Jules Verne (1828-1905) became a new type of prophet: no resemblance to his compatriot Nostradamus, who preceded him by three centuries; no mysticism - only the free dreams of science fiction. He described some of the adventurous projects of our century. And describing man's flight to the moon as something supernatural, a hundred years before Apollo 11, he dreamed up some of the details that became reality on the 1969 flight. But when he reached sixty years of age, his flow dried up, and H. Wells took over his mantle.

In The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and In the Time of the Comet, Wells combined science fiction with social fiction, and his overflowing optimism led him and his readers to believe that the sky was not the limit of man's possibilities. He also composed his famous a short history world and was the most outstanding of those who, being atheists or anti-clericals, saw the human future as steady and brilliant progress, and life as sheer joy.

However, I do not know Wells enough to judge him as a philosopher. As a prophet of technological progress, although he was constantly filled with optimism, Wells did not always put forward fantastic projects that were waiting to be realized. For example, in his 1907 article “Means of Transportation in the 20th Century,” he argued that aeronautics would never become a means of mass transportation. The rapid pace of discoveries and inventions that this century has made in comparison with the previous one is characteristic of some other era, ahead of the imagination of science fiction writers. But in the first week of August 1945, a cloud of mushrooms rose above two cities on distant islands, which recorded in heaven that the apple from the tree of knowledge was the fruit of Sodom.

Before this event occurred, the world had been fighting for six whole years in feverish madness for the Teutonic thousand-year reign. Wells sat in London, oblivious to the bombs falling around him, now overcome by countless infirmities, and wrote his book “The Mind at Its Limits.” The atomic age has not yet arrived. But, probably, the horror inherited from his ancestors and never breaking through in him, or the vision of the impending future as an eschatology aimed at the immediate result, turned the preacher of hedonism and pleasure into a prophet of impending disaster.

“The writer,” he began, “finds very good reason for the belief that, during a period of time which should be measured rather in weeks and months than in eras, fundamental changes have taken place in the conditions in which life, and not just human life, and all conscious existence, took place from the very beginning. This is a very shocking judgment, and it cannot be accepted by reason as such, so the writer makes his conclusions public, confident that they will be completely inaccessible to an ordinary, rationally thinking person.

He continued, speaking of himself in the third person: “If his thoughts begin to speak, then this world is at the limit of its capabilities. The end of what we call life is near and cannot be avoided. He conveys to you the thoughts that reality has led his mind to, and he believes that you will be interested in thinking about them, although he does not try to force them on you. It is best if he tries to explain why he came to such an incomprehensible assumption... He writes, obeying a scientific mindset, which obliged him to be as clear as possible in thoughts and words.”

It cannot be said that in the following pages Wells offered anything that could be considered a scientific argument, or presented evidence from the field of natural science or history, or revealed the secret of the outbreak of war. This is not what he promised: it is the vision of a visionary tracing the future or knowing of a hidden past. “It requires enormous effort and concentration on the part of the ordinary mind, requiring constant reminder and renewal, to understand that cosmic developments are becoming increasingly hostile to the spiritual state of our daily existence. This is a thought that is difficult for a writer to come to terms with. But when he comes to her, the meaning of Reason weakens. Everyday life loses its apparent spiritual orderliness.”

Having explained what he means by “everyday” in relation to the eternal, Wells continues, always referring to himself in the third person: “Everyday life, as he now sees, is completely subject to non-mental rhythms, like the formation of crystalline structures in a mineral deposit or how meteor Rain. These two processes run parallel to what we call Eternity, and now they are abruptly separated from each other, like a comet that hangs in the sky at perihelion for some time and then is carried away for centuries or forever. The human mind has accepted everyday life as rational and cannot act otherwise, because it itself is part of it and participates in it.”

But how did it happen that Wells introduced meteor showers and an ominous comet in the sky as meta-forms? Maybe it's not just a matter of simple similarity?

In his doomsday prophecies, Wells never even mentioned the man and his deeds. Nature has changed its course, and life is doomed to extinction. “Reality looks coldly and hostilely at anyone who can break out of the captivity of the comfortable illusions of the normality of everything that is happening in order to come face to face with the insoluble question that worried the writer. They realize that something frighteningly strange is entering their lives. Even the most unobservant people betray with their sudden reactions a certain bewilderment, a vague feeling that something has happened after which life will never be the same again.”

Wells are you paying? to the reader and instructs him: “Unfold the picture of events and examine it, and you will find that you are faced with a new scheme of existence, incomprehensible to the human mind. This new cold look teases the human mind with a grin, and yet the stubborn need to philosophize is so great in the minds that under this cold look they are still able to look for some way out of the dead end or try to get around it.

The writer is convinced that from “this dead end there is no way back, around or forward. This is the end".

Following this, Wells returns to analogies that can explain the true meaning of his conclusions: “Up to now, events have been connected together by a certain logical connection, as celestial bodies, as far as we know, are connected by force, the golden thread of Gravity. Now imagine that this thread has disappeared, and everything is moving haphazardly with a continuously increasing speed. The boundaries of the usual development of life seem to be precisely fixed, so that it was possible to sketch out a rough plan for the future. But these boundaries were reached, and behind them a hitherto incomprehensible chaos opened up... Now events follow each other in a completely incredible sequence. No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but it is the modern philosopher of science who can accept this improbability as truth... He knows, but the majority do not want to know and therefore will never know.”

Never? If the cosmos is approaching chaos and the laws of nature are about to end, then there can be no more secrets. And yet... “In the atom of the impenetrable ignorance of the stupid mass lies its immunity in relation to all the stubborn questions of the disturbed mind. She has a need to never know. The behavior of this flock, in which it lives and moves and finds its being, will for some time remain grateful material for the positive, apologetic, tragic, sympathetic or caustic comments that constitute the sphere of art and literature. The mind may be at its limits, and yet this drama Everyday life will continue because this is the normal order of existence and there is nothing to replace it.

To an observer from some distant and completely alien space, if we admit such an incredible situation, it may well seem that destruction is approaching man, like a cruel thunderous cry of “Halt! We may be spinning ever faster in the vortex of extinction, but we don’t understand it.”

A pall of deep despondency shone over the most cheerful writers of his generation. This is not a situation where a believer loses his faith. G. Wells was an atheist from his youth. He did not perceive the idea of ​​the end in Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes. He did not consider that the disappearance of a person, and with him all life, would be the final punishment for a bomo saplens that had reached the prohibited limit. Nature, together with all its laws, which were considered eternal, disintegrates itself. “A terrible disaster is approaching the world and throwing into the past everything that we have hitherto considered as certain inviolable boundaries of objective facts. These facts escape analysis and never return... The limits of size and space are shrinking and continue to shrink mercilessly. The rapid daily movement of this merciless pendulum, new order connections introduce into our minds the idea that real facts go beyond the boundaries of any previously accepted standards. We are moving to a terrifying realization of a previously unimaginable new reality.”

Three thousand million years of Organic Evolution (Wells writes these words with capital letters) are rapidly approaching the end, and the ending is already in sight. “...There is a widening divergence between what our fathers sought to call the Natural Order and this new bitter hostility towards our universe, our everything.”

But who bears this hostility if he is neither God nor the Devil? Wells searches for definitions: “cosmic process”, “Beyond”, “Unknown”, “Unknowable” - and rejects them one by one, because they contain “unexpressed implications”. Helpless to find a better wording, Wells settled on "Antagonist." He will put an end to evolution, and “the dusty maps of Time will shake off their dust into the crematorium oven...”.

Are not the prophecies of the oracles of the Sibyl heard in the gloomy words of Wells: “... and then it will collapse endless stream a raging fire that will burn the earth and the sea, and the firmament, and the stars, and all creation will turn into one molten mass and completely disappear. There will be no more stars shining in their orbits, there will be no night, no dawn, no constant gentle days, no spring, no summer, no winter, no autumn.”

As if continuing the Sibyl's prophecy, Wells rises from his chair in a darkened London, illuminated only by flashes of fire, and says: “Until now, return seemed to be the original law of life. Night followed day, and day followed night. But in this strange new phase of existence that our universe is entering, it is becoming apparent that things are not coming back. They move and move towards an impenetrable mystery, towards a voiceless and boundless darkness, with which the stubborn need of our unsatisfied mind can fight, but only until it is defeated. Our world of self-delusion does not allow this. He will die in the midst of these subterfuges and self-deceptions... the door has closed for us forever. There is no way back, no forward, no detour."

Are we not hearing the voice of a war-weakened mind? But Wells did not speak of destructive warriors, of Dunkirk or Coventry, or of people herded into death camps: he pronounces his verdict as if it were not man who was guilty, but inanimate nature. “Our universe is not just bankrupt... it is not just liquidated, it continues to empty itself of all life, leaving behind rubble. Trying to see some kind of plan in this is absolutely pointless. This is accessible to the philosophical mind when it is at highest degree development, but for those who lack this strong spiritual support, contact with such ideas turns out to be so inadequate and so dangerous that they are unable to do anything more than hate, reject and persecute those who express them, and take refuge behind such convenient and controlled refuges of faith and tranquility, such as the mind, obedient to the call of fear, has been able to create for itself and its neighbors throughout the centuries.”

I interrupt the quotation to conclude: Wells accidentally discovered that the great fear that possessed him was as ancient in the human race as religion. One might hope that in the next sentence he would bring to the surface the ancient fear of the destroyer coming from outer space, for which he was looking for a name. “Our doomed anthill is defenseless in the face of a ruthless Antagonist who will tear our world to pieces. Tolerate him or run away from him will not make any difference...”

Through this hell of bombed London, to which Wells was outwardly indifferent, an ancient, even primitive fear shone through. A year later, the most long-suffering planet, having described another circle in its orbit, with a blinding flash and a mushroom similar to stove smoke, marked its entry into the Age of Horror.

This is not just a story about how to think and live. This is a clear guide to action, a seven-day intensive course for those who want to unlock their potential.

Erik Bertrand Larssen

One of the most popular motivational speakers in Norway. He served as a paratrooper in the Norwegian special forces, was in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and twice completed the young fighter course with the terrible name “Hell Week.” His books became bestsellers and were translated into many languages.

Larssen's week-long program is a kind of civilian version of that "Hell Week." According to the author, it can be most a common person. At the same time, taking time away from production is not only not necessary, but also not recommended.

The main idea of ​​the book: live 7 days at the limit of your capabilities. The way you could live every day if laziness, fears, lack of concentration interfered with you, Bad mood, bad weather... You never know what obstacles you can think of on the way to your goal!

So, Larssen suggests spending the week as productively as possible. In this case, it is assumed that you will live according to a strict schedule.

Basic rules for Hell Week:

• rise - at 5:00 (even on weekends);
• going to bed - at 22:00;
• only healthy food;
• TV is prohibited;
• no social networks or non-business communication during working hours;
• maximum concentration on the tasks at hand;
• training at least once a day for at least 1 hour.

This is a list of basic recommendations only. To the goals from the book you need to add your own that correspond to yours. life situation. You will need to make many plans and lists of tasks both for the current week and for the distant future. After all, if there is no goal, then there is nowhere to move. Therefore, before you start an experiment, decide why you need it and what you are moving towards.

To live a week at the limit of your capabilities, so that later ordinary tasks seem like baby talk to you - such an experience, according to the author, will expand the boundaries of your consciousness. You will stop being afraid to take on a particular task and learn what you are capable of.

Once you survive hell week, you will begin to achieve your goals faster. And in general, you will finally achieve them, and not mark time.

The book is divided into two parts: theoretical and practical. The latter is a clear guide to action, scheduled day by day.

Honestly, the theoretical part seemed too dry to me. Maybe it's just because I'm a woman and I need more epithets... I don't know. But if you have read a ton of literature on the topic, then you won’t get anything new from the first part of the book. For advanced users of knowledge about self-improvement, visualization and planning, this part of the book can simply be skimmed. However, I recommend not ignoring it completely. It helps you tune in to the author’s wavelength and understand his train of thought and the ideas behind the hellish week. This will help you stick to your plan.

The second part deserves special attention. Having lived through Hell Week, I believe that the section dedicated to a particular day is best read 24-48 hours before practice. For example, read about Monday on Saturday or Sunday. There is no point in reading the second part in advance: you will definitely forget everything by the time you start practicing.

Why did I decide to go through hell week?

For the opportunity to write a review of the book “At the Limit. A week without self-pity” I grabbed with pleasure.

The fact is that I've been leading enough for a long time healthy image in life and because of my profession as a nutritionist, I eat as healthy as possible. I train with varying frequency and intensity, practice self-development techniques, and am interested in visualization and other wonderful tools for fulfilling desires. But I always really wanted to put all this into a certain scheme and make it all more systematic. To establish a life conveyor from which one could not fall out. If this is at all possible...

When you read all these smart books about how to do it, it seems that there is a lot in the world ideal people who get up early and move towards their goal systematically and persistently, like a herd of buffalo to a watering hole. They are the ones who run under your dark windows in the morning, turning over the plan for the coming day in their heads. And you... you sleep, and life passes you by.

Something like this is how I imagined the life of ideal people, which, as it seemed to me before the week of hell, I was not one of.

And here is the opportunity to become the best version I pulled myself together. And I decided not just to write a review, but to try the method on myself. I didn’t have three weeks to prepare: deadlines were pressing. However, if I caught fire, I need to act immediately, and therefore I would hardly be able to withstand 3 weeks of waiting. Fortunately, the book turned out to be small, and reading it did not take much time. And so…

I will not describe each day separately, as I did on my blog, but will simply share with you my feelings.

What turned out to be the most difficult

1. Falling asleep. Contrary to my expectations, the most difficult thing was not getting up at 5:00, but going to bed at 22:00. On the first evening, I could hardly bring myself to turn off the lights at 23:00. IN next days I did this better, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep. Despite getting up early, an extremely busy schedule and training to the limit (I am an addicted person: once I get to the gym, it’s hard for me to stop, especially when time allows). There were evenings when I tossed and turned until midnight! And this despite the fact that I don’t drink coffee or other drinks that prevent us from falling asleep. Why this happened, I cannot explain...

2. Refusal from social networks. And there was nothing unexpected in this, alas. I couldn’t apply the advice not to go into one, because the main promotion of my services happens there, it’s part of my job. And when you go there for work, it’s hard not to stumble upon a message from one of your friends. And it always seems that “I’ll just answer him now and...”.

For the sake of truth, it should be noted that I never look through feeds and do not like different posts. Not because I’m an evil and terrible woman who feels sorry for even a husky. No. I just prefer live communication social networks. My addiction came to light for another reason: I feel the urge to check what and who wrote about my latest article. And this must be stopped. The book "On the Limit" made me understand this. It just seems to us that a minute here and two there, but in total it turns out to be a decent amount of time.

3. Lack of sleep. Although Larssen assures that “you will feel what it’s like to be awake,” for me it turned out exactly the opposite. Already on Tuesday I had to urgently go to bed during the day, otherwise I would not have been able to maintain my usual schedule. In truth, it should be noted that my usual schedule terrifies many: I have time to redo so many things, but still...

One of Larssen's assignments was for 41 hours. This meant that I had to get up at 5:00 on Thursday and go to bed only at 22:00 on Friday. This task seemed unreasonable to me. No matter how hard I tried to find meaning in this, I did not see it. The assurances that “people who haven’t slept for more than a day know something like this...” did not convince me. I am a mother of two children and am familiar first-hand with sleepless nights and chronic lack of sleep. And who among us during our student years did not have the opportunity to stay awake for days on end for one or another good (or not so good) reason?

Due to my problems falling asleep, by Thursday I was just boiled, and therefore I decided to go to bed on Friday night. A week is a week, but you have to live somehow.

4. Injuries. Before this experiment, I trained 2-4 times a week at moderate intensity. Immediately I outdid myself (as planned) and began training 1.5 hours a day. At the same time, I combined cardio and strength training in one workout. Bottom line: on Thursday evening, both knees and my shoulder were very sore... On Friday, training had to be canceled, otherwise I risked not being able to fit into the ranks on Saturday. So I turned on my brain and focused on their Feel.

5. Combination with real life. It was difficult to reconcile the Hell Week plan with real life. By the end of the seven-day period, I was even more convinced that the author is still more focused on the male population of the planet than on women with children. I simply did not have enough time to draw up plans and analyze everything that Larssen offers.

For example, on Friday my son fell ill, he had to be urgently taken to the doctor, and then I was glad that I went on Thursday evening. Otherwise, how would I get behind the wheel? Another example: one day the book asks you to face your greatest fear. For me this is a night forest. And so the question arises: how could I end up in the forest at night, when two babies are sleeping serenely at home, and there is no one to leave them with? Or advice to move around on one of the days only on foot, or even better - by running. With two children. Living outside the city...

I'm not making up excuses, no. But in all the examples that the author gives, the heroes are men, albeit with a family. So a man came home, and he had a wonderful wife there, and he finally appreciated her and was finally able to devote time to his children. For me, a simple woman, this is everyday life. If I don’t pay attention to the children in the evening, they will remain hungry, unwashed and unloved... Therefore - with all due respect to the author - I would soon like to see his book with advice that is close to the reality of working women with children.

What turned out to be easier than ever

1. Planning. It turned out to be simple because it was nothing new for me.

2. Healthy eating. This has been my lifestyle for several years now, so I didn’t have to change anything. I made the conditions even stricter and excluded sugar, flour, etc.

3. Giving up TV. I just don't have it! Larssen rightly suggests that if you stop watching TV, you'll have a lot of free time. But if you haven’t watched it, you’ll have to seriously focus on efficiency, otherwise you won’t have time to complete all the tasks of the hellish week.

4. Positive outlook on life. I am an optimist by nature, and lately I have been consciously developing this quality in myself. Therefore, there was nothing new for me here either.

What will I leave in my life after hell week ends?

1. Modified schedule. I will start going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. I was convinced that at this stage of my life the 5:00–22:00 schedule is absolutely not suitable for me, but 6:00–23:00 will get along quite well. Sure.

2. Workout 4-5 times a week. I decided to increase the amount, but approach them wisely, without overworking the same muscle groups every day. Sport gives me energy and lifts my spirits. So why not devote even more time to it?

3. Healthy eating.

4. Refusal of TV and empty time spent on social networks.

conclusions

They turned out to be ambiguous. I still couldn’t understand what was so hellish about this week. When asked by readers of my blog what turned out to be the most difficult, I honestly answered: “Go to bed at 10:00 p.m.” But! This does not mean that the book will not be useful to you. No. I was just once again convinced that it is very difficult to write a universal guide to action. After all, we are all at different stages of our development. This same week I realized that already I’m going in the right direction: my ordinary life is so close to hell week.

I am sure that for many people such changes will be a challenge. For example, for some, one refusal is already hell! There are also people who cannot imagine life without a liter of cola a day, and that is also prohibited. What will they be like without their favorite drink? This is also a kind of hell. If a person has never trained, then daily exercise will become a serious challenge. There are many examples.

The effect of the book and the difficulty of your hell week depends only on the point at which you are in currently. You need to conduct an experiment in order to understand how far you are from the ideal. What is an ideal? This is when you live to your full potential, make the most of your potential, systematically move towards your goal, take care of your health... In a word, when you are the best version of yourself.

In conclusion, I want to give one piece of advice: after reading the book, start taking action as soon as possible. There will never be a right moment. Why did you spend 2 hours reading then? This book belongs to the category of those that are useful only in practice. So let's go! Become the best version of yourself for a week, but remember: no one is perfect. Therefore, advice is advice, and listening to yourself during hell week will not be superfluous. Good luck!

To build a successful business and advance in the market, you need inner strength. Strong and successful people are not lazy, do not criticize others, do not seek work balance and personal life. At the same time, they are often calm, balanced and completely in control of their lives. Norwegian economist, popular motivational speaker, former special forces soldier and business expert Erik Bertrand Larssen in the book “Now! Seize the Moment - It's All You've Got, published by Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, explains what habits are holding you back from business success and how to change them. Inc. publishes an excerpt with abbreviations.

Self pity

If the company you work for is experiencing... hard times, and your salary is reduced if you hear bad reviews about a project you participated in, if you are told that your son calls names and fights with classmates, if you receive bad rating according to the results of the group task, it is very easy to blame anyone but yourself for this, and in addition begin to feel sorry for yourself. It's extremely easy. But people who are truly successful don't give up responsibility when things go wrong. As soon as you start to find out who is to blame for everything and what prevented you, you become weaker.

Sometimes self-pity is justified, such as when you feel that your efforts have failed to make a difference. A sad event occurred that you could not influence, and you are tormented by a feeling of injustice. I know I'm going to be harsh here, but I still think it's important, and I have to say it this way: self-pity weakens your inner strength, no matter the circumstances, no matter how you justify it to yourself. Your motive doesn't matter because it shouldn't occupy your thoughts at all. I am sure that it is impossible to never fall into the trap of self-pity, and even this has happened to me more than once, but there are people who, even in extremely difficult situations, manage to avoid it. You can move forward. The first step seems very simple: just realize that self-pity does not help you.

Think about this: if you failed, then you were brave. You dared to believe in something good for yourself or other people. They believed in their skills and strengths and tried to achieve something that they could really be proud of. Think about it: the reason for the difficulties you are experiencing now is because you dared to do something before. It’s a good idea to make this adjustment to your habitual way of thinking to combat negative attitudes. If you didn't get the job you applied for, if your girlfriend left you, if you lost in football or didn't get into drama school, then you were brave enough from the very beginning and took a position from which there is room to fall. And that's worth something, isn't it?

When they come Hard times, you get an excellent opportunity to find out what kind of dough you are made of. The peaks would not be called peaks if there were no valleys between them. From the low valley, the climb to the top that you will someday make seems even more impressive. Even if you don't make it to the top, it's still better to at least try than to just sit in the valley and feel sorry for yourself. Trying to change something makes you feel better and learn something new.

Who is Erik Larssen

speakers from Europe. He was invited to trainings by Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group and oil giant Statoil. In the past, Larssen served in special forces, participating in operations in the Balkans and Afghanistan. Based on his military experience, Eric developed a motivational program. In the lecture “Become the Best Version of Yourself,” Eric will talk in detail about how to get through Hell Week and come out of it renewed. September 24 lecture by Erik Larsen at Crocus City Hall.

Nagging

According to my observations, people who achieve success, be they artists, athletes or businesswomen, extremely rarely whine and complain. My main argument for not complaining is that it weakens you. They create negative energy. There are people who constantly complain. One might say that they become virtuosos in this matter. They even feel stronger when they complain because they are used to defending their negative view of the world. But this does not strengthen inner strength. Complaining about taxes and coworkers, the weather, and the market is destructive. Whining does not move you forward, does not develop you as a person. Complaints are a kind of denial of responsibility. While some are trying to figure out what to do, looking for a way out of the situation, others choose the easy way: they distance themselves, blaming someone else for everything, or refuse responsibility. But it is you who must decide how to cope with the challenges that life puts before you. The best way is not to complain.

You can be more conscious of your thoughts and words in your daily life. It's okay to feel and admit, "Yes, I'm complaining a little right now." But then you have to ask yourself: “Can I see something positive in this situation?” This does not mean that you should turn a blind eye to troubles, falsely rejoice, or forget about rationality, situation analysis, and a critical approach. This means that complaining does not achieve anything constructive.

Criticism

Why do you need to give up negative statements, stop looking for flaws and looking out for what is wrong with other people? Mainly because it leaves a negative imprint on yourself. People who criticize others, badmouth everyone they see on TV, speak negatively about everything they see on the Internet, and make derogatory comments at school or at work are not as happy and satisfied with themselves as they could be. The habit of criticizing and discussing people behind their back takes the place of other habits that can bring much more benefit to you and others. There are many more interesting things to do than criticism. You can make a decision and stop judging others even mentally - and this brings us to mine main idea: By stopping criticizing others, you can increase your inner strength. When you rise above the habit of criticizing, you are filled with something that gives you strength. Make it a rule and make it a long-term goal to stop criticizing others. At all! Of course, you can argue that it's worth allowing yourself a little from time to time, but it's quite difficult to determine where “a little” ends, so it's better to give up this habit altogether.

Envy

Few people will admit to actually feeling envious: a flippant "Oh, I'm so jealous of you" usually means that you think that person is extremely lucky or smart. And yet we have a whole range of feelings inside us and throughout our lives we experience a wide variety of emotions. Therefore, it is important to be honest with yourself here. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to become a better person and find inner strength. The best of us do not envy and understand more easily than others where development potential lies. They find exactly those areas in which they can develop. It is highly appropriate to envy this quality.

The next time you see admirable qualities in another person: nobility, skill, generosity, generosity, benevolence - do not envy. Get inspired. Tell yourself: here is a person who sets an example for me, and I will try to be like him. You can prepare in advance - it's quite effective method. Before you go to work, a party, dinner, or any other event where you will interact with people, you may decide to find someone who will inspire you. If someone tells a story in a company, and you think it’s all bragging, then you are overcome by envy, even if only for a short time. If a friend tells you in a happy, upbeat tone that things are going really well at work, that she got a raise, or that she had a fantastic day with her boyfriend, try making her feel even more joyful instead of talking back about her feelings. a loved one, your salary and your day at work. Ask her to tell you more about her experiences: why, how, what made this day so extraordinary? This way you will give her something. You consciously give and receive inspiration in return and gain a better understanding of what made her so happy. Do you really want to envy her? If you are jealous, it means you don't think she deserves this happiness. When you think about it, you will realize that envy does not bring anything positive. Because you feel sorry for your friend's happiness.

Another way to increase your chances of being inspired is when other people express envy. If someone speaks disparagingly about another person who has achieved success in a particular field, if you hear someone gossiping about colleagues behind their back, or see someone who has achieved success on TV, say something positive that Something inspiring – both for yourself and for those who listen to you.

Envy is a bad thing. It weakens your inner strength. Sometimes the feeling of injustice is justified: we all experience unfair treatment sometimes. But envy is a petty feeling. The best people are inspired, not jealous.

Laziness

If you are used to being lazy for a long time, it will be very difficult for you to find inner strength. Laziness is a huge threat to you, your family and society as a whole. Of course, from time to time we all indulge to a greater or lesser extent in the terrible vice of laziness. But there are many shades and nuances here. There is a difference between an ingrained habit of laziness and a lack of motivation in a particular period. One day you are able to work in emergency mode, the next you only need one small spark. We all have those moments when we put off doing things we should do, and all it takes is a little self-pity and a couple of weak excuses. The neighbor of idleness and cousin of laziness is called procrastination - that is, the endless putting off of things for later. We all have friends and relatives who constantly come uninvited. They usually appear at the most inopportune moments, for example, when you think it’s time to pay that bill, unpack the dishwasher, call a relative you haven’t talked to for a long time, write a long letter to a client that should have been sent a long time ago, rehearse a lecture for next week, speech or presentation, start studying for an exam at the beginning of the semester - or go to the gym in the evening instead of watching TV.

To learn to “just do your thing” and procrastinate less, you can devote one day or one week (let’s call it hell week) looking for confirmation that everything is actually not so bad. One thing I have learned the hard way over the past 2 years is that many people are afraid of change because they are afraid of losing something in the future. They are afraid that the changes will be irreversible. Good way to cope with this fear - to say: “Or maybe we should just try? At least for a little while. And if you don’t like it, then you can go back to your old life.”

Stress

If you realize that you are starting to get nervous, you may well want to take some steps to combat stress right away. Plus, stress can be prevented. If two people find themselves in the same difficult life situation, one of them will be able to cope with the test with stoic calm, while the other will experience enormous stress. It's not about your innate character traits: your attitude towards stress can be changed through training, you can learn to prepare for stress and cope with it successfully.

If you want to get rid of stress, you must first believe that it is possible - that you are able to cut off the feeling of stress from your daily life. If a samurai warrior whose life is in danger can do it, then so can you. If Lise from Trondheim, who has a full-time job, four children and a seriously ill husband, can do it, then so can you. If a top athlete who has trained for 8 years to break 10 seconds in the Olympic 100m final can do it, then so can you.

To get rid of stress, it is first important to realize that you actually experience it, constantly or periodically. It is impossible to get rid of what is not recognized. You will then gradually learn to recognize it in advance and be able to think and act in ways that minimize or eliminate it entirely. By increasing your awareness in this way, you will already have done half the job.

Plan. Stress, procrastination and order are naturally closely linked. After all, you are not nervous about what you have already done - you are worried about what you have not done. You must be able to manage your time and create to-do lists. Stress comes mainly from not being in control of your tasks and actions.

The samurai must fight the person who is in front of him. It's unlikely he'll have much luck if he worries about other enemies that will attack next, or how he'll get home. After you have put the most important task and started to implement it, concentrate only on this task. Once you're done with it, you can think about the next one. Doing several things at the same time is simply impossible.

Think about the worst. If you're nervous about making a mistake, try imagining the worst-case scenario. Can you continue to live with this? What will you do in this case? As a rule, it turns out that everything is not so bad. You can totally live with it and move on. Having weighed the situation in this way, you return to the thought of what you should do. You might be able to take comfort in the newfound knowledge that the worst-case scenario isn't really that bad. Do you remember what you were nervous about last week? Or 3 years ago? We tend to get stressed over little things. Demand more from yourself, be better, do your best, but don't be nervous. Be calm.

Striving for balance

I don't believe in balance. I believe in the accrual method. I believe that at different stages of your life, you must realize that you will not achieve everything, master everything, or learn how to do everything equally great. If you realize this, you will feel calmer. You will become less tormented by remorse, less nervous and feel inferior. Many people do this and are even admired by everyone: rock stars, top athletes, artists. Don't think about balance - think that in this particular period of life you will be a great student, father, businessman, lover, friend, manager, carpenter, job seeker, boss, colleague, cook, performer or king. You can choose any role, but you cannot be everything at once. Make extreme choices because they will bring you more joy and inner strength.

I understand that when it comes to priorities, you can feel a little scared. What will I have to give up? What will disobedience cost me? social norms and expectations? In this case, my advice: try a temporary solution. After a while, you will be able to ask yourself: Am I getting something now that I wasn’t getting before? A trial period will not do any harm, but it can lead to fantastic results. More inner strength, which in turn gives you the ability to focus on what is happening here and now.

You should give the highest priority to what matters most to you, but it's not always easy to determine what that is. By the way, one businessman who was worried about not spending enough time with his children simply gave his children a higher priority, and this gave him confidence, inner peace and a sense of control. By focusing on his work, he no longer felt remorse and gradually began to notice that he was more efficient at work. Thus, the situation turned out to be a triple win: for the children, for him and for the company.

Selfishness

Let's do a little thought experiment. If you think about yourself a little less for a few days, how will you feel? If you worry less about how other people perceive you and what they think of you? If you think less about your own benefit, but at the same time you do not do good to others, what will happen then? What if you complimented people more often, donated money, smiled, gave people more support and understanding without expecting anything in return? If you inspire and motivate others more than before. How will you feel? One thing is for sure: people who receive something from you will be happy, their mood will improve - and isn’t that wonderful in itself? Maybe someone will be grateful to you. In any case, you will be pleased with this. One could say that our egoism motivates us to give, but this is an uninteresting way of putting the question: if you get positive feelings when you give something to people, this does not devalue your good deeds.

Push the boundaries of your capabilities! Buy the book “Without Self-Pity”, Erik Larssen:

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Many people know that feeling when you want to achieve more, conquer new horizons, but you doubt your abilities. It seems that cherished goal it is not at all difficult to achieve, but for unclear reasons there is a lack of motivation and confidence that what we have planned will work out.

Is there any way to influence your own consciousness, to tune yourself into right thoughts and not allow doubts to intrude on them? Is it possible to learn to motivate yourself to achieve your cherished goals, throwing away any worries and fears? It is possible and necessary. Norwegian author Erik Larsen knows how to learn this, which he tells readers about in his book “Without Self-Pity. Push your limits."

About the book

ISBN 978-5-00057-774-5

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In his new book, Without Self-Pity, Eric Bertrand Larssen shares the secrets of his own method, which has worked successfully for many years and has helped many people achieve their goals. “No Self-Pity” is not the kind of book that offers to make millions quickly. She talks about how any ordinary person, regardless of occupation or innate talents, can become outstanding.

The first thing the author does is force the reader to look at his own life from the outside. What are your core values? What do you want to achieve in the next year, two or five years? These questions can relate to any area of ​​your life: where you want to live, what car to drive, what company to work for and what position to hold. Or maybe you want to achieve high results in sports, become a famous respected author or a successful businessman?

In order to clearly set goals and take the right steps to achieve them, you must know exactly your life values and understand the most important needs. According to Erik Larsen, a well-set goal can inspire, evoke the most intense feelings and keep you motivated. Thus, it will help you focus your attention, direct your energy in the right direction, and adjust your every action in order to achieve it. This is largely the subject of Eric Bertrand’s book “Without Self-Pity,” a review of which you are reading now.

“Any thought about a correctly set goal should cause positive emotions. Good goal motivates and pushes to make the best decisions every day. It allows you to discard everything unnecessary and go towards your dream” (Eric Bertrand Larssen)

The author is confident that every person has every opportunity not to go with the flow all his life, humbly accepting everything that happens as a given, but to consciously build the life of his dreams. Eric Bertrand Larsen's book "Without Self-Pity" is a true guide for those who want to take charge of their future. own control and move from vague dreams to specific goals.

about the author

Author of the book "Without Self-Pity" Larssen Eric Bertrand(in another spelling - Larsen) – trainer personal growth, which is extremely popular and has earned recognition in Norway and around the world. Known as the author of two amazing bestsellers, translated into many languages, and as a motivational speaker, training Norwegian athletes and world celebrities.

Erik Larssen has extensive experience working with British special forces and the Navy SEALs, having served for some time as a paratrooper in the military. special purpose Norway. Later, after graduating from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business and several years of successful work in the development of well-known companies, the author founded his own organization, Bertrand Ltd.