#107 - How To Contain Your Emotions

This episode is a breakdown of some of the topics discussed in my third book, "Yes I'm Fine, Just Thinking". A pertinent snippet reads:

"We must cultivate self-awareness but if we do not integrate what we learn, we will remain depressed, anxious, unsure, existentially confused and ruminant. We must apply what we learn about ourselves and the world we inhabit swiftly and forthrightly—stumbling and failing inevitably—so that personal growth may ensue. Many of us recognise the importance of knowledge, both within and without, but rarely are we taught how to integrate it, thereby consolidating intelligence into wisdom. As Jim Kwik so eloquently states: “Knowledge is not power—it has the potential to be power, but only becomes power when you apply and use it. Remember: unless you apply what you’re learning, your reading will be shelf-help over self-help. Nothing works unless you work, everything changes when you act.” It is, as Kwik alludes to, all well and good to read a book, engage in debate, meditate, entertain periods of isolation and solitude, journal, speak with a therapist, digest psychoactive chemicals and dispense with hobbies and routines but if we do not apply what we learn, we will not change. By definition, action precedes change. Thinking, alone, will get us nowhere, despite the fact that thinking is by all means a necessary re-navigation tool, both evolutionarily and psychologically speaking. But we must remember that thoughts do not determine identity. Actions determine identity because to act means to value one thought—or many—over another at any given time."