Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life (Unfu*k Yourself series)

by Gary John Bishop

In short, our thoughts are bedfellows with our emotions.

The more you tell yourself how hard something is, the harder it will actually seem.

On the other hand, the person who views success as if it were just around the corner will not only work his butt off to achieve it but be energized and alive to it and all the while acting on that fundamental view of success.

Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher turned Roman emperor, said, “Here is a rule to remember in the future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not ‘This is misfortune,’ but ‘To bear this worthily is good fortune.’”

It’s entirely within our power to determine how we think about and talk about our problems. They can be a nuisance or a stepping stone. They can hold us down or lift us up.

In fact, Stoic philosophers like Aurelius believed that outside events hold no power over us at all. We create...

“Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” - Marcus Aurelius

How willing are you to consider that your life is the way it is, not because of the weight of your circumstances or situation, but rather the weight of self-talk that pulls you down? That what you think you can and cannot do is influenced much more directly by some subconscious response than by the reality of life itself?!

Your life is waiting on you to finally show up.

Just like we build habits by repeating an action until it becomes “automatic,” we can use strong, assertive language over time to create lasting change in our lives.

You have the life you’re willing to put up with.

If you’re not willing to take the actions to change your situation—in other words, if you’re willing to put up with your situation—then whether you like it or not, that is the life you have chosen.

“Circumstances don’t make the man; they only reveal him to himself.” - Epictetus

“Life won’t stop for your pauses and procrastinations. It won’t stop for your confusion or fear. It will continue right along without you.”

“Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.”

Sometimes declaring your unwillingness can be just as powerful as declaring willingness.

Unwillingness ignites resolve and determination. It provides an access to taking a robust and urgent approach to your situation.

Only when you’re unwilling to put up with the bullshit any longer will you grab your shovel and start digging. At times there is no greater motivation to change than the unwillingness to do “this” any longer.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” - Epictetus

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Therefore, guard accordingly, and take that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”

Trust yourself, give yourself fully to your vast capacity for victory. Set yourself the challenge of winning in new and exciting ways. Demand your greatness of yourself and repeat after me: “I am wired to win.”

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” - Aristotle

First, uncertainty is where things happen. Uncertainty is your personal pathway to opportunity. It’s the environment in which you grow, experience new things, and produce new, unprecedented results. Uncertainty is where new happens.

“The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.” - Tacitus

“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” - Epictetus

You’re never going achieve your true potential if you’re hooked by what other people think.

The person who avoids the uncertain doesn’t do this. They’re too afraid of being judged. They’re too afraid to look foolish or stupid. They are stopped, one foot nailed to the floor by an illusion.

Remember, all of the successes, all of the experiences, all of the things you’ve always dreamed of are waiting for you in uncertainty.

I challenge you to go out today and take the bull by the horns and embrace your own uncertainty. Do the things you normally wouldn’t. Shake up that daily routine. Dare to dream, dare to risk and startle your life into life.

Embracing uncertainty has the power to transform your life, from your personal relationships to your career. It can help you get in shape, make more money, or find your future spouse.

You are not your thoughts. You are not defined by what’s inside your head. You are what you do. Your actions.

“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“You don’t have to feel like today is your day; you just have to act like it is.”

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” - Dale Carnegie

Fuck how you feel, ACT!

Don’t wait for the mood to strike. Don’t get stuck looking for that magic feeling that will do the work for you. Simply act. Put aside your thoughts and move.

It’s not about psyching yourself up. It’s not about getting everything aligned just right. Just act. Do it.

It’s all about action. Going out there, doing it, and taking all your negative bullshit along for the ride.

“Action may not bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.” - Benjamin Disraeli

“I am not my thoughts; I am what I do.”

“Our biggest successes are born out of discomfort, uncertainty, and risk.”

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” - Aristotle

Here’s the crazy thing: you can never really prove what’s possible or impossible.

There is no giving up. There is no quitting. There is no changing of plans.

Relentless is the prospective entrepreneur who has been ridiculed or rejected for their completely original idea but keeps pitching it anyway.

“Stop doing all that shit you know you shouldn’t be doing and start doing all the shit you know you should be doing.”

“No man ever steps in the same river twice . . .” - Heraclitus

“I expect nothing and accept everything.”