Build Your Inner Fortress

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world is trying to change you. You, reader of PRL, may be trying to change the world.

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Good luck.

I don’t mean this in a dismissive or negative way. I sincerely wish you luck in motivating the world around you. Think big and act fast. Create. Add value.

Change the world and change your circumstances. Just don’t expect other people to change much. Continue reading “Build Your Inner Fortress”

These are my recent Messages from the Universe

Last Friday I got a message from the Universe. Sunday I got another.

Let me back up.

When I first started PersuasionReadingList.com, an early post was about the confirmation bias I had experienced at the time. Numerous, unrelated sources had all suggested that I Offer Water to people.

Coming from multiple sources, it was as if the Universe was talking to me, making sure I didn’t miss the message. I still offer water, the source of life.

Full Moon, 2018-03-02, from my Nikon D5100 and a 240mm zoom lens. Image CC-By-2.0 Jeffrey G Thomas
Hi Moon, what’s going on? “SGT’s Full Moon,” 2018-03-02, from my Nikon D5100 and a 240mm zoom lens. Image by Jeffrey G Thomas, CC-By-2.0

There were other messages around that time, too. Learn about Persuasion was one message. Think Big was another.

And now, the Universe is Back.

Continue reading “These are my recent Messages from the Universe”

Never Expect Perfection

Communication is hard.

We have to find the right words to express our idea in a way that the other person can decode and understand in their own brains.

"Oysterman, FSA" photograph by Russell Lee, public domain, 1938
This is what you asked me to do, right? “Oysterman, FSA” photograph by Russell Lee, public domain, 1938

Translating our ideas to others is hard. Their own perspectives color their understanding.

I’ve been learning this a lot lately. Continue reading “Never Expect Perfection”

Why I Don’t Have Free Will (and Neither Do You)

You are free to make choices, but you have no freedom in the matter.

Sam Harris presents this idea in his 2012 book, Free Will. Harris argues that we’re all products of our genes, our luck, and our experiences.

Free Will is an Illusion.

Continue reading “Why I Don’t Have Free Will (and Neither Do You)”