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  • Have you heard the good news?

    Hey, have you heard the Good News of your personal Lord and Savior, Michael Korman?

    Here’s the deal: if you do as I say, you’ll be saved from your sins.

    I know what you’re thinking: “Michael, I have no sins.”

    Nonsense, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of Michael.

    So, if you’re interested in salvation, this is what you need to do:

    • Confess your sins. You’ve got to tell me about your problems. No pretending there are none. I need to know the details, with specific examples from your life. No virtue-signaling, no abstractions, no ideologies. Otherwise, I can’t save you.
    • Repent. This means practice. Meditation, radical acceptance, NVC, whatever. It’s not enough to admit you’ve sinned. You must change your life around or else you’re screwed.
    • Tithe. You’ll achieve salvation quicker if you pay me some money. If I’m not bringing you enough salvation to justify payment, confess more sins until I start doing my job.
    • Evangelize to your friends. Cults require members. It can’t just be the two of us, as cozy as that might sound.

    You know, all the usual stuff.

    Have a blessed day.

    Yours in faith,
    Michael

  • Your “friends” are pretending to care about you

    When you start posting good stuff online, your friends will use weird tactics to try to shut you up. They’re uncomfortable because they’re not used to group members speaking individualistically. Groups require like-mindedness, and you’re currently on a different wavelength.

    (Don’t blame your friends…it’s the group’s fault.)

    One tactic they love to use is “we’re just worried about your mental health.”

    I heard this one a lot in the first half of 2020. That’s when I started posting my personal opinions online. Before that, I kept them to myself or told only a couple of trusted friends.

    But once I decided to learn marketing, I knew I had to speak my mind publicly.

    This past year and a half has been the most difficult of my whole life because of the amount of hatred and anger directed towards me, and also the amount of loss I’ve experienced. But, it’s also been the most rewarding, because I’ve found access to a voice I never had before.

    This work is just beginning.

    You don’t need to thank your friends for their concern. They’re not concerned about you, but about the group and about their own comfort level.

    (Of course, you could thank them if you want to, but make sure you don’t get confused.)

    You can’t please everybody, and you shouldn’t try to.

    Instead, try to please the ideas you care about.

    Some people will love it and some will hate it. They’re two sides of the same coin. If no one hates it, no one will love it. The passion that motivates the hate is the same energy that motivates the love.

    The difference is the story told about it.

  • I’m not lazy…why can’t I meditate?

    “I’m not a lazy person. Why can’t I meditate?”

    “How much is a reasonable amount of work to put into meditation before I’m able to see any results?”

    I meditated on and off for years. It didn’t seem like it was doing anything for me. It was too hard to sit still.

    Here’s the thing:

    When you sit and you’re thinking, “I’m not making any progress. Nothing’s changing”…and you get worked up because of that..then that needs to be the object of your meditation because that’s what’s getting in your way.

    It’s not like doing a handstand where you can see it, take a photograph of it, post it on Instagram and everybody can see that you mastered it. It’s not that kind of thing.

    But, if that’s the minimum condition for you to think you’ve made progress, then THERE’s your issue.

    Meditate on not wanting to meditate. You don’t have to “figure it out.” Just sit there and say, “I’m going to spend 5 minutes sitting here” and see what happens.

    If those 5 minutes go by and it’s easy, great. However, if after 30 seconds, you say “I’m wasting my time. I have more important things to do. This isn’t going anywhere…”, then sit with that feeling until the timer goes off.

    This will destroy your mind. Every cherished ideal, everything about yourself that you identify with, will be shredded to pieces.

    That’s a good thing, but it’s confusing. Everything you think is true right now will be called into question, and you’ll have to renegotiate all of it.

    It’s fun.

  • How to stop feeling stuck when talking to people

    The reason your communication skills aren’t improving is because you’re not allowing yourself to make mistakes.

    Look, you need to make mistakes. Just make them. What’s the big deal? Seriously. Try to find the big deal.

    There’s no big deal.

    Yeah, yeah, I get it: when you make mistakes, bad things happen.

    That’s true. But, part of developing skill is learning how to deal with bad things. How else do you think you’re going to get to a point where you can deal with them?

    You’ve got to let them happen.

    Your mind can handle this

    Contrary to popular opinion, your mind can handle this. It’s called “mindfulness”. You pay attention to what’s going on, and you process it.

    You’re a being of infinite potential and energy. Your organism can handle itself even if you can’t.

    Look at all the other animals on the planet. They all function just fine, even while making mistakes all day long. That’s because they don’t know they’re making mistakes.

    But you know you’re making mistakes, and that’s why you’re suffering. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t suffer.

    It’s the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. It’s really screwed you over, hasn’t it?

    Marshall Rosenberg, founder of Nonviolent Communication, liked to say:

    “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.”

    (Did he come up with that himself? I swear I’ve heard it elsewhere. Let me know if you know.)

    When speaking, just say whatever comes to mind. Doesn’t matter if it’s right. You’ll figure it out eventually.

    Analysis vs. Practice

    There’s a time for analysis and a time for practice.

    • When analyzing, sit down and think hard about what’s a mistake and what’s not.
    • When practicing, just do whatever.

    DON’T MIX THE TWO.

    (Even though this is what you learned to do in school. It’s wrong.)

    Mistakes are the point

    Look, the whole point is to make mistakes and learn how to fix them. This is the same way you learn any kind of skill.

    You’ve got to be brave and courageous and stupid. What’s the alternative? Being cautious, slow, and hesitant? Yeah, that’s really inspiring…

    Make those mistakes, over and over and over again. It’s the only way to go.

    In my opinion.

  • #35 – Food

    #35 – Food

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #35 – Food
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    I love food. Diets don’t work. Society has trained you to hate yourself.

  • #34 – Nonviolent Communication

    #34 – Nonviolent Communication

    Self-Defined Human
    Self-Defined Human
    #34 – Nonviolent Communication



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    Nonviolent Communication is an awesome approach to learning how to say what you mean and mean what you say. NVC teaches you to think and talk in a way that tries to serve life, rather than disconnect us from our feelings and needs (the way we’re normally taught to communicate).

    Here’s how you can learn NVC:

    1. Search “nvc marshall rosenberg” on YouTube and watch the 3-hour video with him in the red shirt.
    2. Read his book “Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life”
    3. Practice a lot.
    4. Be prepared for all your friends to get angry.
    5. Keep practicing.

    Good luck!

    More about Nonviolent Communication.

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