In Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi said, “Contrary to what we usually believe…the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times…The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

At the age of 14, Leonardo da Vinci was apprenticed to the artist Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio, whose workshop was one of the finest in Florence. Only after seven years did he qualify as a master; he could then set up his workshop.

Gandhi looks at her and thinks for a bit and finally says, “Okay, but not today. Bring him back in two weeks.” She’s disappointed and takes her son home. Two weeks later, she makes the journey again and goes to Gandhi with her son.

Adler, in denial of the Freud’s trauma argument, states the following: ‘No experience is in itself a cause of our success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences—the so-called trauma—but instead, we make out of them whatever suits our purposes. We are not determined by our experiences, but the meaning we give them is self-determining.’

Goggins is a retired Navy Seal, elite ultramarathon runner, triathlete and all-round endurance nut. In 2013, he broke the record for most pullups in 24 hours. In the military, he is the only man to complete SEAL training, US Army Ranger School, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training. He has been commonly referred to as ‘The Hardest Man Alive,’ and it’s hard to disagree.

This inner journey is the heart and soul of the spiritual warrior. It is arduous and fraught with much pain, suffering and frustration. It requires much patience and perseverance. It is in this journey where we shed layer after layer of the false self we have embodied over the years.

Deep work describes our ability to focus singularly on a task, without any distractions, in order to produce meaningful, quality work. It can apply to writing a book, crafting a new Chanel handbag, or understanding a complex programming concept.

This is the heart and soul of the GTD system. This is where you empty the collection basket, update all the lists and get a big-picture view of the upcoming week and month. Life moves fast, and we often find ourselves lost in the day-to-day activities with not enough time to step back and reflect.

However according to two psychologists; Kathleen Vohs and Jonathan Schooler, we become morally irresponsible if we believe that free will is an illusion. In 2002, they ran an experiment to see what would happen if people lost their belief in their capacity to choose. The results were conclusive, as when people stopped believing they had free will, they felt they were not to blame for their actions. They consequently acted less responsibly and gave in to their lower instincts.

The Stick figure diagram was created by Dr Thurman Fleet in the 1930s but was later used and taught by Bob Proctor. It’s simple and yet so effective. When we understand it, we immediately grasp the underlying foundation of self-help—We have the power to change our thoughts and that means we can change our behaviours.

For me, Affirmations (and the Law of Attraction) work in a more pragmatic way. Like attracts like. If I’m passionate about something, then my energy will allow me to take action and soon everyone and everything would see my passion, then maybe, just maybe the universe will listen to me.

The ego is the total of all our fears, worries and negative thoughts and provides the incessant inner voice that doubts us and holds us back from whatever opportunity of bewilderment, intuition and awe we might have come our way.

Our minds have two parts; the conscious mind, which is the creative one and the one we have little access to, which is completely controlled by the other part–the sub-conscious mind. This sub-conscious mind is like a recording machine which takes in all the information from our conditioning, the environment, and our behaviour, and it then adds it all up to direct our final actions.

Money is a bad value because you can’t always control it. Creativity or industriousness or a strong work ethic are good values because you CAN control them–and doing them well will ultimately generate money as a side effect.

This idea of perfection is a myth, and the simple truth is that we are meant to be whole and not perfect. This includes both the joy of successes and the pain of failures. And the only way we learn and grow is through both differing experiences.

I just came back from a short trip to Prague and London. This was not a business trip, but a holiday I’d planned a year ago with childhood friends. Much of it was spent in luxurious hotels and good restaurants.

I’ve always been curious about myself. Though I didn’t keep a diary as an 11-year-old arriving to a new school in a new country, I did reflect heavily on myself. After my school years, I got distracted with life and my environment and stopped my self-examination, instead getting lost with the concept of ‘fitting in’ and the flow of life.

That sense of overwhelm has also been heightened as I’ve started writing my memoir. Work needs to be done. Deadlines need to be met. As if that weren’t enough, I’m also digging deep into my blog, writing niche and audience with guidance from a specialist coach so as to make my writing reach further and deeper.

We are all interconnected. We are all inter-dependent as is the past, present and future. However, the sad truth is that most of us continue our lives as if there is no problem. In fact, we run away as fast as we can from facing our struggles, hoping they disappear on their own. We refuse to believe these issues will linger on and affect our children.

Often, we invite alternatives in our life not because we want the best option, but only that we’re bored with what we are doing. We are bored, not due to lack of choices but rather because we are not content with ourselves. We feel that we are missing out on something. We compare what we are doing with what others are doing. We compare what we have with what others have. We presume it would give us more joy to do the things that they are doing or have the things that they have.