The Switch

"Do your own thinking on all occasions. The fact that human beings are given complete control over nothing save the power to think their own thoughts is laden with significance."

In episode 2, we recap the exercise from last week (getting an overview of the book) and dive into a discussion on the first in our 11-principle series. We discuss the what, how, and why of thinking for yourself, and bring in some other subjects in philosophy and psychology. We present the following exercise:

Start to keep a journal of your thoughts and beliefs. Use the following to evaluate whether the thoughts are your own:

Valence: are these thoughts good or bad? Preferred or dispreferred?

Value: Does this thought deliver value to me. Does it make me amenable to someone else's will?

Source: where did this thought come from? Is the source reliable?

Counterfactual: If this thought was not true, (how) would I know? Would I still believe it?

“Napoleon Hill wrote this book in 1938, just after publication of his all-time bestseller, Think and Grow Rich. This powerful tale had never been published (until 2010 — 72 years later!), considered too controversial by his family and friends. Using his legendary ability to get to the root of human potential, Napoleon Hill digs deep to identify the greatest obstacles we face in reaching personal goals: fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy, as tools of the Devil. These hidden methods of control can lead us to ruin, and Hill reveals the seven principles of good that will allow us to triumph over them and succeed.”

The topics we will cover over these 11 weeks:

"Do your own thinking on all occasions. The fact that human beings are given complete control over nothing save the power to think their own thoughts is laden with significance."

"Decide definitely what you want from life; then create a plan for attaining it and be willing to sacrifice everything else, if necessary, rather than accept permanent defeat."

"Analyze temporary defeat, no matter of what nature or cause, and extract from it the seed of an equivalent advantage."

"Be willing to render useful service equivalent to the value of all material things you demand of life, and render the service first."

"Recognize that your brain is a receiving set that can be attuned to receive communications from the universal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence, to help you transmute your desires into their physical equivalent."

"Recognize that your greatest asset is time, the only thing which you own outright, and the one thing which can be shaped into whatever material things you want. Budget your time so none of it is wasted."

"Recognize the truth that fear generally is a filler with which the Devil occupies the unused portion of your mind. It is only a state of mind which you can control by filling the space it occupies with faith in your ability to make life provide you with whatever you demand of it."

"When you pray, do not beg! Demand what you want and insist upon getting exactly that, with no substitutes."

"Recognize that life is a cruel taskmaster and that either you matter or it masters you. There is no half-way or compromising point. Never accept from life anything you do not want. If that which you do not want is temporarily forced upon you, you can refuse, in your own mind, to accept it and it will make way for the thing you do want."

"Remember that your dominating thoughts attract, through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route, their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon."

Final: "Be definite in everything you do and never leave unfinished thoughts in the mind. Form the habit of reaching definite decisions on all subjects."

This episode marks the beginning of our Outwitting the Devil series. This series will, hopefully, help us all make a switch of a new kind. Instead of simply focusing on introducing new ideas and concepts, we will be taking some time to work on something that affects us all at our core: our very own habits and behaviors. This will be an opportunity for us all to apply many of the ideas we have studied over time, including many of the ideas on The Switch. The skills we will practice during these next few weeks have the potential to transform each of our lives permanently.

We begin our series based on Napoleon Hill’s Outwitting the Devil by talking about the book and getting an overview of the ideas we’ll be working with. This will be the only week in which we’ll primarily discuss chapters, sections, passages, etc. in a systematic way. For the rest of this series, you’re welcome to continue reading or re-reading the book as you like, but it may be more important to focus on the exercises and extra reading.

Week 1 Exercise: Inspectional/pre-reading OWD. Go through chapter headers, summaries, articles, anything you can to get the whole picture of the book. If you are someone that can read the book all in one go, read it this week without stopping to re-read or take notes. Otherwise, find a summary of the whole book and read that. Get in as many wholes as possible. If it’s too big, look for a less-dense whole.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outwitting_the_Devil

https://fourminutebooks.com/outwitting-the-devil-summary/

https://blog.12min.com/outwitting-the-devil-pdf-summary/

https://youtu.be/E4AZKVmgLQc

Finally, come up with some questions about applying these ideas to your life.

“Napoleon Hill wrote this book in 1938, just after publication of his all-time bestseller, Think and Grow Rich. This powerful tale had never been published (until 2010 — 72 years later!), considered too controversial by his family and friends. Using his legendary ability to get to the root of human potential, Napoleon Hill digs deep to identify the greatest obstacles we face in reaching personal goals: fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy, as tools of the Devil. These hidden methods of control can lead us to ruin, and Hill reveals the seven principles of good that will allow us to triumph over them and succeed.”

The topics we will cover over the next 11 weeks:

"Do your own thinking on all occasions. The fact that human beings are given complete control over nothing save the power to think their own thoughts is laden with significance."

"Decide definitely what you want from life; then create a plan for attaining it and be willing to sacrifice everything else, if necessary, rather than accept permanent defeat."

"Analyze temporary defeat, no matter of what nature or cause, and extract from it the seed of an equivalent advantage."

"Be willing to render useful service equivalent to the value of all material things you demand of life, and render the service first."

"Recognize that your brain is a receiving set that can be attuned to receive communications from the universal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence, to help you transmute your desires into their physical equivalent."

"Recognize that your greatest asset is time, the only thing which you own outright, and the one thing which can be shaped into whatever material things you want. Budget your time so none of it is wasted."

"Recognize the truth that fear generally is a filler with which the Devil occupies the unused portion of your mind. It is only a state of mind which you can control by filling the space it occupies with faith in your ability to make life provide you with whatever you demand of it."

"When you pray, do not beg! Demand what you want and insist upon getting exactly that, with no substitutes."

"Recognize that life is a cruel taskmaster and that either you matter or it masters you. There is no half-way or compromising point. Never accept from life anything you do not want. If that which you do not want is temporarily forced upon you, you can refuse, in your own mind, to accept it and it will make way for the thing you do want."

"Remember that your dominating thoughts attract, through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route, their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon."

Final: "Be definite in everything you do and never leave unfinished thoughts in the mind. Form the habit of reaching definite decisions on all subjects."

In this episode, Chase & Alex interview Ian Stone of Simpawtico Dog Training. We cover a bit of Ian’s story, how he started his company and YouTube channel, and his philosophy about dog training. We talk about the relationships people have with dogs and some misconceptions about dog training. We also cover a bit of dog psychology and its parallels to human psychology. As always, we get some great questions from the audience at the end!

In this episode, Chase & Alex interview Derek Muller, the creator of the YouTube channel Veritasium. For 10 years, Veritasium has been creative science videos that explain ideas - from the very complex to the deceptively simple - in ways that keep audience members from around the world engaged, entertained, educated, and enthusiastic. In this conversation, we talk with Derek about his life story, how he started Veritasium, some of his defining moments, and some of his latest ideas including the roles of luck vs skill in success.

In this episode, Chase & Alex interview Chase’s father, Stacy Harris - Stacy is a software architect by day, mathematician by night. In this episode, we try to address the following: Why doesn’t the study of mathematics get the same reputation for enthusiastic joy as other subjects? Why is math taught as a subject to slog through and get over with? Math is everywhere, and a deeper understanding is both easily available and eye-opening, but many resist. Why? What can we see about the world simply by opening our minds to the possibility that mathematical ideas can be as interesting and engaging as art, music, science, history, literature, or any other subject?

In this episode, Chase & Alex interview Dr. Mike Simpson. Mike Simpson has served over three decades in the military as an Airborne Ranger, a Special Forces Operator, and finally as a Doctor of Emergency Medicine assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). In our conversation we talk about his career in special operations, his experience in medicine, the differences between optimizing for performance vs. optimizing for longevity, what it takes to have a warrior’s mindset, political divisiveness, and more.

The BONUS discussion from our Audience Episode. Highly recommended to check out 52 Living Ideas for a few sessions before listening to this episode.

In this episode, Chase & Alex do a quick State-Of-The-Switch update, followed by 6 amazing Switch stories from members of our live audience. We hear from Shelley “I will not allow fear to dictate my destiny.” From Stacy on how one person believing in him gave him permission to succeed. From Lisa on impressions of people and doing our own evaluation. From Dave on divorce recovery. From Joe on Stoicism. From Debra on world travel.

Our conversation this episode is with returning guest Shrikant Rangnekar. He’s had a switch of his own, recently - a new idea he is developing that uses 4 systems to describe, at a macro-level, the human condition. We discuss the idea, his pictoral representation, how he came to develop it, its implications for answering questions about human beings, and some of the areas in which it applies.

The 4 Systems Image: http://www.mojofilter.media/4-systems-image

In this episode, we talk Ray Batra. Ray is the founder of Shift_Up, a startup in Detroit that has pioneered the Learning Gym - a place where that uses mentorship, guidance, and community to facilitate the online learning experience. In our interview, we talk with Ray about his journey through life, the principles behind Shift_Up, and the models they use to create a learning experience. We hit subjects like human values and human flourishing, the value and focus of education, differing models of education, the difference in experience between non- and for-profit business, burnout and professional drive, helping underserved communities, and the macro and micro problems with current online learning platforms. We even take a few audience questions at the end.