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My Journal - Rodrigo


Rodrigo

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Something I noticed about professors in college was that they really appreciated anyone who gave extra effort. My University was great about professors having office hours (times outside of class where they are available for students to come talk to them), and whenever I went to their office hours to ask questions the professors really seemed to appreciate that. I'm not sure if that is something you have done or could do with this professor, but it might be something he appreciates. If you have a couple questions to ask (good questions), maybe try to schedule a time with him outside of class to get some answers as well as show him your commitment to the course. Just a suggestion!

?Yeah, this is very true! Mainly if you're in something with a few students. You can create a good connection with them :) Thank you for the information, Chris!

Scoring points with a professor is a good thing. This guy sounds like he just wants to see true competence and passion in the work. That should always be your goal anyways. Think about the throngs of people who talk about how they have a degree, but can't get a job. Do your best to grow and master your subjects. Even if you master your subjects, you'll have a lot of competition out there. The key is to be passionate and explore your field to try to pinpoint a niche that not too many people are pursuing and you feel you can be great at. I'm working on doing the same thing myself in my chosen field of academic study as well as other areas that aren't so academic.

?So true! If you do something that you don't love, you should do something different right away. There is always a way to do something different while trying to find another passion. Well, engineering isn't something that I love BUT it's something that I can do whatever I'm in a bad spot. And it is also a good thing to be, because you can go to very different paths with it :D

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Did a post but when I posted it, a friend turned off the router and I lost the post. I can't write it all again, don't have time :( But I have it in my head.

Sorry for not posting in your threads, but I've been too busy... Which is nice in some way.

Day 8 of Meditation and Day 9 of the Funniness exercise:

Gratefulness (10th day)

I'm grateful for:

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

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Hey folks!

I just finished reading "Meditations" and I've got to say that this is one of these books that you have to read every 6 months. The first time you read it will be hard, because you will have to reflect upon each entry. i guess the next times I'll read it again it will be faster. Just to make me aware of its knowledge.

The book has teached me a lot about mastering my emotions and how and why to cease the day. I'd say it's life changing if you really look into it. Totally recommend it to everyone.

What I've learned:

  1. Not to let anger, pain and envy take control of me;
  2. That most of my worries and pain are only there, because of my judgements;
  3. (Not learned, but really understood) That life is very brief and that we must live it with a set of values;
  4. And more.

Here are the quotes that I found more important to me:

- "You should take no action unwillingly, selfishly, uncritically, or with conflicting motives... Let the god that is within you be the champion of the being you are..."
- "When circumstances force you to some sort of distress, quickly return to yourself. Do not stay out of rhythm for longer than you must: You will master the harmony the more by constantly going back to it."
- "This should be your practice throughout all your life: When things have such a plausible appearance, show them naked, see their shoddiness, strip away their boastful account of themselves."
- "If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's self-deception and ignorance."
- "Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before this moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus, and live it as nature directs."
- "When you have done good and another has benefited, why do you still look, as fools do, for a third thing besides - credit for good works, or a return?"
- "In every contingency keep in your mind's eye those who had the same experience before, and reacted with vexation, disbelief, or complaint. So where are they now? Nowhere. Well then, do you want to act like them? Why not leave the moods and shifts of others to the shifting and the shifted, and for youself concentrate wholly on how to make use of these contigencies? You will then use them well, and they will be raw material in your hands. Only take care, and seek your own best good in all that you do. Remember these two things: the action is important, the context indifferent."
- "Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretence."
- "Everything has come into being for a purpose - a horse, say, a vine. Does this surprise you? Even the sun will say, 'I came into being for a purpose': likewise the other gods. For what purpose, then, were you created? For your pleasure? Just see whether this idea can be entertained."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day 9 of Meditation and Day 10 of the Funniness exercise:

Wow, this meditation was hard! Really focused on my breathing this time. Drifted a lot, but I managed to return to myself and focus on my breathing.

The funniness exercise was hard. I drifted quite a bit in the end of each exercise... My mind is fighting me D:

Gratefulness (10th day)

I'm grateful for:

51. The insights that Marcus Aurelius shared;

52. Having more books to read;

53. Having a lot to do;

54. Starting to master my emotions;

55. Weekend!

Edited by Rodrigo
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I've noticed that some days I really struggle through meditating as well. I only do it for 10 minutes, but yesterday was one of the worst sessions for me. I guess some days it is easier to find an inner peace than others!

?Remember that the point of meditation is to be peaceful in this chaos. It's not about being able to able to do meditation well or not, it's about regardless of how it goes, easy, hard, whatever, that you are there in it and continue anyways.

That's why meditation is one of the best ways to improve your life - it teaches you how to be in that same state outside of meditation, when in all honesty, life is chaotic and out of your control in many ways, so all you can control is how you show up, and a great place to start is to be at peace with whatever is happening in the moment, even chaos. :)

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Hi Rodrigo. I love the perspective that transpires from your posts. Do you study philosophy? I've never read anything by Marcus Aurelius but I appreciate Stoicism. Seneca is one of my favorite reads. Just like Joe I find Stoicism to resemble Buddhism at times. Good stuff :)

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?Great write up on Marcus Aurelius!

His stuff almost sounds Buddhist.

I loved the complexity of his words and thoughts. It takes a smart guy to run an empire!

?Thank you, Joe! He goes really deep indeed. And just think that this wasn't even meant for other people to read, only to himself...

Hi Rodrigo. I love the perspective that transpires from your posts. Do you study philosophy? I've never read anything by Marcus Aurelius but I appreciate Stoicism. Seneca is one of my favorite reads. Just like Joe I find Stoicism to resemble Buddhism at times. Good stuff :)

?Hello Tom, great to have you here! :D

I'm glad you liked them! I study engineering, but I like philosophy a lot and also some other areas xD Seneca is one of my next philosophy reads! I don't know buddhism that much, but it's very interesting if it has some common knowledge!

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Sorry for not posting here, but I've been really into building my blog, watching videos, mentoring, planning a project with a company and studying. I basically stopped doing anything which isn't useful for me and for people around me. No TV, no facebook, no games, nothing.

I'm glad to see you guys around here :D

I didn't give up on my journal! But I've been doing it in my physical one. It's much easier for me to write there, I tend to stay away from the PC as long as I can, lately.

I've been feeling very happy, grateful, much more aware of things, optimist and full of energy!

The blog is one of my main focuses now. I even wrote a small ebook (in portuguese) based on a book I've read to give it for free for people who will subscribe to it.

I found something in writting. I'm not very good at it, but I've been enjoying it! And I can see that developing this skill is important and it's been fun!

I will check you guys out next time I'll come here! Keep on the good path folks! It's the best thing you can do for yourselves.

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  • 3 months later...

Hello folks!

Damn, there's been a while since I last came here! Glad to see the forum a lot active!

I just saw the most recent video, the interview with Richard Kuo, and I remembered to come here and post something for you guys :)

First of all, I don't really know if I made the entire 90 day challenge, but I was probably very close. Yes, I started to play again, BUT, just like Richard, in moderation.

Basicaly, I've been so much occupied that I only play video games when I actually don't have anything else to do, which is like once (2 hours playthrough) every 3 or 4 days, more or less. And I gained the ability to control the time I play. Something I've been developing since the last few years. I still think that I should be doing some other thing besides gaming, but it's like a reward for the ton of work I've been doing. Only after the work is done - delayed gratification.

What have I been doing? I did ALOT. I am now one of the top students in Telecommunications Engineering ( I was before in the lower 50%), one of the most active mentors (freshmen and foreign students) with regular meetings, collaborating on an inovative project with a company, launched and maintained a blog about productivity and self-growth with a new post every week (with a 5 posts buffer), read atleast 1 hour everyday and probably I am going to be one of the first university's ambassadors. Got an exclusive interview with the CTO of the only music streaming service in portugal for a project, got a mentor (the professor I spoke about in the previous posts), did the most part of other projects alone ( too much work for the other colleagues it seemed) and was trusted by a professor to receive and take note of students' self-evaluation of a project.

What is the most important thing to get rid of gaming? Read! Read a lot. I'm so much amazed as I changed so much since I first started to read. I mostly read non-fiction, but I am now reading non fiction through the day and fiction before bed. I think that if you read, you will have a much bigger awareness of everything you do. Read books, blogs, articles, watch TED videos, etc...

Also, I advise to focus a lot on self-growth. Yes, read self-help books. But good ones, like the ones Cam recommended such as The Power of Habit. Amazing book, just finished reading it. Made so much sense. Yes, self-help might sound cheesy, but you must know that you can change A LOT. And that there's a lot out there that you don't know.

Stay busy and stick with it. Once you have the habit going, you won't have the time for gaming.

I will try to read your threads soon, I promise!

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