help. There's some quote somewhere that says something along the lines of "stress is a sign you give a shit." I full heartedly believe this. I felt like I was "working" on myself actively for most of my life. I actually became pretty convinced that I was doomed to a life of never ending existential crisis. It felt pathetic and lame. I was embarrassed that I treated every book I read like a self help book. And yet, I couldn't stop worrying about it, so I kept doing it. Then, it just kind of clicked. Wasn't even like an event, it's just like everything I had absorbed just kind of synthesized in my head and I understood the underlying "why" of all I had read. Things I logically understood and agreed with finally internalized. My point being, it just takes the burning desire to change, the unrelenting belief that you can change, and the commitment to do so. You may (and most likely will) stumble, hell you may even give up for 6 months or a year. But life is long, how long you've been unsuccessful is moot, it's what you're going to do about it today moving forward that matters.

As for specifics, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has worked for me. I'm still on Habits 1 & 2, but it's not about finishing that book that matters, but actually living those habits. The Speed of Trust I actually like a little more so. But I think they complement each other well. SoT starts off on the foundation (you) as well, I'm still on the first wave.

Just thought I'd share. Good luck man, you got this.

Heya. Thanks for the post, it was pretty intense but I completely get where you're coming from. If you're looking for advice, I can offer a couple of things.

First is a book that is pretty popular on this sub and I recommend to a lot of friends that have lost their purpose, it's called "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport. It's a really good guide to success and happiness in a career.

Second, you definitely need to relax a little bit. I've been through anxiety and depression and the way that you're thinking right now is a recipe for an unhappy life.

>I have to be immortalized in history. Ide rather be dead than average but I don’t know how im gonna be more than average.

Putting this level of pressure on yourself can only lead to perceived failure, even if you're succeeding. You need to focus more on the "means", rather than the "ends", meaning if you want to be a comedian and think you can, then focus on writing jokes and performing. Don't even think about "changing the world" or being mediocre.

If you're getting stuck in these kinds of thought patterns a lot, then I can recommend another book (again often recommended here):

http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Good-New-Mood-Therapy/dp/0380810336/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1454278582&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=feeling+good

Honestly, the title might sound corny, but this book has saved and changed so many lives that it's true worth is incalculable.

>there has to be more to life than just having a good time and discovering what everyone already knows exists

There is indeed. Life is experience. The more you get, the more you'll understand.

Best of luck, friend.

• Eat that Frog by Brian Tracy helped me a lot when I was in University. One of the few self-help books that actually helped.
• I found Dale Carnegie's book to be highly ineffective considering it was written during a time when, I believe, Thomas Edison was alive.
• I also didn't think much of Think and Grow Rich.

I can vouch for Brian Tracy's work, and I definitely vouch for Robert Glover's Nice Guy book.

At the end of the day though, reading these books do nothing. At some point you just have to go out and do "it", whatever it is.

• Freedom by OSHO
• The Power of Now and A New Earth by Eckart Tolle
• Your Soul's Plan and Your Soul's Gift by Robert Schwartz
• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

My roommate just finished The Art of War and is still in rave mode so I'll be checking that one out next. I love self help literature and aspire to write something of my own one day to help others. These are just a few I've truly gained from and am happy to see such a great list of new ones I might learn from soon!

If I could advise you to do one thing first, it's to read Mindfulness in Plain English. Follow the instructions in that book. If you can, attend a 10 day retreat. I used to be in your situation myself, and I know it feels like your mind is made of molass. Sometimes you feel downright nauseous about your situation, when perhaps the situation isnt even that bad. The first thing you should do is make some order in your mind. Then proceed from there.