“Mathematics is the language through which God has written the universe.”
“The purpose of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple.”
Alexander Grothendieck, “the Einstein of mathematics”
Although it’s our natural instinct, it doesn’t help when we try to make a complicated problem simple by just ignoring parts of it. What we ignore may be of critical importance. The true underlying structure may be complex but once we understand the whole picture we reach simplicity.
True progress comes from understanding the deeper structure of your challenges. Understanding needs time, self-love and diversity of experience.
Imagine any self-help advice as a mathematical formula
Here are the key variables:
- I (Intuition): What are the chances that the advice is understood?
- M (Motivation): What are the chances that the advice is followed?
- P (Progress): How much short term progress does it bring?
- A (Alignment): What is the long term won by aligning our direction with our values?
- C (Conservation): What are the odds that any progress reverts back to where we were?
↓ - T (Transformation)
The transformation achieved with the advice (T) is a result of the following formula: I*M*(P+A)/C = T
This formula measures the IMPACT of any self-help content.
The usual story is we read/listen, it sounds right (I) and then we just… don’t do it (M) or we do it for a short time and then we’re back at square one (C).
Why don’t podcasts and books mostly work in regard to M and C? Why does it feel hard to make progress and easy to lose it?
We think the problems with M and C really start with I. For a concept to truly resonate, it needs to go deeper. It must touch our identity and core values, to become part of our intuition. I is really a spectrum. I isn’t just about comprehension, it’s about creating a deep, personal feel.
We must accept that our current words are not the best to intuitively describe what lacks most in self-help (I, M and C). There are many concepts in I Grow Younger that we have to define first because despite their huge importance, there are no established definitions for them in our language, or they use confusing vocabulary.
If we feel stuck in self-understanding, self-growth and motivation, we need simpler principles to build our intuition on (A).
The resulting model is intentionally broad and intuitive. It’s designed to be easily understood and applied differently by each individual. In fact the building blocks are simple and the focus is on their relations. This reflects the interconnected nature of life itself, but avoids unnecessary complexity. The core concepts are so fundamental that even a child could grasp them.
Reality is a flow in time and we needed a new structure and new terms (I) to find simple principles in the complexity.
The new concepts we need for proper self-help
We separate the processes in your head and everything in the real world into two categories and never mix them up – The Game of Self and The Game of Life. This principle is all over popular books and videos. What is missing is its application in areas like Money or Love or the Hidden fear of being a bad person.
We ask where do humans struggle the most? Changing and fighting Inertia. When is self-initiated change possible? Only when we have the freedom to consider it, the environment to stimulate it and the drive to relentlessly pursue it.
Self-help requires different approaches and skills in long, mid and short term
We make Long Term Freedom our success-measuring stick for growth. This is our long term vision and our Why. It helps us make the big choices.
We shape our environment with our choices. When they are Freedom-expanding ones like good Education, being an Entrepreneur, improving Time Management and understanding Structure, Balance and Numbers, we build the best environment for happiness and success. This is our mid-term vision and our What.
We prioritize our drive (which we call “Hunter mode“) as our main tool in increasing our chances for growth in all of this. If every tiny next action is a “Hunter move”, we overcome inertia, gain more experience in a short time, resulting in deeper intuition and creative and financial freedom with which we can achieve anything in life. This should direct in the very short term our choices and is our How.
