Accepting oneself as imperfect and finding humor and grace in the process is the first step to self-improvement. The desire to be better often stems from a place of not feeling good enough, leading to internal resentment. Constantly striving for perfection can cause tension and inner conflict. Learning to accept oneself and let go of self-criticism is crucial in achieving peace and growth.
Visakan Veerasamy is a prolific thinker, writer & creator. As well as being the author of the books ‘Introspect’ and ‘Friendly Ambitious Nerd’, he is known for weaving huge, interconnected Twitter threads and for his mission to build “the greatest social graph of friendly, ambitious nerds that the world has ever seen.” Important Links:
Show Notes:
- The origins of Friendly Ambitious Nerd
- “The most heroic thing you can do is not hate yourself”
- Confronting the minotaur
- Introspection & Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Overriding human OS
- Humor is the cure
- How to demonstrate the power of humor
- Dealing with judgment & criticism
- Responding to requests for help
- Enforcing a no-assholes rule
- "Focus your time and energy on what you want to see more of”
- “School is bullshit”
- Question defaults & screw around
- MUCH more!
Books Mentioned:
- Friendly Ambitious Nerd; by Visakan Veerasamy
- Introspect; by Visakan Veerasamy
- The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr
- The Status Game: On Social Position and How We Use It; by Will Storr
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces; by Joseph Campbell
- Shantaram; by Gregory David Roberts
- The Art of War; by Sun Tzu
- The Tao Te Ching; by Laozi
- The Lord of the Rings; by J. R. R. Tolkien