Blog
Goals versus systems(DW# 841)
Nov 16, 2020
Here is your daily dose of Wisdom for Living Your Best Self!Benjamin Franklin set up a system whereby he continued to work on his endeavour of achieving moral perfection.
The way his project was set up reminded me of what Scott Adams says in How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big.
How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big is a great book with lots of wisdom which we shall perhaps explore at another time.
For today, I want to focus on what he says about setting up systems rather than focusing on goals:
"You could word-glue goals and systems together if you chose. All I’m suggesting is that thinking of goals and systems as different concepts has power. Goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous presuccess failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things never work out. Systems people succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do. The goals people are fighting the feeling of...
Know what you are aiming(DW #827)
Oct 27, 2020
This week, we are exploring Ben Franklin’s program for self growth.
The first thing that he did was he made a list of virtues that he wanted to grow within himself.
While the words that he used may be a slightly outdated, the virtues themselves are mostly timeless and we could benefit from adopting many of them in our lives.
Here is Franklin’s list of 13 virtues:
· Temperance: moderating eating and drinking
· Silence: speaking only when it benefits others or yourself
· Order: letting everything have its place
· Resolution: resolving to do what you should; doing without fail what you resolve
· Frugality: being careful with money and resources; wasting nothing
· Industry: working hard but...
Being patient with the process(DW #812)
Oct 06, 2020
Once we shine the light of awareness on ourselves and confront what needs work, it is so tempting to want to fix things overnight. We may think, ok I got it. I need to work on my anger, my reactivity, my consistency, my emotional regulation, my tendency towards distraction . . . .etc. etc. etc. Now that I have recognized it and made an intention, it should be fixed right?
Nope. Sorry to tell you that it does not work that way.
Given that we have lived many years (or decades) with this kind of thinking or behaviour, it is unreasonable to expect that it will be easy to change. (Sometimes it is, but that is generally the exception and not the rule).
We need to remind ourselves that we need to go slow, progress step by step and above all, be patient with ourselves.
Why, you ask? What does patience have to do with this? Should I not be motivating myself with being strict with myself?
Here’s the thing: if you get lost in self-criticism and...
Human potential(DW#804)
Sep 24, 2020
The one who acts with Ihsan is called a muhsin (the one who does excellent things, beautiful things, acts with excellence, virtue and grace).
In the Quran, we are told that He, God is the first Muhsin, that He is Ahsanul Khaliqeen, the best of creators, and that He is the one
Who made good everything that He has created [Holy Quran 32:7]
So God’s doing the beautiful began with creation itself, the crowing glory of creation is the human being, made in God’s most beautiful form.
In Sura Teen [The Fig], the Quran says:
Truly We created man in the most beautiful stature[Holy Quran 95:4]
Scholars remind us that this verse is one of the most emphatic affirmations of humanity’s exalted status, before which the angels were ordered to bow down. God declares in 38: 72:
I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit.
Here man is taken to mean all of humanity, male and female, believer and...
Can relationships heal after gaslighting has... (DW# 786)
Jun 28, 2020
We have been discussing gaslighting and its significant impact on a relationship.
The question we will explore today is this: is it possible for a relationship where there has been gaslighting to heal and become healthy?
Of course, it is not a good idea to write anyone off since people can surprise us and change in healthy ways when we do not expect them to.
However, we also need to be realistic about what is probable.
In relationships where gaslighting is a pattern, or used as a tool of emotional and characterological abuse, change is only possible if the perpetrator is open to intensive and long-term individual therapy. This requires some level of self awareness or awakening on the part of the perpetrator to realize their behavior has damaged another human being’s psychological wellbeing. Since abusers and perpetrators of gaslighting are rarely open to such treatment or to examining their own behavior and its impact, it is often up to the victim of gaslighting to seek...
Motivation matters (DW# 785)
Jun 26, 2020
We have been talking about gaslighting in relationships: that is saying or doing things which cause the person on the receiving end to start questioning their own perceptions, reality and even sanity.
There are various situations where another person may question our view of events or our perceptions and we need to remind ourselves to be careful about being quick to label something as gaslighting or writing the person off as a narcissist.
The first situation is more a matter of personality than of malign intentions. Some people are dismissive of things and attitudes of others as a matter of habit. So what we may think of as gaslighting may simply be a person’s argumentative nature, their air of superiority, or their judgmental tendency. Many high functioning and powerful individuals sometimes have a hard time practicing humility or knowing how to have egalitarian relationships. They may not intend harm on purpose and are often surprised when their partners get angry and hurt...
Why is gaslighting so harmful in relationships? (DW# 784)
Jun 25, 2020
Yesterday, we distinguished between two types of "gaslighting", one where there is intent to control, manipulate, and subjugate the other person compared to where the person doing the gaslighting is simply trying to save themselves from facing accountability.
Experts agree that even when gaslighting is done on a one-time basis and is not part of characterological abuse, it is still very harmful to relationships as it destroys trust between people.
Since trust is the very foundation of an intimate relationship, when this is destroyed, it makes it very challenging to repair. When someone discovers that they were gaslit, they are shocked and traumatized that someone they trusted has the ability to harm them in this way. The breaking of trust leads to not feeling safe in the relationship and often results in shrinking away and protecting oneself from being intimate or vulnerable in the relationship.
Can a relationship continue with this emotional distance and self-protection? Yes of...
What is “Gaslighting" (DW# 783)
Jun 24, 2020
Yesterday we started talking about a situation where you experience a major break of trust, hurt or betrayal from a trusted loved one or colleague and instead of apologizing, they actually deny any wrong doing on their part. And then they turn the blame on you by suggesting that the problem is in your head and not in their behaviour.
The psychological term for this is "Gaslighting".
The word Gaslighting comes from Gaslight, the 1944 Oscar winning film starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer. In the story, a husband (Boyer) tries to convince his new wife (Bergman) that she’s imagining things, in particular the occasional dimming of their home’s gas lights. (He was dimming the gaslights as part of his plan to rob her of some very valuable jewelry.) Over time, the wife, who trusts that her husband loves her and would never hurt her, believes his lies and starts to question her own perception of reality. What is so disturbing about this story is that there...
But I never did that (DW# 782)
Jun 23, 2020
[Before we go on to today’s message, I need to warn you that the content for the next few days may be challenging for some of us to read. And it needs to be addressed to provide support for many who are going through such challenges and of course to remind ourselves not to be such challenges for others!
Please feel free to skip this week if you find it triggering or not relevant!]
Yesterday we talked about how the process of healing and forgiveness for major betrayals takes time and effort.
The process begins with an honest acknowledgement from the person who has betrayed trust.
But what if that first step is not taken? What if the person who has betrayed your trust refuses to even admit that they did that which has hurt you? What if they deny the facts in face of the evidence? What if they accuse you of imagining things or being extra suspicious?
When I am working with people who are on the receiving end of such behaviour, there is...
When “I’m sorry” is simply not enough (DW# 781)
Jun 22, 2020
This week, we will are continuing our series on making and accepting apologies.
There are certain situations where even if you offer a sincere apology, it will not make things right.
There are certain situations where even if you offer a sincere apology, it will not make things right.
If the offending behaviour has been long standing, deeply hurtful or damaging, or involves a betrayal of trust, the process of forgiveness will take some time.
Any instance of lying, cheating, breaking a confidence, failing to defend or not prioritizing the relationship would count as a betrayal which weakens the fabric of intimacy and the relationship.
There are of course, actions which are much more significant in terms of causing lasting hurt. These are major betrayals.
Here are some specific examples of "common" major betrayals that come to mind (there may be others of course):
- Taking money out of someone’s bank account without their knowledge.
- Hiding your financial situation such as debt or savings, your immigration status, your health status, your...