• You have no idea how good freedom feels until you expect to lose it.

• In my mind, I was already three years behind, and I couldn’t stomach the thought of taking four more years to graduate.

• Those who knew me thought I’d gone insane, but they couldn’t see into my heart. I was 100 percent committed, and I knew that nothing could stop me from achieving this goal.

• Over the next several years, I read hundreds of books and listened to dozens of audio programs on a diverse selection of personal development topics, including psychology, motivation, success, productivity, career development, problem solving, health, wealth, conscious living, spirituality, meditation, and more.

• Unfortunately, these experts often disagree with each other. Some people recommend a high-protein diet; others recommend high carb. Some say you can achieve success through hard work and self-discipline; others advise letting go and allowing God or the universe to handle the details. Some experts encourage you to change; others say you should accept yourself as you are. If you try to incorporate all these different ideas into your life, you’ll end up with a fragmented, incongruent mess.

• Intelligence is alignment with the principles of truth, love, and power.

• You can’t take shortcuts through the land of make-believe. Your first commitment must be to discover and accept new truths, no matter how difficult or unpleasant the consequences may be.

• The closest you’ll get to perfection will be to enjoy the experience of lifelong growth, including all its temporary flaws.

• The closer your internal model of reality matches actual reality, the more capable you become. Greater accuracy means greater fitness for life as a human being. With an accurate map, you’re more likely to make sound decisions that will take you in the direction of your desires. With an inaccurate map, you’re more likely to experience setbacks and frustration.

• So you have two basic options: deny the unpredictability of life and create your own false sense of security, or accept the vagaries of life and learn to live with them. In the first case, you’re drawing your map of reality the way you want it to be, regardless of what the actual terrain looks like. In the second case, you’re striving to make your map as accurate as possible, even though you may dislike how it looks. The second option is better.

• The more you expose yourself to mainstream media such as television, the more skewed your mental model of reality becomes.

• A large part of conscious growth involves identifying and purging false beliefs. Do your best to remain open to fresh ideas and input, and challenge your assumptions when you suspect you may be clinging to falsehood.

• Secondary gain is a common problem that occurs when you temporarily benefit (gain) by embracing falsehood. For example, you may tell a lie at work in order to avoid being fired, you may deny your relationship problems in order to preserve the peace, or you may eat unhealthy food for the sake of convenience.

• Distancing yourself from the truth is never a wise long-term decision. It stems from a lack of acceptance of your own predictions and a refusal to deal with them openly and honestly.

• When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf, And the world makes you King for a day, Then go to the mirror and look at yourself, And see what that guy has to say. For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife, Who judgement upon you must pass. The feller whose verdict counts most in your life Is the guy staring back from the glass. He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest, For he’s with you clear up to the end, And you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test If the guy in the glass is your friend. You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum, And think you’re a wonderful guy, But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum If you can’t look him straight in the eye. You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years, And get pats on the back as you pass, But your final reward will be heartaches and tears If you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.

• However, due to the large volume of personal information I’ve shared online, many consider me a close friend because they know so much about me, so they write to me from the perspective that we already share a bond of love. In their very first message to me, many people will tell me things about themselves they won’t even share with their spouses. In their minds, they’ve already experienced such a strong communion with me over a period of months or years that they feel comfortable discussing their most private matters. Of course I do my best to honor such connections in the loving spirit in which they’re offered.