Not only have I learned a lot in the past two and a half years at the time of this writing but I have actually managed to create what I would consider my first real contribution to the field of psychology, or perhaps many other fields as well. It is called the Long Term Survival Model. And it is the reason why we are alive on this planet.

This is a bold claim to make but let me first point out that what I am really talking about is why we are here in terms of Darwinian evolution. It is obvious to first say that we are actually here for just about any reason we would like to pick. Some theists (or those who are religious believers) have told me that they do not believe there would be a point to our existence if evolution were true. Of course, this will not be a post debating the existence of evolution because as far as I am concerned there is nothing there to debate anyway. This entire model assumes that evolution is true and is constantly in motion.

The two driving forces to Darwinian evolution are 1) natural selection and 2) mutation. Natural selection is the process by where survival of the fittest allows the organisms with the best traits suited to their environment to survive while mutation keeps the traits changing every once and a while. When a mutation is beneficial we could say that it is ‘adaptive.’ Adaptation is the very name for the process in which organisms continue to grow, evolve, and exist throughout time.

Under the assumption of these main two mechanisms it would be safe to assume that we are actually here for more of a reason than just to survive; we are not only here to survive but to replicate. And here in lies a bit of the problem that is sort of philosophical.

If we are only here to survive and replicate then that means that whatever we do to get there does not really matter. Under a traditional viewpoint in much of modern society, there lies a view that evolution is taking place on a wholly individualistic sort of scale. This is actually not the case because everything exists on an entirely interconnected network.

In fact, not only are all people on the planet connected to all other people on the planet but all organisms to organisms and even people to all other environmental factors. On enough of a scaled breakdown we could actually say that on a molecular level everything is fundamentally connected. This is part of the basis for what is known as “chaos theory.”

Chaos theory is irrelevant to the Long Term Survival Model but I will go ahead and just explain briefly what chaos theory states. Chaos theory assumes a number of different properties about the universe but one of its main points, or benefits that is, is to be able to predict very complex events and occurrences such as the flow of water or the stock market trends. Many scientists agree that certain patterns are taking place among seemingly totally unpredictable events but the only reason they cannot make accurate predictions is that the formulae for predicting the events are changing at every moment.

The stock market, for example, creates a brand new set of conditions every single time someone makes a trade. When you change the market, even by a little, it changes the state of what predictions will be made about the future regarding the entire market. The amount of data that you have to put your hands on and interpret all at once is horrendously large.

The entire universe functions this way and we are not living in a state of exception.

At any moment, the constantly shifting state of the universe could cause a giant, deadly meteor to come hurling in the direction of our planet or some cosmic event could destroy us in the blink of an eye that we theoretically would not be able to predict. Our entire existence continues on in this fashion. When we consider how each and every one of us, along with the very way in which everything we say and do affects other conditions on both our planet and inevitably the rest of the universe – we realize that survival and replication is not the only thing we should be doing.

When considering the rest of the big picture, we actually have three goals for the survival of each of ourselves as individuals and it lies with ensuring the survival of our entire species. We must:

1. Survive. And when I say survive, I am referring to it in the traditional sense of the word because by the end of this article I will change the definition of the word ‘survive’ to mean how we survive in the long term over millions, billions, or trillions of years.

2. Replicate. We should replicate but replication lies in more than our DNA. One of the primary driving factors behind DNA replication, or human reproduction, is our ideologies and behaviors. Biologist Richar Dawkins coined a term for these known as “memes” similar to the genetic term “genes.” Replication lies not just in our biology but in our memetics as well.

3. Empower. Empowerment is the third and final step in the basics of the Long Term Survival Model. Essentially, empowerment is the ability to enable others in the population to perform the same tasks in steps 1 and 2 – to survive and replicate. In its most common form, empowerment is teaching.

Empowerment is where things get complicated. Not only must we figure out what empowerment really is but we also have to have a vehicle for getting there. Empowerment, just like surviving and replicating, takes time, energy, and resources. This third step operates under the principle that if we aid the rest of the population then we will increase our chances for long term survival. Without taking into account how we are connected to everything else – we literally have no hope of prevailing as a species.

Take a moment to consider how lucky we are. Not only have 98% or more of the biological organisms that have ever existed on this planet gone extinct, we happen to be among the lucky few that have not. On a broader scale, we also happen to be lucky enough that our planet is tipped at just the right scale and distanced just the right length away from the sun that human life is able to exist at all, for any period of time, on this planet. At our most basic level, we are the universe growing some form of consciousness and asking itself questions like where it came from, where is it going, and where does it lie now?

At the same time, we are doing dumb things every single day. We are flushing toilets that use 10 gallons of water per flush. We are eating fast food that kills us. We have countries constantly going to war over religion and resources. We are killing off species after species with our relentless expansion. In every possible way, countless different members of the homo sapien species are ignoring the first and most important fundamental truth of our being connected to absolutely everything (and by that truth: affecting everything else in existence).

For more information the Long Term Survival Model, sign up to my newsletter. You will get a free eBook, Principles of Social Attraction, as well as videos, audio files, and other resources which will provide you on more information relating to the LTS Model.

Missi of MissisMusings.com writes:

Hi Scott…just started reading your blog today. Love the way you write and your article on Pavlina. You have a lot of great points in this post but I wanted to point out that science, while very useful, can’t PROVE anything. It serves only to disprove. We can’t know anything for certain. There have been many failures of the scientific method which I won’t go into here, but consider that even though a scientific theory may have several experiments to back it up, it takes only ONE counter example to disprove a theory. The BCS theory of superconductivity was confirmed over and over again for 25 years, but in 1986, just one experiment disproved that theory. Looking forward to reading more.

Missi,

In regard to your point about the scientific method and how one counterexample can disprove an entire theory – I’d argue that in many cases that is correct. That is what is so great about science, in addition to the fact that many times it will also take hundreds of different slight variations to confirm or disprove any theory and one of those slight variations may be the thing that finally breaks it. This is part of the beauty of science and one of the things that I will probably argue a lot throughout this blog in the coming weeks is that society is just not paying enough attention to scientific theory or to the idea of skepticism.

I would love for you to go into the “many failures” of the scientific method because as far as I can tell there are only a few. For example, there is no way that the scientific method can fully account for subjective experience. Other times we might lack instrumentation or instrumentation that is valid and reliable for measuring some particular item or thing. Of course, the scientific method is also responsible for every single technology and set of concepts that has allowed us to advance and progress in our quality of living throughout history. We would not have electric lights, cars, refrigerators, ergonomic chairs and keyboards, indoor plumbing, water heaters, 99.9% effective antibacterial soaps, and loads of other handy accessories in our daily lives if it were not for the scientific method.

Now, obviously if we are going to get into the deepest, simplest, most direct point of the philosophy of sorts behind empiricism we would come to the conclusion that when it comes down to it – we really cannot know anything for certain, as you said. But if I understand you correctly, I assume that what you mean by that statement is that ultimately we cannot know anything, only that we are perceiving our reality and even our perception of that reality may not exist as we know it, or even exist at all. But I think that by taking this approach and leaving that as your final conclusion for the extent to which science can benefit humanity we would probably end up robbing ourselves blind – as we did not consider the better alternative of applying a bit of rationalism to this whole idea.

So what if we cannot know anything for certain in its ultimate, end all finality? Who cares? The point is that we can come to conclusions which can help us determine if we are headed in the right direction with different things by using logical, rational, and even empirical arguments. Perhaps one of the most beneficial fields of science might be biology and the discovery of genetics from people like Gregor Mendel or Elizabeth Blackburn and her discovery of the telomere. If we can understand the very stuff from which we are made, this mysterious stuff that is now not so mysterious known as: deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and how to ensure that we can take care of this fantastic body of ours by catering to the enzymes, proteins, cells, and various other components that run it then perhaps we could live to see another few decades, or, as some are even trying to claim now: another ten decades.

Science is the beginning of possibilities and not only is it a place from which we can draw our inspiration it is also a place through which we can mold and sculpt new dreams. More importantly: science, to me, is a way in which we can actually find practical solutions to make some of those incredibly fantastic dreams come true. Finally, I must say that I would have to disagree that science cannot “prove” anything or that it can only “disprove” things. In fact, it proves through every experiment conducted that when an experiment is performed in a particular way certain events happen. If the experiment can be replicated over and over again with the exact same results then we can usually conclude that it is reasonable to assume that if those same events were to repeat themselves in the same fashion in the future we will be able to predict what will happen! Perhaps you meant something different by proof, maybe relating to theoretical or conceptual constructs.

Thank you so much for writing, Missi! Remember that many of these ideas I may have expanded upon in a bit more detail than might be personally necessary for you – this was to ensure that my readers also got a lucid description of what it was I was actually talking about!

Thanks,
Scott

Do you hate exercise? Sometimes, I do too. Most of the time I am one of those people who makes the excuse that I “do not have time” for exercise. Obviously, there is no real excuse and if you really want to exercise more you will but when it comes down to it exercising without changing your diet is really not going to get you any results, and changing your diet to just anything is really not a simple enough solution. If you really want to lose weight you have to also really want to be healthy.

I am going to tell you in easy terms how to do this by eating alone but I will also give you a small hint as to where to go with your exercise habits as well at the very end of this article. But let’s begin! I hope you’re taking notes.

First things first: take your vitamins every day. If you are like most people, your daily diet consists of modern foods that have been robbed of their naturally high nutritional intake. Your very first task to compensate for this could easily be to take a daily multivitamin and some nutritional supplements. I take a normal Centrum which you can get from virtually any grocery store.

• B-Vitamins unite! The B Vitamins are so ridiculously important to you and your activities throughout your waking day that I would even argue that even going a week without them is devastating in ways you probably cannot imagine and unfortunately are not even visible. One study even found that people had highly reduced brain volume after not getting a good intake of Vitamin B12 (Vogiatzoglou et al. “Vitamin B12 status and rate of brain volume loss in community-dwelling elderly.” Neurology. 2008. 71:826-832). I would highly recommend taking Vitamin B1 (Riboflavin), B6, and B12 supplements every day.

• There are good fats and bad fats for you. Omega-3’s are good, omega-6’s are bad. Pick up a Fish Oil supplement to get your daily intake of Omega-3 fatty acids.

• CoQ10 is another good one which will aid visual function.(Blasi MA, Bovina C, Carella G, et al. Does coenzyme Q10 play a role in opposing oxidative stress in patients with age-related macular degeneration? Opthalmologica. 2001 Jan-Feb;215(1):51-4).

Some simple rules that if you follow them, you will be just fine… Eating healthy is not actually as complicated as the media makes it sound. I will prove it to you if you want to try my approach. Essentially, all you have to do is…

• Do not eat anything that has anything but natural sugars (this means no sugar from anything but normal fruit). We have an obscene amount of sugar flooding our diets from modern food companies and the way that food is delivered. This means not drinking sodas. Ever. It also means no pies, cakes, cupcakes, whip cream, or when drinking your coffee sweetening it with sugar. If you absolutely MUST add sugar, I’d recommend trying out adding natural, real sugar (like “Sugar in the RAW”) and brown sugar. But really? You get enough natural sugars from everything you eat, especially fruits like oranges and apples. Oh, but on top of that – if you are to eat bread, eat less than one serving. Bread, or anything made from flour, is essentially sugar. Yes, sandwiches are bad for you.

• Eat a high protein diet. Your body can manufacture certain kinds of fats that it can burn off and various other things it might need but it has no real way to produce protein. Protein is in stuff like steak, chicken, turkey, ham and any kind of meat. Remember what I said about vitamin B12 – just a side note – you can only get your B vitamin intake naturally by eating red meat. The best source of protein anywhere? Eggs, eat LOTS of eggs!

• Fat does not make you fat. Do not worry about fat, but NEVER eat trans fat. Trans fat is sort of like eating plastic: it never fully breaks down, it’s artificial, and it kills you. On the other hand, normal fat, even saturated fat, you do not even have to worry about if you follow the other rules presented here! That means you can eat those giant, juicy, delicious pieces of meat and stuff that vegetarians hate so much and you will never have to regret it! And for vegetarians, see my last bullet point here.

• Drink lots of water. More than any other fluid that you could drink, drink more water than anything else. For stuff that is caffeinated, drink purely black tea or black coffee – do not add sugar. Water is essential. In fact, the majority of every single one of our bodies is composed of water anyway so always keep plenty of drinking water around.

• Do not count calories. If you’re eating the right foods – calories simply do not matter. When I first cut out all of the excess sugar from my own diet and began eating an enormous amount of eggs, meat, cheese, and vegetables I had a ravenous hunger I had not experienced in a long time. Interestingly, it was probably because I had dramatically dropped my blood sugar in a short amount of time and I ate more than ever. Even as I did, I got thinner and skinnier. Calories do not make the difference – the right food does.

• Forget about including corn as a “vegetable.” In fact, corn is actually more like a grain. It just is not that good for you and it sort of could be equated to the evil of eating sugar. High fructose corn syrup, which is in virtually every soda (again, do NOT drink sodas EVER), is in a variety of products and it is going to make you fatter and more unhealthy.

• When all else fails eat a low carb diet with low sugar and high protein. When it comes down to it the three main rules I am mainly trying to get across are:

• • Eat low carb.
  • Eat low sugar.
  • Eat high protein.

Think Atkin’s diet (cutting out carbs) where you eliminate bread, chips, crackers, and other items with high carb content because it is essentially the same as sugar. In regard to the more obvious things with actual sugar: getting rid of anything with sugar like sodas, syrup, cake, pie, ice cream, brownies, and so on. I know, I know, sugar is delicious but so is fat! Remember that there is nothing really that wrong with fat provided you are consuming a low carb, low sugar, high protein diet. It has been scientifically proven (and from my own experience) that your body will burn high amounts of fat if you consume a diet that follows these rules.

• And finally: do not be a vegetarian. Human beings, or homo sapiens, are omnivores. They need meat. Stop acting like we did not evolve and grow into existence on anything other than an omnivorous diet. We didn’t. Science shows it, the academic scholars agree, vegetarianism does not work as a sustainable diet. You are better off eating things like eggs and steak mixed in with vegetables, fruit, and just a tiny little tad of grains and sugars (again, less than 1 serving a day for the grains and sugars).

But hey, I should also make a brief side note: I even break my own rules from time to time. Every once and a while, I admit that I will eat ice cream, order pizza, and eat a piece of key lime pie. Fortunately, it hurts me less if I stick to these other rules.

Here is an example of what I typically might consume in a day following my rules.

MEAL 1 OF DAY:

• 2 Fried Eggs, Over Medium
• Orange Juice
• Supplements: Centrum Multivitamin
  • Chromium picolinate 200mcg
  • CoQ10 200mg
  • Fish Oil 1000mg
  • Vitamin C 500mg
• 4 Strips of Bacon

“BRUNCH”:

• Water
• Apple or Orange

MEAL 2, LUNCH:

• 12 Thin Slices of Ham
• Cheddar Cheese
• Cup of Milk
• 1 Can of Green Beans

MEAL 3:

• ½ of a Turkey Leg or 1 Chicken Breast or Steak (Medium)
• 1 Can of Sliced Carrots
• Water

Hopefully this will give you a good start. Looking at the layout of my typical meals and food throughout the day you might be a bit awe struck by realizing how much food you may be consuming that resembles nothing of this! In fact, in this example I might actually try throwing in a couple more eggs. Some people prefer eating eggs completely uncooked by themselves: not me. I like to cook all my food for the most part!

Follow a diet similar to this one and I promise you will see some results, both in your health and in your weight. But what do we do for exercise with this kind of a diet? A hint I will give you is that you should NOT be doing cardio. I repeat: do NOT do cardio! Instead, you want to do short burst, high intensity workouts which burn off whatever carbohydrate energy you may have in your system and then stop – this will program your body to burn whatever fat you have. Doing cardio while consuming a high carb diet is only going to make you miserable and probably will not get you good results.

I look forward to hearing the experiences of bloggers and other readers who may actually try this sort of approach!

Uh oh, I said it. Some of you may have heard about this guy, Steve Pavlina, because of his successful blogging ventures but more importantly because he is the author of a book which hit Barnes & Noble shelves a while back known as Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit of Personal Growth. Now, do not misinterpret my respect and love for Steve – I think in many different areas the guy is an absolute genius. He has over a million readers and there is a reason he does: he provides a huge amount of value to readers all over the world who find benefit by reading his articles.

This particular blog entry, however, is about how Steve Pavlina is wrong about a number of different things.

Raw food and vegetarianism – One of the primary topics that Steve talks about in his blog is vegetarianism, which he had seemed particularly proud of when he first started writing about it, and raw food. He claims that not only has he felt better and been more healthy but that if you consume the same diet as he does you will feel better and be more healthy too! Not so, folks. And there is a few different reasons why.

• Vegetarianism and its benefits, or especially veganism, have been grossly over-exaggerated. In fact, according to some, vegetarian diets will actually harm you because you are not getting essential vitamins.
  • Raw food is also a bad idea, no matter what the raw food community is trying to tell you. Steve has also said that people from the raw food community “seem nicer” than that of other communities. He may not mean bad by saying such a thing but to me that is a bit pompous.

The problem, which Steve has hinted at, is actually in the foundations of how modern food is prepared and processed. A much more credible sort of work on the problems with modern meat processing might be the documentary Food, Inc. or a very delightful read I had the opportunity to experience during a vacation of mine: Twinkie, Deconstructed. I would also highly recommend the work on Al Sears MD.

To get a handle on what foods we should consume we should really examine the diet of our native ancestors and how the most healthy of them survived. The best hunters ate plentiful portions of meats, vegetables, fruits, and while yes – some of it was raw – they also enjoyed cooked meals over an open fire. A lot of advocates of raw food diets like to preach that raw food somehow is what we need because of nutritional value when in reality: the real culprit is food processing, sugar, preservatives, chemical additives, high fructose corn syrup and an excess of corn products, and other simple problems that have only emerged in their worst form during the past century.

Sorry, Steve, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of people who consume a raw food diet not only will not stick with it – they will not think it tastes very good either. On the other hand, if you let me have my grass fed beef with green beans and my daily multivitamin I will be very happy.

In fact, his entire attitude is pompous by his site’s motto: “Personal Development for Smart People.” Who the heck does he think he is? So if you are not smart, then apparently you will not be reading his site. To his credit, he often responds to this anecdote with a good deal of humor, wit, and charm. He has a big problem with his overall ending response, though, when he claims that anyone who “doesn’t get it” or disagrees with it is somehow not among the ‘smart people’ he is writing for. Steve, the doctoral degrees and some of the biggest experts in the field would say that a lot of what you are writing about is complete rubbish. One reason he could write a lot about things that are so sensational, of course, is that it probably generates a good buzz and brings in a substantial number of readers. Still, Steve: the doctoral degrees know a thing or two as well.

The guy’s an ex-Scientologist for crying out loud… In fact, that could be a bit of an understatement.

• If you dive deep enough into Steve Pavlina’s history, you find out he is an ex-Scientologist. Not only does he not regret the decision, he also claims that it was a beneficial time of his life. The amount of stuff that is just absolutely nutty and crazy with Scientology and the horror stories of the cult-way in which it has taken advantage of its members is enough to get me to steer clear from reading even a single word of L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics.
• The fact that Steve supports this and then goes so far as to say he actually buys into his now ex-wife’s psychic abilities says enough about his intellectual integrity to me.

Of course, the ironic part is that even while Pavlina completely ignores rational thought processes he still manages to give some extremely sound advice that people not only listen to but many actually find tremendous benefit from. I think guys like Pavlina and other big industry gurus who are pushing the Law of Attraction, however, are giving people unrealistic hopes and dreams.

If you know me personally, you know that I have absolutely no issues what so ever with the idea of thinking BIG! I do it all the time myself and I also follow my ideas with an intense drive and motivation that few other people I know have – the problem lies in how he is telling people to get there. This trend of “think about it and it will happen” type of mentality needs to end and Steve Pavlina has done little to actually help end its existence. Instead of turning to scientific thought processes people are turning to more abstract, almost pop-culture like philosophies preached by guys like Pavlina. Even in his book, he is not giving rational strategies for practical things that can aid you in the real world but is instead telling you abstract concepts that you must somehow figure out HOW to apply.

All the while he is leaving some sense of vague uncertainty in the readers’ mind but manages to present it in a way that is appealing enough that it keeps you reading entry after entry. Some time ago, I actually stopped reading Pavlina’s entries because they all grew to sort of repeat themselves about the same general concepts. He has also, as much as he has tried to avoid it, hit the problem of trying to make his website one that appeals to multiple different markets while still dropping everything he writes about under the category of “personal development.” Sometimes, the stuff he is writing about is arguably nothing to really do with personal development itself at all. Perhaps he only wants the term to be broadly defined.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people that would argue that Steve Pavlina “invented” personal development in the same sense that people liked to say that Al Gore “invented the internet.” Obviously, I disagree with even this sort of a metaphor.

A good friend of mine, Bill Perry, who I have often worked with on various different research projects, wrote a review of Steve Pavlina’s book here. Steve, if you’re reading this, I admit that I will soon purchase a copy of your book and read it the book in its entirety – it seems the stuff that you are putting out onto store shelves is a bit more valid and well constructed than certain things you have touched on in your blog. Congratulations on your success.

As for others, I highly recommend you at least read some of the best, popular articles that Steve has written. If you are just now diving into a journey of personal change I think he is a wonderful guy to start with. But for those who are serious about wanting to push past their long term sticking points and to come out on top in a way they have never done before, we need someone a bit more scientific in their approach.

Instead what I hope to do is to write out some of the more interesting pieces of information that I stumble upon. And, in the midst of developing a lot more of my own sorts of theories I have managed to create a number of new tools, technologies, and sets of tools that are meant to be used together which I call: Mental Technologies. They will aid many different people for whatever purpose it is they choose. I am currently working on a new book which talks about something I will reveal in brief here for just a moment: it’s called the Long Term Survival Model.

The Long Term Survival Model essentially says why we are here, why we exist, in terms of Darwinian evolution. It is also a theory that attempts to bring a deeper understanding to what should be the true definition of the word “survival.” When I left the blogosphere to vanish into relative obscurity (actually it was to go to college and pursue other projects for a while) much of the internet was feasting on the fad that was: The Law of Attraction.

What did everyone quickly find out about the Law of Attraction? For one thing, we all found out: you cannot just kick back and think about something and expect magic to happen. Hopefully everyone knows that and hopefully anyone who is just entering into the whole idea will learn that entire idea very quickly. People are chasing pop culture phenomena like the Law of Attraction to try and get a handle on their own improvement.

People do not realize that most of the time they are being narrow minded in their life pursuits. I do not want to be rude and I certainly do not want to be mean to anyone reading this, but the fact of the matter is that most people fail because they only want to achieve one thing for themselves instead of wanting to achieve everything for everyone, including themselves. There is a big difference between these two concepts. For example, a person who scours blogs and the internet looking to pull themselves out of credit card debt might peruse various blogs on internet marketing or multilevel schemes – never really getting anywhere because they fail to realize the root of their problem.

The root of their problem is them.

Everything I have touched base on here actually encompasses a huge amount of information. Not only are people seeking quick fixes everywhere in today’s society, but they are doing it at an alarming rate and without a care for what the real information often actually is. Instead of being scientific, many are simply being enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is great but it is not going to tell you how to solve your financial problems or how to make you healthier or how to improve the relationship you have with your loved ones.

Science tells you that.

That is sort of a controversial statement for me to make and I realize that for many there are a wide range of truths outside of science. However, let us think about what science really is for a moment. Or rather: the scientific method, which is the key to solving any problem beyond any shadow of doubt. You first form a hypothesis, then perform an experiment, then record and measure the results, then at last: you make a conclusion. This is an oversimplified way of stating what the scientific method is, but you would be amazed how many people are ignoring even the simplified version.

Here is an example of how people often overlook rational solutions: in relationships people often get into arguments. During these arguments one person in the couple might assert “See? He/She is treating me like a jerk!” when in reality, it could simply be miscommunication. People are relying on their emotional centers rather than their logical centers. This is bad and it is flat out dangerous.

But I am not simply writing on this blog again out of pure concern for the public’s well being or anything like that. I genuinely have some extremely powerful information that I am excited to share with everyone who wishes to hear it! In the coming months, I will describe in detail what much of this content is all about.

In addition to writing a new book, I have a number of other projects under construction. While this website will receive dozens of new articles, I have literally hundreds more which will be part of students’ learning curriculum in a new training program I am designing which will be modular in design; students will be able to choose whether or not they pursue an entire program which covers various different areas all at once or they will be able to purchase individual modules which will enable them to work on specific, focused areas.

I am working on designing a school for human fulfillment. Please note that I am using the word: fulfillment here and not potential. Potential is fantastic – it means possibilities. But a lot of personal development oriented websites and many of the big “gurus” out there always talk about getting you closer to your ‘potential’ whilst I am going to be bold and say no, let us advance far beyond merely potential: let’s fulfill! Let us get to the maximum capacity!

So what all will the content on this newly refurbished website cover? In essence, the first things I hope to touch base on are:

• The science of personal development – the world has turned its back on science too much of the time in too many places. It is time we started being very honest with ourselves as to what works and what does not work! Hundreds of different personal development programs out there are teaching you to do different things but which among them actually have tested their techniques empirically, and scientifically? Are Steve Pavlina or Anthony Robbins always right? Should Jack Canfield really be credible? We shall find out!<
• Philosophic overhaul and questioning our assumptions – first and foremost I wish that people would question their assumptions about themselves. This is a hugely necessary step that I want to see happen a lot more often than it does. Instead of narrowly focusing on one problem like your finances or your relationships, why not take a more ‘gestalt’ approach and focus on yourself as a whole, for example?
• Duplication of success! – when I am successfully empowering others through this website or the products that I release I hope that those who benefit from the teachings will in turn spread the word and duplicate their success in others. Doing this will make the world a better place for others and when the world is a better place for others it is also a better place for me because we are all connected.

So keep tuning in – I look forward to getting back into this game of blogging and letting everyone know the things they have missed out on in my time away. The very first thing I will do which will be in my next post is to go over a number of things that I was wrong about in my previous writings. Yes, indeed I was wrong and I am openly admitting it!

Perhaps even more fun, I will also discuss various other topics and people who are both wrong and right, and why.

Scott's Back!

I realize a lot of you are probably coming here from search engines. Rest assured – the original posts for this website will soon be back online and fully restored. In the mean time I’ve taken the time to go ahead and put up a temporary layout and let all visitors know what is going on. I am planning on relaunching this site with a different sort of approach than what had originally been done.

Instead of nothing but the old blog posts I will continue writing a few new entries as well as shifting the focus toward some new projects. For one thing, a new book is in the works and it’s some pretty crazy, revolutionary sort of stuff. You can read all about it, plus other projects, over at my personal website, ScottLee.name, where I’ve written an entry called A Renovation of Business and Personal Lifestyle in 2010.

In the mean time, I would like to invite you to continue checking back here as things are slowly rebuilt and reinvented. Not only will all of the original posts be back online soon, but new articles and information on upcoming products I have in the works will be as well!

Where Have I Been?

Lots of places. Particularly, I’ve been working on Barton Police: The Online Comedy Series. Here’s a quick little trailer that we released a while back to get the ball rolling with the release of the first episode. We’re currently in the process of building a viewership and are working on releasing a DVD.

1/23/10 – EDIT: Everything has been fully restored. I’ll be working on new content in the coming months!

To say that I have wasted my time writing the over 120 different entries this site has would be a thick, negative inaccuracy, to say the least. Not only has this site given me an additional income stream, it has also changed my life in writing these articles. For every single article written here, there is probably a corresponding era of my life that went along with it. Never before and never since writing here have I dived more deeply into myself, made more positive growth, or expanded my awareness of life more thoroughly. It was during my time here that I changed my religious beliefs, increased my annual income, dated a number of girls, and talked to some of the most passionate, self growth oriented people alive on the planet.

Still, it is time to move on. Though this may not be the permanent end to the Scott Free Thinking title, it is definitely the end of these blog entries for, at the very least, a long, long time.

At the time of my writing this, much of my time has been spent working, finishing my psychology degree with the University of Houston, and working on the production company that started it all for me in high school: Barton Ct. Productions Inc. Barton Ct. Productions is a symbol of hope for independent artists both in Houston and across the United States. If anyone ever loses their spirit for creating art, I hope that this company will be one that people can turn to. It certainly has been a company that has kept art and film making alive for me in my own life, and I expect it to do nothing less for the people who follow it. I am also continuing to work on my own apparel brand, Dirty Mechanism, which I still see great potential for in the future. In addition to the on-demand t-shirts that have generated thousands of dollars in revenue I will soon be entering the world of street wear fashion design.

While it is true that my life is not about money, it is very true to know that I still have a long way to go in learning how it is I can best generate capital for my businesses. Meanwhile, I have seen myself create some of the most passionate, beautiful work that has ever come out of me during the past two years. From creating a feature length documentary, writing a book, writing dozens of articles, to writing my first soul filled heart wrenching music that has put some to tears – I have to say that if I were to die tomorrow people should remember me for the amount of passion, effort, and sheer emotion I put into my life & projects. I hope that I have touched all of your hearts as much as you have touched mine; it is my sincerest hope that as this site continues to get readers that their lives will be different because of my words, and that my life will be different due to their diligently reading eyes.

Thank you all so much, and goodbye.

So the communication, the ‘permission’ you’re looking for, so to speak, is going to be nonverbal. You will look for what are called IOI’s, or indicator’s of interest, as modern day pick-up artists like to call them through different forms of body language and your own intuition. You will also look for other cues, specifically in their overall expression that will be telling you what it is they’re looking for. Verbally, single sentences and phrases to certain questions also can tell you a very large amount of information without having to say very much at all.

On the topic of intuition, there’s a very good book you should read called Intuition: Its Powers and Perils, by David G. Myers. In this book, Myers points out correctly with other recent authors who have been writing on the subject that the subconscious mind does indeed have an incredible power to deduce a vast amount of information and carry out complex problem solving aids when given very little information because of its ability to process so much information at once, but as Myers points out: only when emotional influence is left out of the picture. Especially when it comes to human relationships, this is where you can have a conscious filter going that will skew your intuition into something sour and poorly evaluated.

The fact of the matter is, your intuition is constantly trying to work for you. This is why first impressions are so valuable, but also why they stress that you “shouldn’t judge someone before you get to know them.” At first glance, you might think that when we form quick judgments about people upon meeting them that may be incorrect our intuition is at fault, we are actually looking at something other than our intuition with that initial feeling. Intuition and the entire process through which it operates works under the context of our own conscious interpretation, or conscious filter. If you take the first gut reaction you have as the correct one, you’re taking the first conscious interpretation you have as the correct one.

Coming back to the topic of relationships, you can see how maybe relying on intuition alone is not going to be a very good idea. Especially in the heat of the moment where you’re about to kiss that special someone or maybe walk them to their door – how can you possibly rely on intuition when you just might be going off of your own conscious interpretation of it? Well, on a long term note: developing an ability to understand both yourself and how your intuitive process works is going to help you in all areas of life in the long run. I would recommend reading my Introduction to Intuitive Social Analysis(ISA) when you get a chance, which describes how we can use our complex intuitive process to get information about people we never even dreamed possible. One person who is astonishingly good with interpreting their intuition is my friend Alex, who determined that my girlfriend owned a dog just by looking at a picture of her standing in the middle of a yard. Consciously, the whole thing seems ludicrous, but subconsciously – there’s more that we understand than we can possibly understand.

Having said that, sometimes your own interpretation is totally spot on. When I’m close to a girl and she is looking at me a certain way, I’ve come to know from experience what particular gazes and looks probably mean. For example, one day at work a girl was smiling a very particular sort of smile I had rarely seen from her before and staring directly into my eyes with a soft sort of stare. As you can probably guess from my trying to write about it: there’s only so many words that I can use to get you to imagine how I can just ‘recognize it,’ but like many of you I can promise I swear I know when I see it. Later on that same day after she had given me that look she told me she had feelings for me. Logically, the gaze could have been considered anything: she was thinking about an old joke or something. Intuitively, I understood: oh wow, she likes me!

The key to this whole thing called intuition is practice. Practice understanding it and with everything, not just what you think might be intuition, practice your ability at understanding your own reactions to your thoughts, both in the first instance you feel them as well as later when things may not quite be so obvious. Also try doing actual follow ups later on, asking the people you interacted with about the experience. I often like to ask girls I’ve ended up with later on: “Do you remember that day when we shook hands and you…” where experiences can then be validated. Once you can understand specific moments in which the two of you were both mutually experiencing the same thing you’ll come to understand those instances in the future that much easier.

Actual IOI, or indicator’s of interest, are often distinctly different between the two genders of male and female. For females, playing with their hair, fidgeting a little bit more than usual, laughing more than they normally would, and being more touchy-feely than they normally would are all signs that they are interested. If you have just one of those indicators, things are looking up. If you have any three of them happening simultaneously, chances are good – make the move! For males, I’ve seen these things differ from individual to individual, and from my own experience I think that males IOI’s can be more subtle. Initiating kinesthetics, or touching, is something that is universal among both genders, and so is the dilation of the pupils. If it is a sunny day outside and someone is looking at you with huge pupils – it means they take an affectionate view toward you.

Of course, I don’t want you panicking if it is truly bright outside and people’s pupils are tiny, they’re squinting just to try and keep their eyes protected from harsh light – sometimes it really is just too bright! But it is also true that when you’re in a situation that it should obviously be different, dilated pupils can be a clear cut, non-deniable physiological sign that someone fancies you. The reason the pupils dilate is to let in more light for a more vivid image. It’s the brain’s way of telling the body that it hungers for a closer, more vibrant image of this person. Fundamentally at virtually every possible level, it’s attraction at its best.

Another universal IOI between both genders is the adoption and assimilation of certain traits, be it mannerisms or just personality isms. If there is a certain way that you talk and your desired special someone starts imitating those movements and gestures, you’re also looking at a good sign. This is something human beings do when they like anything, and it’s more simply known as imitation. Even kids in elementary school will imitate people they find entertaining or likeable.

When it comes to kinesthetics, or touch, the key is escalation. If someone is already engaging in kino with you, this is a wonderful sign! It means that they are already comfortable being close to you and that moving to a higher level with it will probably be much easier because the initial efforts have already been made. Kinesthetics are the clearest, easiest way to determine how to proceed with the next move, or the big “first move.” You can start by doing compliance tests. I know that I have a deeper level of connection with a girl who will actually give me her hand when I request so than a girl who won’t, and I know I have an even deeper level of connection beyond that when a girl will then let me touch her hand a lot while holding it to illustrate a point. The more intimate they allow contact to be, the more likely you’re able to kiss them or touch them elsewhere!

Words of warning, though: this does not mean to go grabbing a girl’s boobs or something and see what happens. You also want to always keep in mind the context of whatever situation or setting you’re in! Do NOT do this while you’re in the workplace unless you’re already sure compliance can happen without negative consequences, or particular other settings. You have to use your own discretion on that one and not all of the work can be done for you in a simple article. Of course, it’s also important to keep in mind that the context shouldn’t necessarily always stop you either. If you find yourself making tons of excuses in your mind as to why you should not do certain things, and those excuses are endlessly showing up no matter what, you’ve problem got a new problem to deal with: shyness.

Going back to my previous example of touching hands – hands are perfect, because hands are completely neutral limbs of the body. If I were to touch her legs, I might run into trouble. If I were to touch her arms anywhere above the elbow, I might also be running into trouble. If were to touch her stomach, definitely her chest, her neck, or her face: these are all potentially bad areas. But hands are fair game in tons of different contexts, so you’re often safe to play with her hands when she will comply. All in all, the ending doorway that you’re attempting to get to, whether you’re male or female, is touch. The compliance of touch is paired with emotional compliance, and emotional compliance is the essential lifeblood of any romantic relationship when it’s shared between the two people involved.

When all is said and done, it is entirely possible that you could be miles away from reaching that point. If a guy or girl is blowing you off with statements like, “I’ve got to take care of my pet guinea pig,” or they repeatedly say things to their friends in your presence like, “I couldn’t possibly spend time with [your name here],” then you’re definitely in trouble, and it is giving you a very laid out status report of where you two stand socially. Still, a common fact usually holds true: watch the body language versus the verbal language. Most of the time, the body language of someone should override what it is that they’re saying to you. If a girl makes out with me and then tells me, “I’m not interested in you,” her statement, in and of itself, is not believable at all. On the other hand, if she is saying that there are definitely some other factors I’m probably going to want to consider and look into.

In a person’s body language and their verbal language are lined up in shunning you off – it’s time to move on. It really is that simple when it comes to those who are completely uninterested in you and there is nothing you can do to change that – the best choice you can make is to move on and walk away.

For so long, and in so many ways has the concept of ‘genius’ fascinated the average population and majority of mankind. The thing that we always ask ourselves about these talented individuals, is how do they pull off these things that they do seemingly effortlessly? It seems incredible to many of us when they seem to see things that no one else can see.

The key, some say, and some theorize is in symbolic and visual thinking. According to something I discovered in an amazingly fascinating book called The Gift of Dyslexia, is that visual thinking seems to surpass verbal thinking, hearing the words which translate to definition in your mind, and make up the base foundation of our thought. Without visual thinking, we’d be cruising along at what could seem to be nothing, because our subconscious often times relies off of its incredible power of visuals, rather than verbal thought.

Verbal thought, which is often times considered to be what goes on during an average reading speed, of around 200-250WPM for most people, is when we take words, and take punctuation, our known rules of grammar, then we can more or less often times relate it back to our also worded out, verbal definition, which then translates into what we often times associate with images that create the known verbal definition. So, the question we come back to after thinking about these two little short concepts is, is it really a way of thinking that creates it?

If not the way of thinking, or the astounding time spent on ability to link conscious and subconscious intellect with each other to create an astounding ’superintellect,’ then how would it be anything such as genetic superiority?

Books that study things like the subject of neuro-linguistic programming, studies on Psychology in general, and even books that go as specific as the topic of genius itself often times point out time and time again that the brains of these previously labeled ‘geniuses’ who were believed to have some sort of rare genetic advantage in using their brain efficiently, were later found during studies to have no visible difference when compared to an average human brain. Albert Einstein, probably the world’s best known genius in particular, had his brain examined after death. Indeed, it was completely normal when compared to a normal human brain.

Once you’ve looked at these two concepts, and obviously I’m wanting to lean on not only the closer-to-proven path of it being a normal brained thing, but also the more optimistic one that we can all become known as ‘genius.’ So then, the next thing we have to ask ourselves about Einstein, Da Vinci, or hell if you even want to head into the direction of Van Gogh being an artistic genius, then what is it that is so different about their way of thinking than ours?

Well, obviously, we come to a few pointers here. Think about yourself. Most people would not consider themselves to be geniuses, or even close to that. In fact, most people despise using their conscious abilities that they’ve basically become conditioned to go on somewhat of what you may call an ‘autopilot’ state where their teachings about being a “good” child during childhood have pretty much ruled their life, causing them to respond & react almost automatically to their environment, their authorities, and even themselves without question. Myself, I’m a firm believer in asking questions about everything. Because I mean, if you don’t ask questions, then how the heck do you expect to get the answers?

Genius is made through having answers, and you get answers through asking questions. I know what you’re likely thinking now, though, “Oh well, just how are you supposed to get all these kinds of answers that these guys have gotten just by deciding to ask questions? What if you don’t get the answers?! How do I know I’m asking the right questions?! Would you call YOURSELF a genius?!”

I’d say that on some levels I call myself a genius, and on other levels, that’s all up to my current conscious intention. You’re probably right in your thoughts about a lot of things, of course, though. It’s not just about asking questions. Obviously, there’s got to be more to it than that! Now, as many of you know, I’m a huge fan of Learning Strategies Corporation, Win Wenger, and other people out there involved with researching the realm of genius, and the process of accelerative learning. Both LSC, and Win Wenger claim to have technologies, and applications that they’ve designed, or at least have adopted and assembled that can help you enter what many would call the world of a genius. Just how close to some of these experts come, though?

When we think about Einstein, and how this guy failed high school, then later came up with everything he did regarding physics, it’s almost impossible to believe that he could have done what he did. He was laughed at, mocked, but then somehow through all of the criticism and ridicule – Einstein emerged victorious with all the intelligence, and genius that perhaps he didn’t even know he had in him. In fact, the story of Einstein, and then relating it to all of the other ones in history who have been labeled genius – is remarkably nearly the same. Leonardo da Vinci had dyslexia, a so-called ‘learning disability.’ The most amazing thing about dyslexia, from what I’ve read is that the disorder is really not a disorder.

In fact, some of the most famous people today, even if they’re not labeled genius, have still been labeled often times with these learning disorders. Walt Disney, Whoopi Goldberg, Cher, and I hear even Thomas Edison all had dyslexia. I’ve also seen hundreds of kids my age who have been diagnosed with the supposed disorder known as ADD (attention deficit disorder), and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder). Both of these groups, I’ve seen do remarkable things. Maybe one thing that separates genius from ‘learning disability’ is the way we go about labeling and naming a certain way of thinking. It is altered from the normal state that many of us have chosen to have, and many times – before we’re even half a year old. So, you could say, that despite humans have been given free will, maybe our way of going about treating free will actually isn’t our free will! Imagine if something happened when you were a baby, and it happened because you made a choice, but somehow, you didn’t even know it!

Over at the National Foundation for Gifted Creative Children, they plan to strike back against the government for prescribing all of these medicines for simply other styles of learning. They have a list of what gifted creative children often are labeled with because of certain characteristics, and then you can also check out websites regarding ADD, and ADHD, and what those characteristics are. You’ll find that the two lists are remarkably similar.

Now, I could talk about the stories of famous, accomplished people who have gotten by with these so-called learning disorders for hours, but instead, I’ll talk about a kid I know named Chris. Chris has ADD. He has the worst sense of humor that I’ve seen from any kid, he’s annoying, he acts like he’s dumb, and he looks really goofy. Now, that’s what you can see. What you usually can’t see is how he probably plays guitar better than any other student in my school, does incredible paintings through methods that look like he’s just making a gigantic mess, and then once he really does want to concentrate, he’s smarter than I am – when he hasn’t even studied! Then, one day, he got put on Ritalin, the drug that is given to all of these kids who are usually diagnosed with ADD. Once he got on this drug, he lost all of his personality, he lost all of his happiness, but at the same time anger, and became basically blank. He could concentrate on anything he wanted of course, but then again – I believe he could have done that to begin with. In fact, that was the key. Most of these kids are just bored.

Think about Einstein. Did Einstein really not understand the material, or did Einstein have a hard time remembering it because it was dulled out, and irrelevant to him? Think about how much better you yourself can usually pay attention to things when you’re completely fascinated with them. Think about maybe a career that you wanted really badly as a child. Maybe you imagined growing up, and becoming an astronaut, or maybe you imagined growing up, and becoming a firefighter. Something really exciting, most of the time, right? Sometimes, you might find times when that was all you could think about, you couldn’t imagine doing anything but that! You’d dream, walk, think, talk, and live what you wanted to be as a little kid in fantasy and dream, but if anything like general arithmetic came along in your elementary school, who wanted to deal with THAT, right? Or even something that wasn’t useful to you in the future, like History class.

For an average person, the conscious mind can only concentrate on seven things at once. Then, their subconscious, the part of their brain that keeps their heart pumping 100,000 times a day without you thinking about it, can process 20,000 things at once! This can explain how these geniuses can go beyond what normal people often can, they have a way of tapping into that extra power that most of us somehow decide to leave dormant.

Is genius really so hard to believe? Is it really so amazing that you could hold the same power as they do? But hey…I don’t know, that’s just me. I could be wrong with my point. Food for thought maybe? Hrm…thought can get difficult though.

What sort of self esteem do you have? In class we received a handout that contained a list of all the different symptoms of individuals who have low self esteem, and as it turns out there is quite a few characteristics. See if any of these can be associated with you.

Symptoms and Signals of Low Self Esteem

• Dependency and need for approval from others
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Comparing yourself unfavorably to others
• Fear of speaking up for yourself
• Lack of confidence
• Unhappiness
• Feeling unworthy of love
• Inner feelings of incompleteness or emptiness
• Self doubt
• Self hatred
• Sense of shame
• Believing you’re not okay unless you’re in a relationship
• Feelings of insecurity and insignificance
• Violating your own values out of fear of what others think
• Too eager to please and follow others
• Tendency to focus on what’s lacking rather than what is
• Trivializing your skills, knowledge, gifts, and achievements
• Giving credit to others but not to yourself
• Giving more importance to other’s criticisms than to compliments
• Putting yourself down
• Low achievement
• Hostility towards others
• Feelings of apathy, helplessness, powerlessness and isolation

There are a few interesting items on this list that I would like to talk about. Low achievement, feelings of incompleteness or emptiness, and tendency to focus on what’s lacking rather than what is.

Those three things tie in directly with what we know to be the Law of Attraction, where like attracts like and all of the things that of course go with it. But that is not really my point. It comes back to a sort of question that involves the sort of “chicken or the egg” dilemma. If you have low levels of achievement in whatever it is you do, this list essentially says that you probably have low self esteem. If you feel empty, incomplete, or you’re upset about what you don’t have, then again – you’re likely to have low self esteem. If you are depressed, or vice versa, you are likely to have low self esteem.

The opposite might also be true however when these items are given an inverse. If you have low self esteem, you may have low achievement. If you have low self esteem, you may be focusing on what’s lacking rather than what is. Whatever the case when it comes to self esteem and success, it is important that all of these concepts can be flipped to mirror what you are currently accomplishing or setting out to achieve.

A very good friend of mine recently remarked that he considers himself a failure simply because he is not in school anymore. I tried to point out to him that not everyone who is successful went to college, and many of the greatest minds in history were not college educated. Entrepreneurs and brilliant people who get involved in their own independent marketing/selling projects and end up earning a huge amount of money are not always college educated. Resourcefulness and adaptability go far beyond what your academic degree dictates. This is a fact that I know not only should make him feel better, but it is a fact that I have researched extensively and I know to be true.

He replied to me, “Well it is all in the eye of the beholder. I’m the beholder and I consider myself a failure.”

You’ve got to be kidding me, I thought. All throughout any sort of struggles I have had, I have always fallen back to what I knew to be possible. Perhaps for some, it is easier to have a sort of undying faith in the future possibility for attaining any sort of greatness. In the back of my mind, I have always held out hope in my times of darkness. I have always had a lingering dream or desire that things will improve, and I think that when people start looking deep into themselves to understand that is about the same time that they can begin to improve their own self outlook.

Could this friend have low self esteem? Yes. In fact, he has even admitted so. The whole thing is a bit confusing, though. If someone has low self esteem, and they know it, are they not then empowered to do something about it?  Well, I’m not here to judge, but I know that when I imagine myself, I have always been empowered upon realizing my own feelings to then change them.

When you have high self esteem, you likely have high self confidence, and self confidence is highly important.  Have you ever met a business CEO who was highly anxious, not very confident, and uncertain about what to say to you, even from the start?  I know I haven’t!  A part of any successful person in the business world is that they are sure of what it is they’re saying, doing, and thinking.  Not only is this the way it is, this is definitely the way it should be, especially in the publicly held corporations.  I’m not talking about the guy who owns the fruit stand downtown or the snake oil salesman, I’m talking about the guys earning six figures who also have staggering levels of personal wealth.

Identity and how self esteem ties into that is so vitally important it can literally cause you to miss opportunities, give bad impressions, and disrupt situations that normally would go smoothly or that you would gain benefit from.  So whatever you do, feel good about you, it’s good for you!