Review of Tolle after 5 weeks of MW training

9 replies [Last post]

Sat, 01/06/2018 - 22:02

Offline

Joined: 11/21/2017

Currently through 5 weeks of the MW training, however this article is going to focus only on Tolle and how it relates to inner game. If any of the following apply to you, I would recommend reading this and also taking some immediate action:

• If you have no idea who the hell Tolle is

• If you have ever dealt with negative self image, self esteem issues, not feeling “good enough”

• If you have no idea what intrusive thoughts are or how they shape your behavior

• If you have never spent time identifying the repetitive scripts that run in your head

Most of what you read online and watch on YouTube about “game” shows all of the flashy, outrageous, “look at me” things that we all enjoy to see from time to time. If you have spent time reading many of the major forums you already know that those are the topics which dominate 95% of everyone’s attention. While that is obviously the fun part and the reason why myself and all of you probably started working on this area of your life, I am a firm believer that there is a more impactful side. My write up today is going to focus on that side and how I am beginning to take back control of my mind.

Until 6 weeks ago, if you had brought up the idea of meditation and “inner presence” to me, I would have thought you were probably a hippie vegan working on a save the whales project (not that there is anything wrong with that, lol). I have lived 20+ years of my life assuming that the thoughts that popped into my head are there for a reason and by listening to those I am trusting my life references and lessons. Due to this assumption, the thought of trying to meditate and find some kind of presence seemed like a total waste of time. My mind is part of me and is clearly looking out for me and helping guide me where I need to go, right? Wrong, so damn wrong.

In my first couple of training classes we discussed using Tolle’s “Practicing the Power of Now” every week and keeping track of the result (its free on soundcloud, fyi). Within the first hour or so of listening, Tolle dropped a few bombs that have started me down a completely new trajectory in life.

• To not be able to stop thinking is actually an affliction, however as humans almost everyone has that problem so we don’t even recognize it as an issue anymore

• That almost all of us do not use our mind at all…….. our mind uses us

• That identification with these intrusive thoughts in the mind starts us down a vicious cycle that we have to break

• That there is a cure for this, we have to observe these thoughts and understand that they are simply that, just thoughts. We also have to begin to reshape them

• Lastly, that in order to achieve real presence, you have to be able to find a stillness and a peace in your mind

I let those points simmer and started to think back on life and how the first 3 points have been present since a very young age. What I discovered was borderline horrifying, however it was a necessary find. My entire life I have allowed re-occurring insecurities to run in my mind and shape my actions over and over again. Many of these reoccurring thoughts come up dozens of times a day, thousands of times a year, etc. If you have yet to dive into your mind yet, I can give you a few examples of my own findings.

• Early on in life I was picked on as a kid, as I grew up I made a lot of friends and thought that was behind me. However, when I am in social settings this little “quiet down” thought always pops up and I act on it. Why? Because its my intrusive brain telling me that if I am loud, someone might not like me, I could lose my friends and revert back to those days where I didn’t have friends and I was an outcast.

• After I meet a new girl or go out on a few dates, I constantly have these thoughts creep up along the lines of “if I don’t hear from her she must not like me or must be into some other dude more”. This is from years ago when I had an X cheat on me and now my mind feels the need to constantly replay this

• If I ever try and act more high value than a girl, I will always get the “she is going to freak out and make a scene”. Why? Because my brain wants me to continue kissing every girls ass like I have for years so that I don’t risk any type of danger or threat.

I could give you a ton more, but you get the idea. We all have these and they are rooted DEEP within us. Many of the experts in the community forget what it was like to have them because they are so far removed I’m sure it makes it hard to relate. However, for the vast majority of people, these thoughts are very present and are very very strong and well positioned. Tolle teaches you the tools needed to start diving into your brain, identifying these things, and working them out so that you can be present. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are the first person in history that does not have these, trust me, they are there.

I am only a few weeks into working on this and I can tell you that it is extremely challenging and at some times very draining. It is a big time fight that you have to be ready for as you are trying to undo years and years of these thoughts. However, every day I have seen a little bit more progress and have continued to see improvement in anxiety, confidence, self asteem, and energy. Working on this is not about pickup, its about life. I think a lot of people end up avoiding doing this as they are afraid of what they might find if they open things up, but I assure you that it is a great gift to give yourself.

I hope this write up has been helpful, if there are questions please let me know and I will attempt to answer as I progress through things myself.

Sat, 01/06/2018 - 22:34

Manwhore

Offline

Joined: 01/18/2012

Awesome dude! Great article.

Awesome dude! Great article. Can you go a little bit into the techniques and strategies you've used to overcome your old conditioning/mental wiring? Of course this is not to replace immersing yourself in the Tolle audio, but just to give guys a general direction to head in once they do.

Also go into the initial wrong conclusion you formed about "presence" and active mindfulness. That was a big one

__________________

I go in and I'm crisp, clean and my vocals are fucking coming out like music. - Anonymous MW student

- Autismus Terminus Finis (Root Cause/Cure of Autism Epidemic)

- Called Off My Wedding & Other Turn Tail Signs Of The American Male

Tap Or Click For Personal Coaching Information

Sat, 01/06/2018 - 23:46

Slick88

Offline

Joined: 11/21/2017

Sure thing. Replacing the

Sure thing.

Replacing the old wiring / thoughts:

A lot of this can be contributed to the drills that take place during the MW training, which i obviously will not post here, however they really work well. Aside from that though, there are a few major keys to the tolle techniques

First, you have to start accepting the fact that you are NOT your mind. The random intrusive thoughts, old wiring etc, is your mind doing what it wants to. You can absolutely accept some of the random thoughts it throws out, especially if it happens to be positive, however you can also chose to reject and not identify with whatever mental track is spinning at the moment

Second, you have to work on observing the thoughts as they pop up. It’s basically like you would jump into your own head, sit on a park bench, and grab a beer. While you are sitting on the bench you see some old ass negative thought walk by that has been walking around forever. In the past, that old thought you cause you to freak out, spill your beer on yourself and go all panic mode. However now that you know you are not your mind, you just sit on your bench, sip your beer, and watch the thought walk right on by. The more you simply “observe” these thoughts, the weaker and less frequent they get.

Third, you must start opening up small pockets of a “still mind”. When you are first trying this it is not ikely to quiet down your thoughts for more than 5 minutes at a time. Tolle talks about this on the audio book and i thought he was full of shit... turns out he is not. For our whole lives we have let our minds go on hyperdrive, so to quiet the mind down for even a few minutes is very tough. However, each time you do it, it becomes a bit longer and a bit easier. Very much baby steps though.

Last, but probably most important. You have to put your mind to work for YOU. In an effort to rewire 20 some odd years of negative thoughts, i have started flooding my mind with positive affirmations, positive thoughts, and general appreciations for things. I don’t want to shut off my mind totally, i want it to be constantly helping propel me in a positive direction, versus a negative one. This step is VERY hard because as people, we are mean as shit to ourselves. It feels weird at first, but now i really enjoy finding ways to compliment or just be nice to myself.

My initial mistake on presence: In our training this week, Jon called me out for not really understanding what “presence” was 5 weeks in. I had included in my write up that for the first time this week i realized that presence actually means that when i am in an social situation, i am engaging and talking freely with everyone else around me. Most of my life i was the guy who would be sitting there with a beer and at times, just not saying shit, in my head the whole time.

Why I misjudged this though was for a legitimate reason. When i started Tolle i realized very quickly that my head was absolutely jam packed with negative thought tracks and limiting beliefs, so i needed to work on quieting my mind when i was simply by myself. Once i was able to start improving that area i was then able to translate it to quieting my mind in public.... this lead to actually being present.

Sun, 01/07/2018 - 02:50

Manwhore

Offline

Joined: 01/18/2012

Great. How has this lead to

Great. How has this lead to you being able to execute better?

__________________

I go in and I'm crisp, clean and my vocals are fucking coming out like music. - Anonymous MW student

- Autismus Terminus Finis (Root Cause/Cure of Autism Epidemic)

- Called Off My Wedding & Other Turn Tail Signs Of The American Male

Tap Or Click For Personal Coaching Information

Wed, 01/10/2018 - 00:58

Slick88

Offline

Joined: 11/21/2017

As far as execution it helps

As far as execution it helps in a few areas:

-Any of you who watched one of the GOAT shows growing up (Saved by the bell) will remember that when things get crazy zack Morris would pause everything and figure out what he needed to do / do it. Using tolle kind of gives you that Zach Morris ability in that it allows you to “freeze” the craziness of your mental chatter and just focus on the task at hand. While i am still working on my game, i have found that being able to clear my head during conversations and approaches makes it wayyyyy less stressful

-I have also found that by using this i have the ability to pick up on small details a lot easier such as body language, vocal tone, etc. It also allows me to be a lot more quick on my feet and access the inner witty / smart ass that can be buried when your stress levels are high

One other small thing i forgot to include above is that if any of you are just starting out with this i would also recommend incorporating 1-2 days of yoga with this. I lift 5x a week but have never touched yoga up until about 2 months ago. However, one of the best ways to calm down your mind (along with the tolle techniques) is to lower your stress levels. 10-15 mins twice a week will loosen you up big time and will actually point out how many pckets of stress exist throughout your body that you have been carrying around for years. The way i have viewed it is that calming the mind + calming the body is all part of the same initiative, yoga+meditation is a very powerful ally in that fight