Extend Your Mind: Praxis Volume 2 by Tiago Forte

Author:Tiago Forte [Forte, Tiago]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-07-13T07:00:00+00:00

Desire

What is rarely appreciated about focus is that it is governed by desire.

A pickpocket focuses on the purse or wallet. The lover is always oriented toward the loved one. A trout fisherman doesn’t have to “try to focus,” any more than a cat has to try to focus on a dangling string. A person in the grip of fear will notice whatever is frightening. An angry person will notice whatever is making him angry.

In our pursuit of focus, then, our choice is over which desires to nourish, and which to starve. Nourishing the desires of Self 2 builds stability and self-fulfillment. Nourishing Self 1 desires strengthens self-interference, inner conflict, and distraction.

Here’s what makes it difficult: if you use Self 1 to control Self 1, you strengthen the very taskmaster that is causing the conflict. Self 1 has the upper hand any time it convinces you either that you need its advice, OR that you need to fight it into submission. In either case, it succeeds at its goal: to stay in control.

If instead you acknowledge Self 2 and its perfectly natural desires, you can reach for it and give it whatever attention you have at your disposal. A little attention is withdrawn from Self 1, diminishing its influence, which in turn gives you greater access to Self 2.

But accessing one’s true desires is also not easy. Often people won’t allow themselves to get in touch with what they truly want unless they already see the means of achieving it. Or their desires are colored or completely dominated by the desires of others for them. This is why some people find it impossible to figure out what they want.

Here are some useful questions for identifying desires:

How clear are you about what you want?

What do you really want?

How connected do you feel to your passion, to the wellspring of your desire?

Have you ever felt more connected? When, and to what? As you look at your different desires, do they seem to be aligned or to be pulling in separate directions?

Where do your desires come from — thought or feeling?

How clearly can you distinguish your desires from the expectations of other people?

To what extent do you feel you are “steering” your desires versus being driven by them?

Do you feel free while working?

What does being free mean to you?

Do you desire to be free?

How do you know?

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