Lessons from Paulo Coelho

 I found this information about Paulo Coelho on a recent post to Facebook.  Since I have not read this book, I am unsure as to the correctness of this post.  However, it does fit with the messages of positive psychology and practical philosophy that I have studied by other authors.  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

 

 

10 Top Lessons
From he Book The Alchemist

A book by Paulo Coelho

1. Fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.

And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory -- that's scary. But with any great risk comes great reward.

The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.

2. What is "true" will always endure

"If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back.

If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."

~ Truth cannot be veiled by smoke and mirrors -- it will always stand firm.

~ When you're searching for the "right" decision, it will be the one that withstands the tests of time and the weight of scrutiny.

3. Break the monotony

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."

~ Gratitude is the practice of finding the good in each day.

~ Life can easily become stagnant, mundane, and monotonous, but that changes depending on what we choose to see.

~ There's always a silver lining, if you look for it.

4. Embrace the present

"Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present.

If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man."

~ There's no point dwelling in the past and letting it define you, nor getting lost and anxious about the future. But in the present moment, you're in the field of possibility

~ How you engage with the present moment will direct your life.

5. Your success has a ripple-effect

"That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

~ Growth, change, and evolution are weaved into the fabric of reality.

~ Becoming a better version of yourself creates a ripple effect that benefits everything around you: your lifestyle, your family, your friends, your community.

6. Make the decision

"When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he has never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

~ It's easy to get overwhelmed by the unknowns and finer details of your dreams.

~ Actions will flow out of having confidence in your decision; sitting on the fence will get you nowhere.

7. Be unrealistic

"I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does."

~ Some of the greatest inventions would not have happened if people chose to accept the world as it is.

~ Great achievements and innovations begin with a mindset that ignores the impossible.

8. Keep getting back up

"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough.

Some of the greatest novels in history were published after receiving hundreds of rejections. Thankfully, those authors never gave up.

9. Focus on your own journey

"If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

~ It's easy to be influenced by others, but you'll be miserable if you end up living someone else's life.

~ There's nothing wrong with taking advice and learning from others, but make sure it aligns with your desires and passions.

10. Always take action

"There is only one way to learn. It's through action. 

 

Today: Where It Takes Place

“This nondescript, never-to-be defined daytime is
The secret of where it takes place
And we can no longer return to the various
Conflicting statements gathered, lapses of memory
Of the principal witness.  All we know
Is that we are a little early, that
Today has that special, lapidary
Todayness that the sunlight reproduces
Faithfully in casting twig-shadows on blithe
Sidewalks.  No previous day would have been like this.
I used to think they were all alike,
That the present always looked the same to everybody
But this confusion drains away as one
Is always cresting into one’s present."
-  John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, 1975

I have enjoyed reading poetry in the month of April.  I have read poems from these two books every day in April, 2022:

The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth Century American Poetry.  Edited by Rita Dove.  Penguin, 2011, 599 pages.

The Oxford Book of American Poetry.  Edited by David Lehman.  Oxford, 2006, 1132 pages.

One objective of mine, from April 20 to May 20, 2022, is to write each and every day.  

My objectives must be under my control, measurable, realistic, specific, accomplished on time, positive, and reported daily. |
The daily measurement and reporting on objectives helps to keep me on track towards accomplishment.

Measurements are recorded in writing so results can be evaluated accurately and properly over weeks and months.
Changing a habit requires at least 90 days of consistent accomplishment of the specific remedial objectives.
“Objectives” are also referred to as plans, aims, goals, resolutions, targets, projects, daily actions, specific tasks, etc.  
Daily steady improvements accumulate over time towards success. 
Belief and confidence in your goals is essential to success in making improvements. 
Norcorss Principles:  Psych, Prep, Perspire, Persevere, Persist.   

Changing Habits – Bibliotherapy

Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions.  By John C. Norcorss. 

Atomic Habits.  By James Clear. 

 

Impediments to Changing Your Behavior

Impediments to Changing Your Behavior

"1.  "Relying on willpower for long-term change
2.  Attempting big leaps instead of baby steps
3.  Ignoring how environment shapes behavior
4.  Trying to stop old behaviors instead of creating new ones
5.  Blaming failures on lack of motivation
6.  Underestimating the power of triggers 
7.  Believing that information leads to action 
8.  Focusing on abstract goals instead of concrete behaviors
9.  Seeking to change a behavior forever, not for a short time
10. Assuming that behavior change is difficult.”
-  Stanford University, Persuasive Tech Lab, 2019

Persistence and Determination
 

“1) Psych: Getting Ready
2) Prep: Planning Before Leaping
3) Perspire: Taking Action;
4) Persevere: Managing Slips;
5) Persist: Maintaining Change.”
-  John Norcross, Changelology, 2012

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones.  By James Clear.  Avery, 2018, 320 pages.  A excellent best seller. 
Clear writing style, positive, informative, practical, and inspiring. VSCL. 

Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About it Now.  By Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen.  25th Anniversary Edition.  De Capo Lifelong, 2008, index, 322 pages.  VSCL. 

Stick With It: Changing Your Life

A Process for Changing Your Life

1.  Stepladders
2.  Community
3.  Important
4.  Easy
5.  Neurohacks
6.  Captivating
7.  Engrained


-  Sean Young, PhD.  Stick with It: A Scientifically Proven Process for Changing Your Life - For Good.  New York, Harper Collins, 2017.  289 pages, index, notes.  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

1. Stepladders

Stepladders are specific tasks, deeds, or actions done during one week.  Steps can also involve not doing some task, behavior, or action.  Goals are accomplishments or achievements made in one month from actualizing the specific stepladders.  Dreams are possible accomplishments occurring in three months after accomplishing goals from doing specific stepladder tasks.  Attention and action should be focused on specific steps each week, and far less emphasis on longer term goals or dreams. 

The stepladders must be specific, time fixed, easy, doable, concrete, and measurable.  The stepladders must not be too steep, too high, unrealistic, or way to hard.  Start small and slowly build up. 

Stepladders, at first, must be realistic and expectations must be lower so success is more certain.  

You must track, monitor, evaluate, and reflect on your weekly progress up the stepladder to success.

2. Community

Many people find that working together with other people with the same objective and goals is very beneficial to them.  Many join actual groups or classes, and many use Internet applications to communicate and work with others on shared goals.  The author gives many good examples of online groups and applications for this purpose of interpersonal support, education, and encouragement.  Telling family and friends may also provide support and encouragement.  A spouse or good friend might join you in your new weekly objectives on the stepladder.  Libraries offer many good books to help you learn and get motivated.  Sometimes, however, rely only on yourself and get started anyway. 

3.  Important

If the change desired is not really important to you, then you will not implement the stepladders.  Your goals must be a high priority or be of critical importance to your health, success, or happiness.  Goals of declining interest or low importance will not be realized.

How Can You Change

"Realizing your goal, resolution, or transformation is a journey. Change, like any meaningful endeavor, proceeds sequentially through steps. The journey begins with the contemplation stage of specifying realistic goals, getting ready, or getting psyched. The planning stage is all about prepping. How exactly will I do this thing? At some point you will jump from preparing and planning to perspiring, the work of implementing the new, desired behavior. Getting there is wonderful, but we need to keep you there, which entails persevering through slips and, finally, persisting over time."
- John C. Norcross, Changeology, p.21


"If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down."
- Mary Pickford

"Easy to say, hard to do."
- Takeguchi Shihan


"There is not great talent without great will power."
- Honore de Balzac


"Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success."
- Swami Sivananda 

Willpower: Quotes, Sayings, Advice   Compiled by Mike Garofalo.  

Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions By John C. Norcross. Contributors: Kristin Loberg and Jonathon Norcross. Simon and Schuster, 2012. 272 pages. ISBN: 978-1451657616. VSCL.


Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively Forward
By James O. Prochaska, John Norcorss, and Carlo DiClemente. William Morrow, 1995. 304 pages. ISBN: 9780380725724.


Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard By Chip Heath and Dean Heath. Crown Business, 2010. 320 pages. ISBN: 978-0385528757.


Rewire: Change Your Brain to Break Bad Habits, Overcome Additions, and Conquer Self-Destructive Behavior. By Richard O'Connor, Ph.D.. New York, Hudson Street Press, c 2014. Index, references, notes, 289 pages. ISBN: 9781594632563. 

How to Change Your Bad Habits

How to Free Up More Time for Productive and Practical Success
Applied with Reason and Practical Wisdom
“Making excuses
Focusing on the negatives
Fearing failure
Looking for the easy way
Beating yourself up
Being ungrateful
Concentrating solely on your needs
Getting distracted
Living aimlessly
Giving up.”
– Mike Oppland, 10 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Be Successful, 2016


“Don’t work only in your comfort zone
Don’t do without first learning
Don’t be afraid of asking for advice
Don’t get lost in the small details
Don’t multitask
Don’t lie to yourself
Don’t procrastinate in asking for feedback
Don’t follow, do lead
Don’t let your past dictate your future
Don’t hang around negative people.”
– Carl Preston, Ten Habits to Give Up to Increase Productivity, 2016


“Don’t do the following:
Overlook the possibility to save money
Heavily rely on others
Act irresponsibly
Feel defeated just because you need to reevaluate your convictions
Dwell on your errors
Permit your past from holding you back
Rely on good luck to solve your problems
Neglect important aspects of your business
Hesitate to learn from your mistakes
Give up on your good ideas just because other people don’t agree with them
Make strong remarks that can make you look weak in the future
Lose the opportunity to broaden your experience
Back off from a good cause
Waste the potentials of their gadgets
Overestimate their abilities
Make redundant enemies
Allow their pride to get in the way
Put all your eggs in one basket
Lie to themselves that everything will be easy
Take unnecessary risks.”
– Djordje Todorovic, Things Smart People Don’t Do, 2016


“Watch less mundane television
Reduce internet browsing time
Avoid ignorant and negative people
Avoid organized religions
Stop using any recreational drugs
Avoid sitting for too long
Give up childish ideas and pipe dreams.”
– Michael P. Garofalo, Free Up More Time for Productive Activity, 2016
 

Making Personal Changes for the Better

Virtue Ethics

Non-Productive Habits to Change

How to Free Up More Time for Productive and Practical Success
Applied with Reason and Practical Wisdom

“Making excuses
Focusing on the negatives
Fearing failure
Looking for the easy way
Beating yourself up
Being ungrateful
Concentrating solely on your needs
Getting distracted
Living aimlessly
Giving up.”
– Mike Oppland, 10 Things You Need to Stop Doing to Be Successful, 2016


“Don’t work only in your comfort zone
Don’t do without first learning
Don’t be afraid of asking for advice
Don’t get lost in the small details
Don’t multitask
Don’t lie to yourself
Don’t procrastinate in asking for feedback
Don’t follow, do lead
Don’t let your past dictate your future
Don’t hang around negative people.”
– Carl Preston, Ten Habits to Give Up to Increase Productivity, 2016


“Don’t do the following:
Overlook the possibility to save money
Heavily rely on others
Act irresponsibly
Feel defeated just because you need to reevaluate your convictions
Dwell on your errors
Permit your past from holding you back
Rely on good luck to solve your problems
Neglect important aspects of your business
Hesitate to learn from your mistakes
Give up on your good ideas just because other people don’t agree with them
Make strong remarks that can make you look weak in the future
Lose the opportunity to broaden your experience
Back off from a good cause
Waste the potentials of their gadgets
Overestimate their abilities
Make redundant enemies
Allow their pride to get in the way
Put all your eggs in one basket
Lie to themselves that everything will be easy
Take unnecessary risks.”
– Djordje Todorovic, Things Smart People Don’t Do, 2016


“Watch less mundane television
Reduce internet browsing time
Avoid ignorant and negative people
Avoid organized religions
Stop using any recreational drugs
Avoid sitting for too long
Give up childish ideas and pipe dreams.”
– Michael P. Garofalo, Free Up More Time for Productive Activity, 2016
 

Making Personal Changes for the Better

Virtue Ethics

As We Think, So We Become

"The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
And the habit into character.

So, watch the thought and its ways with care
And let it spring from love
Born out of concern for all Beings.
As the shadow follows the body,
As we think, so we become."
-  The Buddha, from the Dhammapada

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons


Buddhism: Reading List

Paramitas: Ten Buddhist Virtues

Virtues and Character

Dammapada Sutta