3125: The Forge of Life by Steve Pavlina on Purpose & Personal Development

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[00:01:00] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3125, The Forge of Life by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com

[00:01:09] And I'm your narrator Justin Malik. I read you every single day of the year from the best articles and blogs I can find with permission from the authors of course.

[00:01:17] And it's all an effort to make your and my day even a tiny bit better.

[00:01:22] So with that let's get right to it as we optimize your life.

[00:01:30] The Forge of Life by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com

[00:01:35] Sometimes I like thinking of life as a forge that molds us and gives us shape and substance as we live.

[00:01:44] We come into this world like blocks of marble and we're sculpted by experience.

[00:01:49] We can let the forge do its job on its own, but we also have the option to consciously participate in the process if we feel ready for that.

[00:01:58] We can collaborate with the forge in order to have a say in what we're becoming.

[00:02:03] Recently I attended a workshop by author speaker Tim Freak.

[00:02:07] Tim shared an idea that resonated with me.

[00:02:10] First he noted the conception that when we die some people imagine that we'll see a bright light as supposedly we're expected to go towards the light and dissolve into it.

[00:02:22] When this happens we shed our earthly identities. We experience total oneness.

[00:02:28] But we also essentially become unconscious.

[00:02:32] If dissolving into the light means shedding your individual consciousness then there's no ego left through which consciousness can look at itself.

[00:02:40] Consequently going into the light actually means going dark.

[00:02:45] Tim suggested an alternative. He asked and I'm paraphrasing here.

[00:02:50] What if instead of dissolving into the light? The point of life is to develop such a strong individual consciousness that we don't want to dissolve into unconscious oneness afterwards.

[00:03:02] That's an interesting perspective isn't it?

[00:03:05] What if the spiritual goal of your earthly life is to develop such a strong consciousness, identity and personality that you'd love to continue going even after you die?

[00:03:17] So you look at the offer to dissolve into the light and you exclaim, no thanks. I'll keep going with what I've created.

[00:03:24] If a master sword maker created an amazingly beautiful and elegant sword would you acknowledge its greatness and then toss it back into the forge right away to recycle it?

[00:03:34] Or would you display it proudly? Study it more deeply. Admires craftsmanship.

[00:03:40] Would you enjoy using such a sword? Once the sword is crafted, would it be nice to learn how to wield it? You can spend a whole other lifetime exploring and mastering the use of that sword long after the forging is done.

[00:03:55] Life is forging, sculpting and molding you. Sometimes it shapes you with fire, sometimes it shapes you with water, and sometimes it lets you rest. Forging the self.

[00:04:09] When you see that you're being forged by experience, you gain the option to consciously participate in your own forging.

[00:04:16] You can help direct the forger telling him how to mold and shape you in ways that you desire. The forger may have his own plan for you, and you can submit to that plan, you can break from it, or you can align with it and help enhance it.

[00:04:32] How do you do this? One way is through surrender.

[00:04:36] Recognize the ways that life has already been shaping you, and instead of resisting those movements, actively invite and encourage them. Notice where life keeps nudging you to go and go there.

[00:04:49] Another way is through exploration. Lean into new experiences. One of my favorite expressions is embrace the new.

[00:04:57] I found that when I do this, I have few regrets. If the outcome is positive, then I've molded my character in some valuable new way.

[00:05:05] If the outcome isn't so good, then I've learned a good lesson about how to mold my character, and I've freed my mind to let go of the recurring, maybe I should try this thought pattern.

[00:05:17] It's much easier to keep progressing when I satisfy my curiosity through direct experience.

[00:05:23] Another way is by confronting fear. What do you fear? Public speaking, talking to strangers, being homeless, failing in business, being rejected, deep intimacy, confront your fears again and again, and your fear dissolves.

[00:05:41] This gives you more power to participate in sculpting your own character since now you can embrace new types of forging that you'd otherwise resist due to irrational fear.

[00:05:51] You gain new lists of properties that you could forge into your character, properties that were previously unavailable to you.

[00:05:58] For instance, you could create a character who travels around the world doing public speaking, which wouldn't have been accessible when you resisted flying, speaking and traveling abroad.

[00:06:09] And still another way is by consciously modifying the forge itself.

[00:06:14] You can deliberately change your environment and your social connections to help influence how you turn out.

[00:06:20] Move to a new city or part of town. Drop unsupportive social connections and invite and add more inspiring ones.

[00:06:28] If you don't like what some of the foragers in your life are doing, stop inviting them into your forge.

[00:06:34] Conscious character design.

[00:06:37] What kind of character would you like to create? Who do you dream of becoming?

[00:06:42] Take some time to review your list of values. Note the ones that you'd most like to include in your character.

[00:06:49] See if you can narrow your favorites down to a personal top ten list, as well as get a clear idea of what kind of character you'd like to create, at least in terms of broad strokes.

[00:07:00] What recurring patterns in your life could you surrender to such that surrendering instead of resisting would actually help you forge the character you desire?

[00:07:09] What new experiences could you lean into to help forge your character? What fears could you consciously face until they dissolve?

[00:07:17] What social and environmental changes would help to forge your character even more powerfully?

[00:07:22] You could let that forge make all of these decisions for you, or you can actively participate in the process which gives you the ability to significantly enhance, customize and polish your character.

[00:07:35] Have you already created such a delightful character that you'd love to keep living and exploring with your creation as it is right now?

[00:07:43] Could you decline the invitation to dissolve into the light? If not, then what's missing? What additional forging remains to be done?

[00:07:52] What's the next step for you? What action could you take right now to help forge your character in the direction of your desires? Take that action.

[00:08:03] You just listen to the post titled The Forge of Life by Steve Pavlina of StevePavlina.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

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[00:09:56] Think it a Steve?

[00:09:57] When thinking about your values, if coming up with your top 10 is something you struggle with,

[00:10:02] he actually made an alphabetical list with over 400 values for you to pick from so that could be a good place to start.

[00:10:09] Or just browse to see which ones really resonate with you.

[00:10:13] You can find that linked in this article. I have the link to this article in this episode's description in your podcast player and at OldPodcast.com.

[00:10:21] And he talked about it briefly, but I think our environment is a massive one that we often take for granted or ignore.

[00:10:28] Overall my brother's podcast Optimal Health Daily, he sometimes talks about the blue zones, different locations in the world where people tend to live the longest.

[00:10:39] And there are specific characteristics of these places that they share and that tend to be different than the typical city or country.

[00:10:47] So for example, in these blue zones they usually do a lot of walking every day.

[00:10:53] Like in Singapore they put a heavy tax on cars to discourage having a car but also have a good public transportation and clean streets so it's more of a pleasure to walk around.

[00:11:04] And again, better to do that than pay way more to have a car.

[00:11:08] But the effect of that, the increase in walking is great for their health.

[00:11:13] Now that might not be possible for you to walk much of your way to work for instance but what is possible is curating your environment carefully.

[00:11:23] What's in your environment? What food? What people? What objects?

[00:11:29] A little curation could go a long way.

[00:11:31] So something to think about today wishing you a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow or your Optimal Life awaits.