Hi Friends,
For optimal self-fulfillment, happiness, love and most importantly, no regrets, allow us to dispense principles to live by. We wrote our own sort of operating manual. Since there is no pre-existing roadmap for living a fulfilled life, you’ve got to carve one out as you go and then jot it down so you don’t forget. 😉
A Reason For Being
We stumbled upon a notion that wonderfully articulates the path to enlightenment via a Venn diagram.
Ikigai (生き甲斐, pronounced [ikiɡai]) is a Japanese concept that means “a reason for being.” It is similar to the French phrase, raison d’être. Everyone, according to Japanese culture, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is important to the cultural belief that discovering one’s ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life.
We found our IKIGAI through entrepreneurship, self-discovery and loving something greater than ourselves. Have you found your IKIGAI?
Let’s jump right into some of the principles that have shaped our emotional intelligence on the road to IKIGAI.
Principles on the Path to Enlightenment by E.B.Woodward
- Do not conform to society or social norms – teeter just on the edge of belonging.
- Use adversity to fuel your fire.
- Your only goal each day should be self-actualization (through education, curiosity, empathy and reflection).
- The real competition in life is only with yourself : strive to be better today than you were yesterday.
- Live each day on borrowed time.
- Comparison is the thief of joy.
- Sometimes happiness requires unpopular decision making.
- If it makes you happy & doesn’t infringe on someone else’s rights, then do it.
- Do not watch or read the news (let other people tell you about breaking news. Use them as your filter, if it’s actual news, you’ll hear about it.)
- If you want to be free, let go of the rope.
- Carve your own path.
- If you have to choose, choose being alone over bad company.
- Keep looking – your soulmate is out there.
- Love everyone, including yourself, from the inside out.
- Don’t make babies.
- Don’t carry credit card debt.
- Confidence is in character not expensive labels.
- Compliment other people.
- When you have a nice thought about someone, be sure to tell them.
- Smile at strangers.
- Talk to yourself in the mirror every now and then looking yourself straight in the eyes.
- Realize you are a merely a ghost inside of a machine.
- Peg 70-80% of the money you make to stable or appreciating assets (including car, house and household items).
- See everything and everyone around you as possibility.
- Feel fear and do it anyway.
- Take risks.
- Lead don’t follow.
- Be humble but confident.
- Learn to promote yourself so others understand your worth.
- Learn to execute ideas.
- Always follow through on the things you say you are going to do.
- All you have is your word and integrity.
- Own your decisions (whether good or bad).
- Dream big and execute, do not care about outcome.
- Live outside your comfort zone.
- If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, take others with you.
- Remove all toxic people from your sphere.
- Pick 1-3 people and invest in them unconditionally.
- Surround yourself with people nothing like yourself, it’s the only way to understand humanity.
- Always position yourself for upside potential – in lifestyle choices and investment decisions.
- Journal.
- Do not take selfies.
- Take lots of pictures of people you love, standing next to people you love.
- Be your own biggest fan.
- Daydream about love.
- Eat and drink things that taste like the earth.
- General rule: The better it tastes, the worse it is for you. The fewer ingredients the better.
- Take psilocybin once every 4-6 months in a safe, controlled environment. (efficacy study here: Brain Reset)
- Cross the abyss that separates you from yourself.
- Do not practice religion. Practice self-talk and meditation.
- Work out everyday.
- Take bubble baths.
- Take walks.
- Travel the world.
Typical Day for E.B.Woodward in the IKIGAI
- Run company A (restore other people’s body image and confidence)
- Run company B (monitor prescription and illicit drug use)
- Reinvest into the community, family and charity
- Go to the gym
- Daydream
- Play Mario Kart (but seriously!)
Enlightenment
- Freedom from debt, kids, demands, society
- Unconditional love for each other, immediate family and friends
- Health – emotional, physical and spiritual
- Self-love, self-worth, self-actualization
- no regrets
- Contributors to society, philanthropist, mentors, job creators, leaders, doers, dreamers
Homework For Our Readers
- How do you define enlightenment?
- What are the principles you have accumulated over the years on your journey to self-actualization, self-discovery and a reason for being?
- Where are you on the Venn diagram?
Summary
We hope you have found this glimpse into our life-philosophy intriguing, disturbing and motivating. To get something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done. Reprogram your own hard drive (head) as necessary and perhaps start with a massive dose of mushrooms in a controlled, medical environment (a surefire way to see the world around you from a different lens while alleviating and/or preventing anxiety, fear & depression). If that’s too radical for you, just remember alcohol is the most damaging compound on the market right next to the pharmaceuticals you’re probably prescribed – leave both behind. Separate yourself from group-think and separate yourself from the masses. As far as lifestyle, find some force of change to make yourself think differently than you ever have. Move to a new city, leave an old love, disengage from a toxic friend, adopt a pet or a child, change jobs, go back to school, start a business, start a ministry, travel to the other side of the world, these are all catalysts for positive change. Do something extreme to cast yourself out of your rut, out of your comfort zone and into your IKIGAI. Take the leap, see what it feels like living in pursuit of the IKIGAI. If you get freaked out, shoot us a message, we’re living the everyday struggle of maintaining that center spot of the Venn diagram. It’s been a long road and continues to be an soulful journey.
With Love on the continual path to self-improvement, enlightenment and joy,
E.B.Woodward