What Irritates Me About Most “Experts” In Today’s World

Why I Have Honestly Stopped Following Most Of Them

Written by a human, for humans, always.

In my work...

I have had to do a lot of research.

Looking into human psychophysiology.

Understanding how leaders work best...

Or fail to accomplish their goals.

How business ecosystems are designed and the different cause-and-effect chains that lead to their rise and fall.

All of this and more, I have gone down so many different rabbit holes...

Just to gain a better understanding.

Along the way...

There have been many different individuals whom I have been told that I “need” to follow.

Their work.

Their methodologies.

Their successes.

At the beginning...

I did follow many of these different “experts” that I heard about.

I watched their videos.

Listened to their podcasts.

Read their books.

Subscribed to their newsletters.

Bought their courses.

Paid to get into rooms with them.

Along the way...

There was something that I began to see...

Again...

And Again...

That really began to irritate me about the vast majority of these “experts” in today’s world...

To the point where there are really few experts that I continue to follow...

And even among those I follow...

I often still have hesitations.

Do you want to know the one thing that irritates me about most “experts” in today’s world?

They will tell you about case studies...

Or individual accounts of success, they helped others attain...

While either completely ignoring...

Or deliberately hiding...

The number of accounts where their work was unsuccessful...

Unhelpful...

And indeed in some cases...

Even harmful.

There are two pieces of this problem that I frequently see together...

The Survivorship Bias...

And a complete lack of accountability for their overall results.

This is how it usually plays out...

These experts often highlight a small number of total individuals, groups, teams, or organizations they have had some level of success with...

Usually over a short period of time working with them...

Without ever paying attention to long-term results to see whether these individuals “continued” to keep their “successes”...

While simultaneously...

Failing to discuss or account for a significantly larger number of individuals, groups, teams, or organizations they have worked with...

Who did not have nearly the same level of success...

If they had “any” level of success at all...

Then, usually saying something to the effect of...

Those people never implemented the systems...

They did not do it correctly...

They did not have the right mindset...

The reason they failed had to do with something else that went wrong...

Reason given...

After reason given...

About how “those” results were not the “expert’s” fault.

Look...

I know that no expert is ever going to get 100% success...

But when you claim your systems “work”...

Yet only have a 20% success rate or less...

Which dramatically declines the longer you look at those you claim to “help”...

That is no longer a problem with others...

That points to problems with the work of the expert.

If you pay attention...

You will see this same pattern play out...

Even with “experts” who are considered “giants” in their fields...

Who have gigantic followings...

With testimonials that sound amazing.

Do you know the number of “experts” I have heard that I “had” to follow...

Who had virtually disappeared within a year?

There is a reason for that.

What they have to offer...

Usually is not worth as much as people believe...

And the “results” that are obtained...

If there are any at all...

Are short-lasting...

And most of the “success” stories have reverted within that same year period.

All while...

Those “experts” will continue to scream out to the world that it is not “their” fault...

That the problems exist with just about anything else that can be blamed.

There is no accountability from those...

“Experts”.

No apologies made.

No updates to their systems.

Not even further deep research for them to answer the questions they failed to provide.

They just keep going along...

Pretending like they walk on water...

When the “water” they walk upon is painted on the floor of a tiny room that they try to convince others is the ocean.

But what is perhaps most sad...

Is how many people actually end up believing that the tiny floor really is the ocean.

I’m not saying that we should beat ourselves up if we have fallen victim to these “experts”...

I know that I have throughout my life...

And to be fair...

Not all of these experts do this maliciously.

Some of them truly believe they are in the ocean...

Victims of industries whose standards and beliefs have dropped so dramatically...

That they actually do believe that these abysmal results are good...

Simply because they are “better than average”.

Let me paint a picture of how this works very often...

You may see the “industry average” as a 4% success rate...

And the expert in question has a 6% success rate...

Which means that their results are 50% better than the “industry average”.

50% better is surely greater...

Significantly better even...

But 6% is still objectively abysmal.

What becomes irritating with these experts for me, though...

Is that they do not question the “industry average”...

And they become vehemently defensive when it is questioned by anyone else.

They never stop to consider...

Whether their industry even “might” be wrong about what is possible.

They simply accept the current average as if it were the law of an uncaring god...

While actively preventing others from finding better pathways...

Saying that “this” is just how it is supposed to be...

Telling you that it is the uncaring god’s fault that it is this way...

And never questioning whether they have the responsibility to accept accountability for maintaining that broken status quo.

So...

This brings us to now...

What do we do about this?

Well...

If you are following someone who claims to be an “expert”...

Pay attention to see whether they accept responsibility for their failings...

Whether they fall into the Survivorship Bias of their own work...

And whether they are continuing to seek out ways to improve what they do, and are willing to discuss it.

Good experts are not afraid to discuss why they are not satisfied with the results they have gotten...

And are always looking for ways to question the current status quo.

If you believe yourself to be an “expert”...

How certain are you that you are not falling victim to a broken status quo?

Do you take your industry’s current results as undisputed divine law?

Or do you continue to question whether you might have things wrong?

If the people you work with and serve are not getting results...

Are you looking at “why” it is not happening?

Getting details about what is working or not?

For how long it works?

Whether things remained the same or if they changed?

If they did change...

Is there a piece of the puzzle you are missing?

What might that be?

Plus...

Are you even the right person to provide the help that is needed?

These are the types of questions that good experts will always be asking about their work...

And often...

They will find themselves to be wrong or missing something along the way.

I can tell you from my own experience of doing work with leaders...

That I have found many places where I believed that I had found the answers...

Or to discover...

That there was more that I was missing...

And I continue to find new answers the more I seek.

10 years of building my business...

And I have more questions today than I have answers...

Questions that have told me that I have been wrong before...

And I am certain that I will continue to find better answers in the future that will tell me that I was missing something today.

The world does need real experts...

But make sure that you look for and become...

A real expert.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

How Most People Have Failed With Their Content And Digital Presence Long Before They Realize It

What Your Audience Or Prospects Are Actually Looking For

Written by a human, for humans, always.

We live in an increasingly digital world.

If you are a leader or have a business...

There is a rapidly rising requirement to have some presence online.

A LinkedIn.

A blog.

A podcast.

Consistent posting.

White papers, research, badges, and other proofs of your abilities.

But it does not stop there...

Because, due to the rising amount of information that exists in the world...

There is also an increased call to put out more into the world.

Some of the recommendations that exist today...

Quite frankly, are insane.

I have seen some platforms where the recommendations have reached as high as a “minimum” of 7 posts per day.

The problem with all of this is...

There is only so much that even a team can do...

With effect.

This becomes the key to understand...

“With effect”.

There are many people who have their online presence...

But the reality is...

It really does not have an effect...

Not in what actually matters...

Not in meaningful results.

Sure...

You may have increases in likes, comments, or followers...

But unless you solely get paid on content...

(Which is an increasingly dangerous game with shadow bans, AI moderators, fewer pathways to real people in case of AI moderators getting things wrong, changes in algorithms that destroy businesses and creators, and more)

Then these metrics do not help you get real results.

They are “vanity metrics” with no real bearing on your success...

Indeed...

One thing that I have noticed with many people’s content and digital presences...

Is that they have failed long before they realize it.

How?

The question that you have to ask is...

What is your audience or your prospects actually looking for?

Many people believe that it is the content itself...

Which is what causes them to try to mass-produce content.

Wrong.

People do not really care about the content...

Especially...

If they can get similar content somewhere else.

In today’s world of AI content...

Where so many utilize the AI algorithms to design everything in their businesses...

The result is that everyone begins to appear remarkably the same...

Simply because AI is designed to become the average and attempt to replicate that average.

When everyone looks like a photocopy of each other that is just slightly off...

Your audience can no longer distinguish between “you” and everyone else...

You become another number in an endless game of numbers.

They will see something you made...

But it will become so unmemorable...

That they either will completely forget you existed in the first place...

Or worse...

They will do this funny psychological trick...

Where they hear/see/read something...

Forget where that it happened...

Then “magically”...

They will have a “brilliant idea” that they actually believe they came up with...

Which was simply your idea that they forgot came from you.

Ask any parent how this phenomenon works.

This is the problem that so many people face...

Their entire digital presence...

Is unremarkable.

Nothing about it stands out.

It is missing a key ingredient...

Themselves.

See...

What your audience or prospects are looking for...

Is not the content or the digital presence...

Not really.

What they are looking for is a real person who they believe can actually help them.

But the challenge...

Is that what most of them discover is so incredibly and disgustingly impersonal...

That they cannot help but doom-scroll themselves into oblivion.

I know both as someone with a digital presence “and” as a consumer.

I do not fall in love with brands or companies...

I fall in love with the people around those brands and companies.

I choose not to buy from companies...

Based on the people around those brands.

I have been a part of the endless-and-impersonal content engine...

And gotten no real results.

Do you want to know when I began to get real results with my work?

When I began to consistently write articles...

But not just any articles...

Articles where I put myself into them.

Where I put my anger and frustrations.

When I asked questions that I was personally interested in understanding and looking to find answers...

Not “someday”...

But in real time, as I was writing.

When I was writing about things that I had been learning...

Or was getting a painful reminder of...

Within the same week.

When I talked about the success that I was having in my life and career...

Or when I felt a righteous anger over how the world is operating.

When I was writing about the successes I was obtaining with real clients...

Helping them align their psychophysiology in such a way...

That they began to dominate in their work...

Becoming better leaders and operating teams that function with increasingly powerful results.

When I had clients...

Who were having not only a better career...

But also a significantly better life.

That was when my content and digital presence began to actually be impactful.

When I started to get real results with it.

See...

Your audience or prospects do not care about what you do...

Except for the fact that they may “need” that service...

But what you do does not build your career.

What people are looking for...

Is who you are.

What your beliefs are.

The values that drive you forward.

How you carry yourself in everything that you do.

Should you generally focus all of this around your work?

Yes.

But the work that you do, as long as you are good at it, is really just a tiny part of the equation...

And not what people are most interested in.

People do not really care about your online presence and content...

They care about what they actually need...

And they want to know that you are the type of person that they want to work with...

That they can know, like, and trust.

There is nothing they can learn about who you are from AI-generated content or mass-produced content...

Whether that content is formed as words on a page or read aloud as a script.

That is the problem so many people have...

Their entire “online identity”...

Is impersonal...

And that is why they have failed long before they realize it.

It takes time to build your online identity...

But for so many people...

That identity screeches...

Soulless.

If you want to reach people...

For whatever reason...

You need to show others who you actually are...

Not through your work...

Not through generic virtue-signalling...

But rather an in-depth revelation of who you are...

In your heart and soul...

Consistently.

There are many different ways to craft an identity online...

To accomplish and show others who you are...

But make sure...

It’s real.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Why Consciousness Cannot Simply Be Explained As A Preservation Mechanism

How Psychophysiology Proves This To Be A Fundamental Misunderstanding

Written by a human, for humans, always.

One of the things that has mystified generations...

Is human consciousness.

It has perplexed theologians...

Philosophers...

And today we continue to ask this more deeply as some individuals and organizations attempt to mimic consciousness in AI...

So far, unsuccessfully.

As I have said before, there is a “lot” of marketing around “sentience” and “conscious” machines...

But I have not seen a true example of it as of yet.

The best phrase I have heard to describe today’s AI is...

Pretend Intelligence.

But the question remains...

What is consciousness?

It becomes an important question to ask...

Because if you want to make AI into a truly conscious machine...

We need to actually comprehend what “conscious” means.

So, there have been more and more people who have sought to answer this question...

And there has been one version that I have been seeing more often.

Their claim...

Is that Consciousness is simply a preservation mechanism...

It is a form of “side effect” of the brain attempting to reduce entropy...

Aka disorder...

So that it can preserve itself.

I have seen different people go into different models of understanding the world...

From looking at Newtonian and Quantum Physics...

To going into the Free Energy Principle of neuroscience.

All of which are relevant to understanding aspects of consciousness...

All of which fail to explain what consciousness is...

Especially when you actually understand psychophysiology as a fuller picture.

How do I mean?

Well, a lot of these theories come from reductionist thinking...

Primarily focused on the brain and cause-and-effect functioning.

However...

This leads people, first, into the Brain Trap.

This is the challenge of falsely believing that all cognition exists solely in the brain.

Is the brain important?

Absolutely.

But it is only one of four cognition systems that we have in the body.

Yes, you heard this correctly.

We have “four” separate, but interdependent, systems in the body...

That all think.

They have individual goals...

They communicate back and forth...

But importantly...

They can supersede each other.

Yes...

The other cognition systems can, and frequently do, supersede what the brain desires...

And can actually pressure the brain to pursue their goals instead of the brain’s goals.

So if you are reducing your concept of “consciousness” to solely the functioning of the brain...

Then you will fail to understand consciousness.

Do things like the Free Energy Principle and Quantum Physics still apply and have relevance in understanding?

Yes.

But it is only a slice of the overall picture...

And if we go deeper still into psychophysiology...

We can also say, for a fact, that consciousness is not solely a Preservation Mechanism.

How?

When we look at what causes us to feel our absolute best as human beings.

See...

If consciousness was even “primarily” a preservation mechanism...

We would discover that when we meet the goal of preservation...

We would feel our best.

The better our preservation feels...

The better we would feel.

The problem?

This does not pan out in reality.

Is self-preservation a function of our consciousness?

Yes.

Is it important?

Yes.

But we do not feel our best “solely” by being successful at self-preservation.

In fact...

We have discovered that in many cases...

When we become “too good” at self-preservation...

It actually has detrimental health effects.

We could lock ourselves inside a room...

With 0% opportunities for harm...

Filled with all the food, drink, and supplies we would ever need to survive...

And do you know what would happen?

We would quickly become miserable.

We are surviving perfectly successfully...

But it does not feel good to us consciously.

We end up with problems like depression caused by loneliness...

As well as mental and physiological deterioration from boredom.

This is why animals in captivity actually require enrichment to survive.

Animals in captivity tend to live longer than animals in the wild...

If...

And only if...

They are not bored.

Even when they are perfectly tended to...

If they do not have engagement in their environment...

They will end up dying faster than animals in the wild.

The same is true for humans.

Then...

When we look at where we feel “best” as humans from a psychophysiological perspective...

We discover that we discover it in what is called Flow States.

But here is what is critical to understand...

Flow States...

Are not found...

In most preservation behavior.

In fact...

When you actually look at Flow States...

One of the behaviors that can cause us as humans to enter into them...

Is actually “anti-preservation”.

Putting ourselves, purposefully, into situations where we knowingly could perish.

If consciousness is purely a preservation mechanism...

Why would it reward purposefully going out of our way to put ourselves into life-threatening situations?

The answer...

Is that there is more to consciousness than preservation.

We can also see this in another behavior that we seek out as humans...

Creating different forms of art.

What does art have to do with preservation?

Nothing.

Yet, we still believe, inherently, that there is an importance to art.

We seek to create art.

We admire art.

We want to find deeper meaning in art.

Here, too...

People will go into artistic careers...

Knowing...

That it may be extremely difficult to survive doing in...

And...

People will utilize resources that are important for self-preservation...

But will utilize those resources toward artistic endeavors...

Knowing...

That they may, and in some cases, they are 100% sure, that they will not get “anything” back for their efforts that can be used toward preservation.

This is how, when you understand psychophysiology, we can be absolutely positive that consciousness is not “solely” a preservation mechanism.

There is a function of consciousness that seeks self-preservation...

But it does not explain the totality of consciousness.

Believing this is a fundamental misunderstanding of overly reductionistic thinking.

It is important to understand these aspects of consciousness...

They can help us see the overall picture more clearly...

But do not mistake the part for the whole.

There is a reason that consciousness has been a topic of fascination, debate, and wonder for millennia...

There are aspects that are difficult to understand.

Pieces that we see clearly...

Yet seem opposed to each other.

We may have a function...

That is important...

But does not satisfy what we seek and need as humans.

If we are going to solve the consciousness question...

We need to use reductionistic thinking to understand the pieces...

But then we need to expand outward from there to put the pieces together to get the full picture.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Why You’re Failing To Have The Success You Want As A Leader

Hint, It Has Nothing To Do With Your Abilities

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I have worked with leaders as a coach...

From starting entrepreneurs to within organizations with thousands of employees...

To being asked to become a United Nations Representative based on my ability to help leaders...

For 10 years now.

One thing that I have encountered...

Over and over again...

Is that so many individuals have “done” leadership development...

But...

It has not worked for them.

Not at a significant level.

Not to the heights that they believe they are capable of.

Indeed...

When you look at the statistics...

It is not surprising.

80% of leadership development completely fails...

With “limited” success the remainder of the time.

Why?

The vast majority of leadership development programs fall into two categories...

Skill Development Focus...

Or Psychological Focus.

Here is the thing...

For the vast majority of people I have worked with...

Neither of these is their problem.

They know what they are supposed to do in which situation...

They know the right types of things to say when...

They have the right mindset...

They have the capability to be excellent leaders...

Yet...

They fail to have the success they want as a leader.

The reason...

Is because neither their skills nor their psychology is the problem.

You can do all of these things...

Even do them well...

And still absolutely fail.

So then the question becomes...

Why are you continuing to fail as a leader?

This is the question that many have come to me asking...

Frustrated...

By all the money they have wasted.

I get it.

The leadership development industry itself is mostly in a silo...

Falling into repetition bias...

Convincing others that the methodologies work through that same bias...

While highlighting individual success...

Which they claim “proves” their methodologies...

But it is truly a consequence of survivorship bias...

And really, their examples are only exceptions to the rule.

However...

The numbers do not lie.

80% rate of complete failure.

So that is where my work really began...

Seeking to answer this question...

Which led me to become a Hall of Fame Leadership Coach.

So...

What is it that causes so many leaders to fail to have the success they want?

There are always going to be individual reasons...

Requiring coaching to navigate...

But these are the main reasons that I have found.

The first is burnout...

Which is impacting over 80% of the workforce.

This is the psychophysiological condition...

Where, based on the research...

Our Productivity Potential drops to 5% or less...

And yes...

We can and frequently do go into Negative Productivity.

The bigger problem is that while we are in burnout...

We actually cannot learn, master, and create habits of new skills or thinking patterns.

Our body literally loses the capacity to do it at any significant level.

Meaning...

That if you are currently in any level of burnout...

All the effort of learning most leadership development...

Will naturally fail.

The bigger problem...

Is that burnout requires proper recovery.

How much recovery?

For low levels of burnout...

The body needs a minimum of 3 weeks of significant recovery...

And for more significant cases...

As is the reality many face in today’s world...

It can take over a year of recovery.

But the problems do not end here.

What else can be at play?

Challenges with energy (Mg-ATP).

This is the energy that is created in the body to utilize for whatever purposes we need.

This can play out in two ways...

Which for many people, combine making the problem worse.

They either are wasting energy (Mg-ATP) in ways they do not realize...

Are failing to produce enough energy (Mg-ATP) to meet the demands of their lives.

This becomes far more nuanced because it can be played out in many different ways.

It could be from a lack of micronutrients that are needed to create energy...

It could be from too much of a micronutrient, which causes the body to react in many unfavorable ways (common with iron overload in today’s world)...

It could happen from parts of our body working ineffectively...

Including mitochondrial dysfunction...

Physiological imbalances...

And more.

The reason that I became a Triple Board-Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner was so that I could help clients evaluate where they may be facing these challenges...

And help them get the physiological energy that is needed to reach their goals.

So many people...

Without realizing it...

Are in extreme energy (Mg-ATP) deficits...

And all of the choices that they make end up making it worse.

But there are still other problems that I find with clients.

The next has to do with our Identity.

Now...

You may be saying that “Identity” has to do with Psychology...

But it actually has to do with much more than just our psychology.

It also has to do with our environment and how we interact with it.

It has to do with our skills and beliefs.

It has to do with how well our entire psychophysiology is interacting and whether every aspect is aligned...

Which goes into something that I call the “Brain Trap”.

See...

When most people think about these subjects...

They limit their understanding, consciously or subconsciously, to their brain...

But how we think and interact with the world...

What we believe we are capable of or incapable of...

Who we believe ourselves to be...

Requires us to understand more than our brain.

When you dive deep into the psychophysiology...

You can discover that you actually have 4 Cognition Systems...

Of which the Brain is only one of the systems...

A powerful system...

But it does not act alone.

If these 4 systems are not aligned...

And our Identity is not what guides it...

Then we become disjointed and unable to reach our goals.

This is often why Mindsets do not work...

It is not enough...

Which is why I work on Wayset with clients.

It is aligning all of our Cognition Systems...

With our Core Identity.

See...

When you dive into the Identity challenge...

You come to discover two problems specific to identity.

People are mostly only aware of Transitory Identities...

Which inevitably change...

Causing gigantic issues when we know no other identities...

And...

We also attempt to live out different identities in different places...

Causing what functionally becomes multiple personality disorder.

The challenge here is also related to the energy problem...

Because each identity we create has to be “maintained” and “separate”...

Where each has different rules of what is and is not acceptable in different places...

Which requires energy (Mg-ATP) to maintain.

The classic example here is the father who has a “work identity” and “home identity”...

Which one day breaks down when the father yells at their child like they would an employee...

Because they lacked the energy (Mg-ATP) to maintain the boundaries between the different identities that they have designed.

This is a really simple example...

But it becomes vastly more nuanced and plays out in ways that people never even realized were possible...

And in ways that require us to understand more than just our psychology.

Which brings us to another common challenge leaders face...

The Nervous System.

What many people do not realize...

Is that the Nervous System actually has a memory storage system...

Seperate from the Brain’s system...

Which can, and frequently does, cause many problems for people.

Now the challenge here...

Is that you cannot “think” your way out of these.

The way the Nervous System works is functionally different from the Brain.

How different?

In research around PTSD, Traditional Therapy (Brain-Focused), and Nervous System Work...

There had been people with extreme levels of PTSD (such as from war), who had been engaged in Traditional Therapy for years without any progress...

Who were able to completely and medically resolve their PTSD...

Within 6 sessions...

With a success rate of over 80% of participants...

Without any remission after 6 months.

Why?

Because the challenges that they were experiencing with their PTSD...

Were not occurring in their brains...

But their Nervous System.

Now, PTSD “may” be an extreme example for many leaders’ situations...

But I have discovered that many people have different levels of challenges that exist within their Nervous Systems...

This then creates further problems in their work capacities as leaders.

What this means...

Is that you need to understand what is a brain challenge...

What is a Nervous System challenge...

Where overlap may exist...

And how to resolve them both.

This has been a significant area of research and practice for me over the past few years...

Because it is a significantly larger challenge in today’s world than most people realize.

I have learned multiple modalities to help people in this respect...

Which help in different ways and capacities.

This is not the end of our list of challenges for leaders, though

What is next?

All of these problems may not be limited to an individual...

But it could be occurring at a team...

Or even at the organizational level.

The challenge here...

Is that you need to now identify multiple psychophysiological challenges...

Existing within different people...

And perhaps more importantly...

Between different people.

See...

Many of the challenges we have discussed...

Are not solely individual problems.

They frequently become group problems...

Exasperating and dragging others into these problems together.

A great example here is Burnout.

Most people talk about Burnout as an individual problem...

That they attempt to resolve at an individual level.

But when you actually look into the psychophysiology more deeply...

Individual Burnout...

Can expand into Group Burnout...

Where people’s psychophysiology is directly interacting with each other...

Such as through the electromagnetic fields generated by the heart...

Causing others to be “pulled” into burnout...

And which can begin to “trap” others in burnout.

This is a reason why someone with burnout can go on vacation...

“Begin” to feel better (though they have not fully recovered)...

Then, when they come back into the environment, “immediately” be back to the same levels of burnout they were experiencing before they left.

The reason...

Is that, on average, 80% of the workplace is in some level of burnout...

And individuals are keeping each other there simply by being in the same vicinity as each other.

If you fail to take this into account...

You will fail to have success as a leader.

You need solutions that allow multiple people within the organization to escape these problems together.

Which brings us to our last challenge for leaders...

They are often working within a business model...

That inherently fails to take human psychophysiology into account...

And that makes many of the above problems worse.

I have called these business models a number of things...

Machine business models...

Zombie business models...

Extractionary business models...

But they all lead to the same problem...

They create challenges...

Because they do not factor human psychophysiology into how they are designed.

This is why in some places...

Such as India and China...

We have watched these business models become the “literal” cause of death...

Medically diagnosed...

For leaders and employees.

These models function in such a way...

That eventually...

It creates internal deterioration...

That over time...

Become a hidden cause of many of the problems we see.

What does this mean?

For some organizations...

They need to rethink how they operate as a business...

Completely.

Now...

This may sound extreme...

But let me put it in a different perspective to help you see how logical it actually is.

If your workforce is in Burnout...

Everyone, individually, is working at 5% or less of their productivity capacity.

(Group Burnout actually compounds problems, making them significantly worse, but let’s keep the numbers simple for now.)

Let’s say that this means that each day you need to create 20 units...

And at a 5% productivity capacity...

Assuming no one is in negative productivity...

Each individual can only create 1 unit.

How many people do you need?

20 people to reach the 20-unit goal.

So that is 20 wages that need to be paid...

Workspace for those 20 people...

Likely benefits for them...

Not to mention that as teams grow, you usually need more support staff, managers, etc.

Again, that is still assuming that these individuals are not dropping into Negative Productivity...

Which is common in Burnout...

And assuming that those negative results are not being compounded through Group Burnout dynamics...

Which is also common in today’s world.

But...

What happens if you are able to redesign the business model...

So that instead of creating Burnout...

You simply create “average” employees based on health?

Well...

Then each individual’s Productivity Potential rises to 20%.

That is what the research shows “should” be the average human person...

Which, honestly, is likely an overstatement because the “average” has deteriorated in recent research, but again, we’re going to keep it simple.

This suddenly means that each individual goes from being able to create 1 unit...

To create 4 units...

This means that instead of 20 employees...

You only need 5...

But better...

They are actually healthier and happier.

It still gets better...

Because we have not even gotten to Flow States.

Flow is the psychophysiological state of being where we feel our best and perform our best.

Flow States...

Are the only place...

Where we can reach 100% of our Productivity Potential.

Assuming...

You know how to get into them consistently...

Which most people do not...

And is not how most workplaces are designed to help humans attain...

Only then are you going to be at 100% Productivity Potential consistently.

This means that to hit the same 20-unit goal...

You would only need...

1 employee.

As opposed to the 20 in Burnout.

It still gets better though...

Because if you actually design the workplace to help employees get into Flow States consistently...

Just as Group Burnout compounds into significantly worse results...

Group Flow compounds into significantly better results.

So if you hire 2 employees...

Who are in Group Flow together, consistently...

They are actually going to create “more” than 40 units together in total...

While a competitor who is stuck in Group Burnout...

Will likely struggle to even get 20 units total with 20 employees...

Either requiring them to...

Miss marks...

Demand more of their current employees, making the situation significantly worse...

Or hiring more employees when most organizations are struggling with headcount already.

Can you see how the dynamics change if you actually create a business around human psychophysiology...

Instead of against it?

This is also not theoretical...

I have worked with leaders to accomplish this in their organizations.

When you actually understand the entirety of human psychophysiology...

When you help unlock that in individuals...

Within teams...

And you design businesses around this...

Suddenly, you completely change the face of what becomes possible.

There are reasons you are not having the success you want as a leader...

But to obtain the success you want...

You need to approach leadership in a completely different way...

Which is why I call the work I do with people “Sageship”.

It is not a “different” leadership model...

It fundamentally is a different way of approaching business altogether...

One that feels tremendously better...

While simultaneously creating significantly better results.

If that is something that you are interested in unlocking in your life today...

Send me an email: Cody@TheLeadership.Guide

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

The Horror Of Our Insane Machine Society

The Cry To Open Our Eyes

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I find myself in a strange place.

I want to do so much in the world...

Yet...

The world is exhausting.

It is filled with...

Pseudo-intellectuals who present themselves as brilliant while never doing any real research...

People who clearly do not care about much in life...

People who only want to complain without doing anything about it...

People who are trapped in ways of being but have no desire to question them...

Not to mention...

The wolves and monsters who seek out victims to fulfill their own desires...

And those who support them...

Knowingly or unknowingly.

Among these people...

There is a lack...

Of the aspiration for growth...

Of seeking wisdom and truth...

Of creating new systems that have never been considered.

I see history...

Repeating itself...

Not over a long period of time...

But within our own lifespans...

Multiple times...

The same problems...

The same failed plans.

It is not just that history repeats itself again and again...

It is that so many people...

Actively ignore what history has shown.

Information has never been easier to access...

History has never been easier to verify...

Yet...

People simply do not look.

They allow themselves to be manipulated...

They flip-flop between sides on matters that have never truly succeeded...

Progress made is progress lost...

And no one deeply questions why it is happening.

The world is...

Insane.

Repeating the same failed patterns over and over again...

Expecting things to magically become different...

Without paying attention to how they failed in the first place.

When you try to speak to someone who has been living an insane life like this...

They refuse to listen...

Because they have tied their identity so deeply to these failed patterns...

That to lose them...

Feels like death psychologically.

Worse...

Because you try to get them to think outside of the box...

Which is a structure they have never questioned...

They begin to think...

That you must be the insane one...

For they do not know...

That they have been living in a box...

And would rather live in denial of that reality...

Than to test whether or not it is true.

My poor child...

Do you not see that you were born into a system...

Which seeks to turn you into nothing more than a cog?

Yet your soul cries out for more...

You are more than a cog...

But you run and try to fit into one part of the machine...

Then when you can no longer take it...

Or that part of the machine rejects you entirely...

You sprint to another part of the machine...

Never truly living...

Only contorting yourself into unnatural shapes...

Like a creature in a horror story...

Unaware that there are other ways to live your life.

Do you not see...

There is a reason you feel that you cannot find what you seek...

You are not looking in the right places.

Where you frantically search...

Will never provide what you are seeking...

And you will continue to find the same result again...

And again...

And again.

Are you not tired of the madness?

Are you not exhausted by the endless twisting and dislocating of your being?

When will enough be enough?

When will you begin to open your eyes?

Do you not want to become...

More than what you are existing as?

Do you not want to live?

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Will I Stop Writing?

How The Thought Has Changed Through Writing Over 1,250 Articles In An Equal Number Of Days

Written by a human, for humans, always.

When I first began to dedicate myself to writing articles...

My first goal was 30 days straight.

I had a worry...

Would I be able to even do it?

Will I stop writing?

Somewhere along that?

Unable to reach the goal?

Unable to come up with ideas to write about?

Would it become a project...

Like so many people have...

That never is accomplished...

Forgotten...

Left to perish in a dark corner of the internet that no one ever peers into...

Afraid of coming to terms with their own failures?

It is strange to think about the internet like this...

A database of ideas and intentions...

Lost...

Expanding exponentially all the time...

With forgotten places that may never be discovered...

Now being hidden by infestations of AI junk...

Posted by people who do not read over their output...

Read only by AI...

Further masking the few real individuals who take real time to dedicate themselves to ideas and craft.

When you face that...

It can be easy to question if your efforts are worth it...

And this only adds to the pressure of questioning whether you have the capacity to write enough...

To even go for 30 days.

Yet...

I did it successfully.

30 days of articles...

And it felt great.

The experience was enough of a driving force to drive me to a new goal...

Writing articles every day for a full year...

And I started that journey on January 1, 2023.

But...

My worries did not subside.

30 days is one thing...

365 days is over 12 times the number of articles.

Could I really go that long?

Write that many articles?

Or would I stop at some point...

Defeated?

I was not sure, but I decided to go for the goal anyway.

At first...

The days felt like they would never end.

The pressure always felt intense.

Then...

One day...

Things began to become more simple.

Not easy...

But more simple.

I was able to begin to write more consistently.

Ideas began to flow more easily.

Still...

There were days that were a real struggle...

Where I was unsure of what I would write about for hours...

But I would eventually land on something.

Write.

Edit.

Publish.

I kept going until I had done it...

One full year of writing articles.

Then...

I decided that I was not going to stop.

365 days became 500 days.

500 days became 2 years straight.

2 years became 1,000 days.

1,000 days became 3 years straight...

And now...

I continue to write...

Edit...

Publish...

Every single day.

I have now written over 1,250 articles in an equal number of days...

Over a quarter of the way to 5,000 days...

Which...

Doesn’t even feel like a real number.

Neither does 1,000 days if I am going to be honest.

There are some days when writing takes me a bit more time...

Where the words do not come out as smoothly as I like...

But somewhere along the way...

I no longer worried about whether I could write an article in any given day...

I just simply...

Knew...

That it would come.

The pressure of finding something to write about doesn’t exist anymore.

For a long time...

I did not even keep any ideas within reach...

I just knew that when I decided to sit down...

Something would come.

But recently...

I had a new thought come through my mind as I was writing...

Will I stop writing?

Not in the same sense where I am worried about being able to write...

But more...

Will there come a day...

At some point in the future...

Perhaps near the end of life...

Where I will sit to write...

And just...

Feel finished?

Not in a defeated way...

Not in a worried way...

But in a completely satisfied with my entire body of work, way?

Where I know I could write more...

But I simply decide that nothing more is needed?

That is a much stranger question.

When you find something that you love to do...

That you feel great doing...

That pushes you to become the best version of yourself...

Is there a point where you simply...

Decide that there will be no more?

A satisfying conclusion to everything you have done?

I’m not sure.

If you look at history...

There are people who die before their greatest works are finished...

Running out of time.

There are people who are on death’s door, saying that their work is finished...

Completely content with everything they have done.

There are people who know there is more to their work...

But know that it must be passed on to others to become complete.

There are people who feel like something is missing...

But never figure out what it is they.

There are people who become bored with what they do...

So they begin new projects and leave behind everything else.

There are people who think they are done with an idea...

Yet at some point, discover that it is not yet done and return to it.

There are people whose lives and work have been lost...

And we will never know what they did or failed to do.

What does the future hold?

There are so many variables...

Things we know exist...

Things we never could predict...

Things we felt were behind us but return in ways we never expected...

Things that are only ideas in someone’s mind that have not yet been released into the world.

Will I stop writing?

I do not know.

Perhaps it is not possible to know.

Maybe I will find myself running out of time.

Maybe I will feel some way one day and completely different the next.

I cannot say.

But perhaps...

Perhaps...

The question was never designed to be answered today.

A thought...

But one which was never meant to be taken seriously.

Not every thought has to be followed to the bottom of the rabbit hole.

Sometimes...

We must simply live...

Doing what is here and now.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Failing To Grasp The Opportunity At Hand

Why So Many People Never Reach Their Potential

Written by a human, for humans, always.

Most people are given opportunity...

And never realize it.

It is right there for the taking...

Given to them on a silver platter...

And they say...

No.

There are many reasons that they do not take the opportunity.

They might not feel worthy...

They listen to poor advice from others who also fail to take opportunity...

But perhaps at the heart of it...

Is that they lack the vision of how to utilize the opportunity.

In my life...

There have been many opportunities that I have taken...

Which have not always appeared to make sense...

Which others turned down...

Which others did not see how to frame the opportunity to their benefit.

Therein lies the challenge...

How do you present yourself within that opportunity?

When most people look at an opportunity that they are given...

They only consider...

The immediate look and appearance of the opportunity...

Then...

They judge it immediately.

What they fail to account for...

Is how the opportunity can be framed...

What it can allow one to present themselves as...

How it can alter what they become qualified to discuss and work toward in their life.

I can tell you...

That I have taken opportunities...

Which many people trash-talk online.

I can also tell you...

That taking those opportunities allowed me to land other opportunities...

That would never have been possible...

Had I not taken them.

I can tell you...

I have landed speaking engagements...

Sports sponsorships...

Clients...

Educational opportunities...

Even the opportunity to become a United Nations Representative...

Based on opportunities that others dismiss without thought.

Most people live small...

Because they think small...

They frame themselves small...

And they fail to see how the opportunities they are given could allow them to become bigger.

They lack the imagination to see what is possible.

So many people...

Complain...

Struggle...

Cry out in despair...

About where their life currently is...

While simultaneously...

Dismissing every opportunity they have been handed...

Because they did not see it as an opportunity.

They beg for food...

While dismissing the food given if it is not the food they want or presented in the way they believe it should be.

What they fail to understand...

Is that when they reject the opportunities given...

They will receive fewer opportunities.

Those who give opportunity...

Seek people who take opportunities.

The best opportunities...

Are never given to individuals who deny opportunity.

Those individuals are never even considered.

If you want opportunities...

You must grasp at the ones that are given...

Prove yourself...

Frame the opportunity in such a way that it helps others see who you are...

What you are capable of...

That way, the best opportunities that exist...

Begin to see you as a viable individual who is worthy of the opportunity.

Most people...

Do not appear worthy...

Not because they are not...

But because they have failed to show others that they are worthy.

When others do not see...

You may as well be invisible...

To them...

To the world.

The first opportunities that you will be given...

Will not be great...

They may feel “below” you...

Others may talk negatively about them.

But what you should be paying attention to...

Is what those individuals have done in their lives?

The truth is...

It is easy to talk negatively about opportunities that exist in the world today...

Anybody can create an account on a platform...

And start talking.

But most people who talk...

Are not worth a grain of salt.

They are living tiny lives...

And will continue to live those lives...

Because they are already failing to see the potential of the opportunities that exist.

The question you have to ask yourself...

Is whether that is what you want your life to become?

If you listen to those who achieve little...

Chances are...

You will also achieve little.

If you want to achieve more than most in the world...

You should not listen to those who have achieved nothing.

Does this mean you should automatically listen to those who have achieved much?

Not necessarily.

But it does mean that they have a better idea of what is necessary...

Than those who fail to take the opportunities that they receive.

If you want to go further in life...

You will need to take opportunities...

Some of which may not appear like perfect fits...

But...

If you use your imagination...

Work at the opportunities you have to the best of your ability...

And do so in an upright way in your life...

You will discover that opportunity begets more opportunity...

And staying upright in your life will make you valuable for future opportunities.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

The Real Reason Change Is Rare

What People Do Not Want To Admit

Written by a human, for humans, always.

There are many people who say they want change...

But if you pay attention...

Not to words...

But to the reality that plays out...

Real Change is rare.

Why do you think that is?

You will hear many different answers given...

Most of them are wrong...

Especially when played out in the long term.

You may hear that the “timing was not right”...

And that may be true in a specific moment...

But fails to be the truth in the long term.

You may hear that “they did not have the right skills to make the change possible”...

And that may be true at a certain point...

But the vast majority of skills can be learned and built over time with proper dedication.

So...

What is it at the end of the day...

That causes most true change to be extremely rare?

The answer...

Is that most people...

Do not actually want to change.

I know that may sound harsh...

People will argue with me on this...

But it is true.

At least...

They do not want to make the changes that are required for change to occur.

They may “want” change...

But they are not willing to make the specific changes in their own lives that are necessary...

For a variety of reasons.

The reality...

Is that most people do not want to change themselves...

They want the world to change to them.

But this is not how change works.

The world does not magically make itself subject to our whims...

This is not a fairy tale.

The white knight rarely comes...

The princess who waits in a tower will likely never be found...

The laws we expect to create peace and stability usually have loopholes that are found and exploited against us...

The ones in power are rarely able to account for everyone, if they care about the needs of the people at all.

If you want change to happen...

You need to be the one to change...

Often in ways that require you to sacrifice things you enjoy.

That is part of the problem...

People are open to some specific changes...

But they are unwilling to make other changes.

That becomes the problem...

The changes they are unwilling to make...

Are the ones that are preventing them from seeing the change they desire.

People say they want peace...

But they are unwilling to listen to the “other side”.

People say they want health...

But they are unwilling to consistently make choices that create health...

And eliminate choices that are causing them sickness.

People say they want their lives to be different...

But they never do anything different in their lives.

People say they have goals and dreams...

But they are unwilling to make even small steps toward them.

People say they want better finances...

But they are unwilling to cut out what is diminishing their earnings.

This...

Is why change is rare.

People want change...

But they are unwilling to be the ones who change...

Not in the ways that are important.

Now...

Sometimes...

People are confused about the ways they need to change...

Because there is a lot of bad information and misinformation that exists in the world.

So they do make changes...

But they are not the changes they actually need.

But...

This simply means they need to change their sources of information...

And get better sources...

Which is a change they refuse to make.

If you want real change to happen in your life...

You need to seek out the reasons that change is not happening...

And you need to become serious about questioning what needs to change.

Change is absolutely possible...

But you need to be the one who changes...

And sometimes...

The changes may be uncomfortable...

But necessary.

The reason most people’s lives never change...

Is that they are unwilling to be the ones who change...

And the result...

Will be that their lives will remain as they are...

Or...

In most cases...

Will continue to get dramatically worse...

Until it is too late for them to change their lives.

If you want your life to change...

You need to become serious...

And deeply question...

What needs to change in your own life...

For the changes you want to occur.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Violating The Rope Of Truth

The Dangerous Game Many People Play

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I had a dream...

Where there was a man who wanted the power to lead.

So he was given a gift...

The rope of truth.

With this gift...

He could lead others to truly great things.

However...

The man was not happy with the truth as it was...

As it was revealed to him through the rope.

So...

The man sought to change the truth...

To form the rope in different ways...

To create knots and loops...

To violate it.

Again and again he tried to change the truth...

Form the truth into an appearance of his liking...

Unsatisfied with what it revealed each time.

The more he tried to change the rope...

The more it surrounded him...

Until...

He created a loop that went around his neck...

And in failing to accept the truth...

He perished...

Choking on the truth.

This may sound like a strange dream...

Fantastical or horrific...

But it is closer to the truth than most people care to admit.

There are so many people that I see in the world...

Who do exactly this.

They know what the truth is.

But it is not the truth that they want...

They do not want it themselves...

They do not want others to see the truth...

They want a different truth.

So...

They try to change the truth.

They only reveal certain aspects of their lives while hiding others...

They pick and choose parts of history while ignoring others...

They create tales and stories, shapes that they want you to believe is truth...

But the reality is that none of these is the truth...

They are simply loops and knots in the rope of truth.

What happens though...

When one attempts to hide the truth in this way...

For so long...

In so many different ways?

They know the truth...

Even if consciously they have bought into their change...

Their subconscious is not fooled.

Deep down...

They still know the truth...

Which is why they are so adamant about trying to change the truth...

Because deep down...

They know they have not succeeded in changing anything...

Not really...

Not in reality.

As they create more knots and loops...

A few things can happen.

They may come to realize their futility...

If they are wise...

And seek to understand and utilize the rope of truth as it was designed.

Or...

They may either...

Come to realize their futile efforts...

And give up completely...

Losing all hope...

Choking on that reality...

Or...

They may continue to try to work against the rope of truth...

Unable to come to terms with it...

Continuing to fight and battle...

Loop and knot...

Until they have done it so much that they have created something they cannot escape...

The inevitable tightening of the truth.

No matter your personal feelings about it...

There is the truth.

You can attempt to force your will upon it in a different way...

Try to make it become something else...

But it will not work.

The truth is not subject to your demands.

It will either destroy you in your efforts to violate it...

Or...

You will come to accept the truth.

What most people fail to understand...

Is that when we come to truly seek the truth...

Accept it as it is...

No matter how harsh or painful it may seem...

There is a liberation that also comes with the truth...

And it is in that freedom...

Where we can begin to use the truth...

As the tool that it was originally designed to be in our lives.

The rope of truth has the power to guide others...

To redirect what is wrong...

To provide passage to new heights...

To create safety from dangerous drops that threaten us...

To block dark paths.

This is the power of the rope of truth that is in your hands.

The question remains...

Will you attempt to violate the truth...

Or embrace the truth?

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Finding The Right Motivation

How It Dramatically Changes What You Are Capable Of In Your Life

Written by a human, for humans, always.

A lot of people struggle with motivation.

There is a small secret around motivation...

You cannot rely on it.

There will always be days and times...

Where you lack motivation in the moment.

But...

That is not really what I want to get into today.

I want to look at motivation in a broader sense.

Not just in that momentary struggle...

But with the greater long-term struggle to make progress toward something.

I was thinking about this today because I’ve been taking classes.

In these classes, I’ve been really putting in all my effort to do as well as I possibly can.

I become slightly disappointed when I miss 0.25 points on an assignment.

Despite getting near-perfect scores the rest of the time...

I want to completely master the subject matter.

But...

This is not how I have always been...

Especially when it comes to school.

I was a really good student until around middle school...

And I can really remember the class where things changed.

Geography.

My teacher was absolutely amazing.

Truly, she was fantastic and created a really enjoyable class.

Yet...

I really struggled.

To this day, I am quite atrocious at geography.

But I remember getting a C on a test...

And my mom, who is my biggest fan, said...

“I know you can do better.”

But what went through my mind...

Was that I really gave it everything I had.

I didn’t know where “better” could be found.

In the moment, it felt crushing...

To try everything possible to get a great grade...

And end up with mediocrity.

I am a bit wiser today to know that there will always be some things that we just are not good at...

Because there are too many things that exist, and only enough time to become amazing at a few.

But that crushing defeat...

Created a pattern where my mind said...

If I do not care about this...

Why put so much effort into it?

Is it really worth all that struggle?

That set a tone even through my bachelor’s degree...

Where I often did not try in classes that I felt I would not be good at.

I had no real motivation to become good at those classes...

So I did not even try.

That included...

Classes that had to do with the human body...

Especially, physiology and anatomy.

In fact...

If I could avoid those types of classes, I would.

In university, I chose to do astronomy so I wouldn’t have to be anywhere near the human body.

Yet...

Something changed.

It began when I started seeing a pattern in my work on leadership.

I kept seeing...

That the models that leadership development was using...

Rarely worked.

The areas the models “worked” were actually exceptions as opposed to the norm.

What that means...

Is that it was not really the models themselves that worked...

But what worked was the individual who just happened to get the right skill at the right time that they specifically needed under the right conditions.

The problem...

Is that it is not scalable...

It is not reproducible...

It cannot be repeated.

Which is exactly why the category of leadership development completely fails 80% of the time...

With “limited” success, the remainder.

But this led me to the question...

Why were the failure rates so high?

What was preventing things from working?

What was needed to create consistent, reproducible results?

The answer...

Was psychophysiology.

So, I had found a new motivation...

Understanding how humans are designed to work...

So that we could unlock their potential.

That...

Began my deep study and research into human psychophysiology...

Which led me to getting over 40 certifications and degrees in different areas...

Including my...

Doctor of Functional Medicine...

Doctor of Holistic Medicine...

Doctor of Natural Medicine...

And becoming a Triple-Board-Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner...

With some more Doctoral-Level programs I am working toward over the next two years.

And...

I’m obsessed.

I cannot get enough of learning about our psychophysiology.

In the past, I avoided classes...

Today I want to get 100% in my classes...

And nearly get there.

I have enough grace for myself today to know that beating myself up for small mistakes is not worth the effort...

Yet I still have that perfectionistic striving.

Missing the points does not deter me...

It actually motivates me to become better.

What I want to get at...

Is that sometimes...

Having the wrong motivations will cause you to fail.

But...

That failure may not necessarily be because you are not actually good at something...

Or mean that you are unable to become good at something.

It might just mean you have not yet found the right motivation to unlock your capabilities.

I cannot guarantee it...

I’m still awful at geography...

Unable to navigate myself to many places I’ve been to hundreds without a device...

Much to the chagrin of my wonderful spouse.

But...

It is worth asking yourself...

What are your motivations here?

You may be struggling and deeply enveloped in anxiety, fear, and hopelessness...

Because you have the wrong motivations.

When it comes to psychophysiology today...

I have no anxieties or fears...

And there are times when I look at what many consider a “hopeless situation”...

And I begin to question if it is justified...

Or if there are paths we just have not yet discovered...

That I want to pioneer in discovering...

Even if...

It does end up being hopeless.

That is the difference that having the right motivation can provide.

It can fill you with wonder and curiosity...

It can allow you to accept your humanness...

While simultaneously expecting yourself to have the capability to become better...

And as long as you are physically capable...

You will become better.

That becomes the difference between having the right and wrong motivation.

So ask yourself...

Have you found the right motivation?

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Mistaking Delusion For Genius

A Gigantic Problem In Today’s World, While Ignoring Genius As Delusion

Written by a human, for humans, always.

One thing that has always fascinated me...

Is the idea of genius.

Both in terms of intelligence and abilities.

Whether it is the scientist whose ideas are difficult to comprehend...

The inventor who had an idea no one thought possible...

Or the sports start that everyone doubted...

There is this amazing capability that we have as humans to reach a level of genius in something.

We celebrate it.

Are obsessed with attaining it.

Genius is often seen as one of the greatest heights of achievement.

There is also something interesting that we have seen with different trends over time...

There appears to be some sort of...

Blurred line...

Between genius and delusion.

When you look at the history of many people who are considered geniuses...

There is often a point...

Where they were believed to be delusional.

That their ideas made no sense.

That their abilities would never be good enough.

That their striving would lead them to ruin.

But...

At some point...

That seems to change in their lives...

And their true genius reveals themselves.

It is a fascinating pattern that we see time and time again.

But...

The challenge about knowing of a pattern...

Is that sometimes we begin to look for the pattern...

Trying to game the system...

To be the first to identify genius...

And in our world...

It has created a real problem.

We see so many different individuals...

Who are being hailed as geniuses early in their lives and careers...

Only for them to be discovered to be delusional later on.

We then begin to celebrate...

Obsess...

And even copy the delusional beliefs, patterns, and ways of being of these individuals.

In our quest to find genius and mimic that genius...

We turn ourselves into delusional sycophants and copycats...

That perpetuates the delusion...

Often creating vast levels of harm along the way.

What is perhaps worse...

Is that as we latch onto the versions of genius that we are hearing are “true”...

We simultaneously ignore...

And in some cases...

Directly attack...

True genius as if it were a delusion.

Why?

Because it does not fit in the narrative that we are currently following.

The beliefs that we are holding onto the strongest.

The patterns that we are living in our own lives.

What we have been taught and told is the “genius” way of living.

The result...

Is that we begin to push down true genius...

Perpetuating delusion...

And creating environments...

Echo chambers...

Confirmation biases...

That supports these delusions.

It begs an important question...

Where in your life are you mistaking delusion for genius?

And...

How would you know?

The hardest thing about this...

Is that, psychologically speaking...

We hate to believe that we are wrong.

In fact...

We hate believing that we even “might” be wrong.

So...

To discover whether you are actually falling into delusion...

Believing that it is genius...

You have to accept what no one wants to accept...

You...

Might...

Be...

Wrong.

In fact...

You may have “always” been wrong.

That is a reality that so many people are terrified to deeply consider for themselves.

Their immediate reaction is...

That could not be me...

And if that is your initial thought...

Then you are vastly more likely to be the individual who has been living in delusion.

When I have looked into different “sides” within a topic...

Nearly always...

I do not find one side that is delusional and the other side not...

Far more often...

I find every side is delusional to some extent...

And every side has some valid point that is being ignored by others.

But...

I find that the delusion far outweighs the validity far more often than would make most people comfortable.

All while...

Those who are truly genius...

Are being pushed out by every side...

Because they do not “fit” into those sides...

And that is the exact problem.

We are so busy creating sides...

That we fail to see where true genius exists...

And instead...

We create environments where our delusions can be unquestioned...

And we become slaves to those delusions.

If you want to begin to have an insight into whether you are ruled by delusion...

Consider...

What in life do you believe should be true...

That does not seem to change...

And then consider...

Why it does not seem to change...

When you believe that it should not be like that?

Especially when...

You believe...

That there are “geniuses” who have the solution to these problems...

Yet...

Nothing changes.

Chances are...

The “geniuses” you follow...

Have always been delusional...

You were just so trapped in a delusion that may not have been your own making...

To see the truth.

To find real genius in the world...

We need to deeply consider...

That we may be wrong about everything that we believe we know...

And start paying attention to the real evidence and proof around us...

Because...

That becomes the long-term proof of genius over delusion.

Genius can get “real” results...

Because they are actually operating in reality.

Delusion can “never” get real results...

Because it fails to live and work within reality.

If there is something you believe...

But you do not have real proof of what you believe...

Extremely specific proof of where and how those beliefs actually work in reality...

Then you are likely living in delusion...

Ignoring genius around you...

Perhaps believing that the true genius that exists...

Is delusional...

Because they do not fit into your current worldview, which is actually delusional.

Pursue the evidence.

Look for the proof.

Assemble the real-world examples.

Follow the logic all the way to its complete end.

If you do this...

In honesty...

And not to prove “your” view...

Accepting that there is a very real likelihood that you are wrong about something...

Perhaps very many different things....

Only then will you be able to break from the problem of today’s world...

Of mistaking genius...

And becoming trapped in a delusion.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Why Does It Matter?

Learning How To Approach And Answer This Important Question In Our Lives

Written by a human, for humans, always.

There are days when you will find yourself saying...

Why does it matter?

You will lack motivation.

You will feel like there is no purpose.

Like you are screaming into an uncaring void.

That you will wonder if what you are doing is worth anything at all.

The truth of it...

Is that perhaps on that day...

It will not matter...

At least...

Not on that day.

That is the trap that so many people fall into throughout their lives.

They ask this question...

Why does it matter?

But the problem is...

They are focused only on that day.

At that moment.

For such an incredibly short period of time in comparison to the whole of their life.

What you do in that moment...

May not really matter in that moment...

But...

It may become so incredibly important when considering the larger picture.

See...

What we attain in life...

Usually is not the result of any one singular decision or action.

Rather...

It is the culmination of many decisions and actions...

That accumulates over time.

True...

If you do one thing, one time...

It likely will not add up to very much at all.

It might be relatively meaningless.

But...

If you do one thing...

Many times...

Again and again...

It can add up to become something extremely significant.

Except...

The question becomes...

What is it that you are doing again and again?

If you do nothing...

And you choose to do nothing...

Over and over...

What should your expectation be?

Nothing.

You will get nothing for all the times you chose to do nothing.

But...

If you choose to do something...

Over and over...

What should your expectation be?

You should expect something.

Maybe not what you imagined.

Maybe not what you hoped for.

But it still will accumulate into something.

We can go a step further than this, though.

If we choose to do something...

Over and over...

That is harmful to us...

What should your expectation be?

A significant level of harm.

This is another layer that so many people fail to see the long-term consequences of their choices.

There are many things in our lives...

That may appear to be relatively harmless in the short-term...

But...

They accumulate...

And begin to create significant harm in our lives in ways we never imagined.

Many people...

Live lives...

Doing things that they believe are harmless...

Which are, in fact, the cause of many of the problems they are experiencing in their lives.

It is creating their physical problems...

Their emotional problems...

Their relational problems...

More problems than they ever realized could be caused...

Because they asked...

Why does it matter?

But they came to the wrong conclusion.

They failed to understand...

How one small and seemingly insignificant decision...

Could accumulate...

To create such drastic and overbearing problems that they feel will crush them.

Why does it matter?

Because every single decision we make in our lives...

Matters.

Maybe not immediately.

Maybe with little to no results that we hoped for in the moment.

But which becomes increasingly significant the more we elect to do the same thing.

The question is not really whether it matters...

It is what will it become if you continue to make that choice?

What will that choice provide for your life?

Will it provide anything at all?

So many people...

Make consistent choices...

To do or not do things...

Which could never provide anything of true value to their lives...

And one day...

They will reap the ruin of their choices.

Be wary of what you choose in life...

Because it does matter.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

A Perfect Example Of Why Most Emotional Intelligence (EQ/EI) Practices Fail

The Simple Part Of The Equation That Is Completely Missing

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I saw a post recently...

That posed a simple question...

What does your team need to have more energy?

It is a great question...

But the answers given...

Of which there were 9 given...

Is exactly why most Emotional Intelligence (EI/EQ) practices absolutely fail.

What were the answers provided?

Time together.

Focus and clarity.

Leaders practice emotional intelligence (EQ/EI).

Care for one another.

Trust.

Feedback.

Creative expression.

Visible progress.

Shared purpose.

All interesting answers.

All of which have a place in creating a better workforce.

All of which will absolutely fail in creating more energy within a workforce.

We even see this in the statistics.

Despite growing amounts being spent on emotional intelligence training and research...

There has been a global “decrease” in emotional intelligence...

Across 166 countries...

Nearly 1% every year between 2019 and 2024...

Across 8 categories of emotional intelligence.

The question is...

Why?

The answer is also really easy...

And I personally find it ironic that the answer provided absolutely fails to address what is clear in the original question...

What does your team need to have more energy?

What is...

Energy?

It is a biological fuel that is created under certain psychophysiological factors.

Where in the answers provided...

Do you see a serious consideration of even the basics of how energy is produced?

That right there...

Is exactly why most emotional intelligence practices absolutely fail.

They do not address real psychophysiological, and particularly the physiological, aspects of what is at play.

It lives in a theoretical world where it pretends like building skills will make up for what is lacking...

Which is just not physically possible.

Let me give you a really simple understanding of the problem at play.

What happens when people are stressed?

It does not matter if it is “good” stress, known as eustress, or “bad” stress, known as distress.

What happens when we experience “any” type of stress?

Our bodies utilize “more” energy (Mg-ATP) to attempt to overcome and recover from the stressor.

Why does this matter in today’s world?

Burnout.

What is it at its most fundamental level?

It is a psychophysiological state of being...

Where the human body has been in chronic distress for so long...

That the body is physically unable to meet the required demands to overcome the stressors...

So...

The body begins to tear itself apart...

Literally...

To try to accommodate the lack of available energy.

In the workforce today...

Over 80% of the workforce is in a state of burnout...

Which has been getting worse...

And will continue to get worse given workplace trends.

How long does it take to physically recover from burnout?

Anywhere from 6 weeks...

To “over” a year.

That is the basic physiology at play.

Now...

Go back to that list of 9 “solutions”...

Where do you see that any single one of them does “anything” to solve this basic problem?

Not a single one.

In fact...

In burnout...

Our ability to “do” the skills necessary to accomplish these 9 “solutions” often becomes “dramatically” worse...

In many cases, making it impossible to actually “access” the solutions at all.

Time together...

Actually will make things worse when you have a workforce in burnout.

It will turn individual burnout into group burnout...

Which only compounds the problems experienced in the workforce.

Focus and clarity...

Require us to not be in a fight-or-flight physiological state...

Which is where we are trapped in burnout.

Leaders practice emotional intelligence...

Is nice in theory...

But the skills to accomplish this cannot be learned...

Because learning itself requires us not to be in a fight-or-flight state.

Care for one another...

Is important...

But it is, again, impossible to express this well and meaningfully when you are in constant fight-or-flight states.

Trust.

Has to be earned...

It requires real dedication and demonstration of caring for each other and our human needs...

Which are not being met if we are in any state of chronic distress.

Plus...

When we are in fight-or-flight states...

We always revert to our normal patterns...

Which, if they were low emotionally intelligent patterns to begin with...

Will only instill distrust.

Feedback.

It is important...

But for feedback to have any impact...

It needs conditions under which change is possible.

We again run into the same problem...

Where we cannot change...

Because our psychophysiology will drive us back into old patterns...

Making the feedback ineffective...

Creating distrust and feeling like the person doesn’t care for the help that is being given...

Leading to further problems of disunity on a team...

Fueling the group burnout to become worse.

Creative expression.

Sounds nice.

But creativity and innovation only occur at significant levels...

When we are not in states of distress.

They primarily happen in flow states...

Which we are physiologically blocked out of when we are in burnout.

Visible progress.

Another one that sounds great...

Except when we are in burnout...

We typically are poor at solving problems and are more likely to make mistakes...

So the “progress” that is usually made...

Actually fails to account for other things that are creating problems...

That often creates “negative productivity” in a business.

There is a reason that so many organizations believe they are doing well on paper...

But not actually making real progress...

Forcing them to utilize other methods to create the “appearance of progress”.

Shared purpose.

Another one that looks and sounds good on paper.

Another one that quickly evaporates when in burnout.

Individuals in burnout are primarily focused on one thing...

Their survival.

When they are in an environment where there are low emotional intelligence leaders...

Where they do trust others...

Where they do not feel cared for...

Where time together feels like a punishment...

What they never feel like they are contributing anything of real value...

Where, even when they are hitting targets, it still feels meaningless and appears to accomplish nothing in the larger picture...

They are not going to be contributing to the purpose.

They are just going to do whatever is required to keep their job.

This is why...

So many leaders feel extra pressure...

That everything is on their shoulders.

It is because everything “is” on their shoulders.

Their entire workforce is waiting for direction...

Because they are so completely trapped in fight-or-flight and distress...

That they do not want to be the “reason” that things fail...

And so revert to doing what they are told...

So that all the blame for failure...

Lands solely on the shoulders of the leader.

All of these “solutions” fail when you actually understand how psychophysiology works...

And I have not even gone into deep psychophysiology.

That is a “basic” problem.

It does not touch on the host of other psychophysiological problems that are usually at play in an organization.

There is a reason that most emotional intelligence practices fail.

They fail to understand the cause of the problems.

They see the side-effects...

Which is what all of these “solutions” are...

Side-effects of psychophysiological problems...

But it doesn’t resolve the problem at play.

Think of it like this...

If you break your leg...

You will experience pain...

And you can take painkillers, which will temporarily block out the pain...

But the leg is still broken...

And the painkillers will never fix the broken leg.

Most programs that exist...

Whether it is emotional intelligence...

Leadership...

Personal growth...

Are all looking at side-effects...

Which is exactly why so many people fail to get the results they want.

They need solutions to the real psychophysiological problems...

To get real results.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

The Challenge Of Changing The World

The Interplay Of Beliefs, Values, And Identity

Written by a human, for humans, always.

There is a question that I like to ask people...

Who are you?

It is always interesting because it reveals different aspects of people.

What we identify as usually points to what we believe and value in life.

Now, I was reading an interesting article talking about this dynamic...

They said that...

Beliefs are our current understanding of the world...

Values are the standards we live by...

Identity is who we understand ourselves to be.

Now, they began to discuss something that I agree with...

That often we take our beliefs on “as” our identity.

They also correctly stated that this can become extremely problematic.

Why?

Because when we identify “as” something...

And that is challenged in any sort of way...

It begins to feel like an attack “on” us.

So...

If we have a belief...

And that belief is challenged by another...

And we have also taken that belief on “as” our identity...

Then the challenge to our belief stops feeling like an intellectual process of questioning ideas...

And begins to feel like a personal attack on who we are...

Which can and frequently does create real problems.

So what was the solution that was proposed?

Stop identifying with our beliefs...

Start identifying with our values.

Instead of starting with belief systems and questioning them...

Start with the standards we choose to live by.

It sounds like an interesting idea...

But fails to actually work for a very simple reason.

People’s values are usually directly linked to their beliefs.

Let me give you a perfect example of this.

Let’s say that you and I believe that humans have value.

We create a better world together because we have the value that humans have value and are worth making it better for.

Sounds great on paper.

Some people still disagree with that, of course, but that is beside the point for this experiment.

Now you have the two people who agree that humans have value.

But...

Why are they of value?

Well...

If one of the people is a Christian...

The Christian will say that the value is God-given and inherent from the moment of conception.

Nothing anyone does can or will change that value.

If the other person is an Atheist...

There is no inherent value given to humans above anything else on the planet...

So where does the value of a human come from?

The answer that many (but not all) will say is that their value is derived from their contribution.

The more someone contributes, the more valuable they become.

So now...

Even though both individuals believe that humans have some sort of value...

What they “mean” by “having value” is incredibly different and directly informed by their beliefs.

When you then have to decide on how to do something, such as make laws, that involve this value of “humans having value”...

There is a fundamental difference...

Which we see play out in policy.

Even if you agree generally on what “values” to live by...

Those values are directly informed by our beliefs...

Which means you are just shifting where you start...

But landing on the exact same challenge.

When you begin to look more deeply into these...

Beliefs, Values, and Identities...

They are fundamentally intertwined.

You cannot have any without the others.

Starting in one will naturally lead to the next.

Each points to the other.

This is why it becomes so important to really pay attention to these...

In our lives and in others’ lives.

There is an undeniable interplay between these that shape every individual’s perception of the world...

And how they end up interacting with it.

You cannot dismiss one without dismissing the whole.

But this then begs the question...

If we are to create a better world...

Requiring us to come together...

How are we to do it?

Especially when we already know...

That many of our beliefs, values, and identities are fundamentally at odds with each other?

The answer...

Is to first seek to understand...

Then...

Help people discover where their beliefs, values, and identities do not align within themselves...

Then...

Help them find paths where everything does align.

This is the formula that all help works on.

For example...

Counseling looks at who you are being (based on values misaligned with identity or beliefs) and who you want to become (based on values aligned with identity or beliefs).

As you become more aware of where the misalignments are...

There is an inner desire to find homeostasis within ourselves.

It may require us to change a value...

Or a belief...

Or an identity.

We also may need specific types of help...

Such as frameworks...

New thinking patterns...

Even some form of physical structures, such as rehab centers...

But the goal is to find that internal homeostasis where these all align.

The challenge with this...

Is to find the common ground with others that allows us to come together to find these misalignments.

How do you have a conversation with someone...

Who has a belief, value, or identity that is directly opposed to your own?

The answer...

Is that it is not easy.

Worse...

Even if you desire to find a common ground...

Sometimes...

No matter how passionate or right you may be...

Others have no interest in hearing any part of what you have to say.

In those situations...

There is little to nothing you can say.

A heart that is hardened cannot simultaneously be open to receiving anything outside itself.

Either someone is willing to allow themselves to be challenged...

Or they are not.

Now...

If you get to know someone...

Take time with them...

Get to truly understand them...

Then, sometimes, they may eventually open up to allowing themselves to be challenged.

But it is not guaranteed.

It may never happen.

However...

If you truly have a desire to change the world...

It is still something that you must work toward...

While simultaneously...

Allowing yourself to be questioned.

I think this, too, is where so many people go wrong.

If your own heart is hardened and unopened to being challenged...

Then you will meet equal opposition from others.

The only people who will agree with you...

Are those who already agree with you...

And that does not change the world.

If you are so self-righteous as to believe that you are free of potential error...

You will never help others find their way towards agreement with you.

You will only ever create an echo chamber...

And in many cases...

You will also turn your allies into enemies.

I have watched this happen time and time again.

But...

If you are honest about keeping your own heart open to being challenged...

And genuinely engage with others with this...

Not to attack them...

But the help them understand themselves better...

Eventually, you will find those who are open to engaging honestly.

It is from that unity that we change the world.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

The Line Between Celebration And Mourning

The Anniversary Of A Meaningful Passing

Written by a human, for humans, always.

There are people who will be such an important part of your life...

That you will find yourself never forgetting them...

Even years after they have passed.

Today is one of those days for me.

The anniversary of my friend’s passing.

In my phone, I have a reminder...

Celebrate for Scott.

It is a difficult reminder...

Because...

I still mourn his passing.

Years later.

When you mourn something or someone...

It is easy to ask...

What is there to celebrate?

It can feel like the world is colder and darker with the loss...

So why would you want to celebrate?

Indeed...

It also is not easy to try.

The darkness is more than happy to smother and suffocate you in your mourning.

Yet...

There is a reason that the darkness feels so overpowering...

The light from that which you mourn...

Was so powerful.

The dark always seems darker next to the light.

This is also what gives us the clue that is needed to figure out what to celebrate.

The light.

To have experienced it in your life.

To have been embraced in that warmth.

To have learned what the light truly is...

So that you may carry that same light into the lives of others.

That...

Is worth celebrating.

There is another challenge that happens with this...

And it has to do with a psychological phenomenon that we experience...

Black-and-white thinking...

All-or-nothing thinking...

Dichotomous thinking.

Whatever you call it...

It is the belief that you can only take one side or another...

You can only believe all of one thing or another...

That you can only experience one thing or another.

When we mourn...

We often struggle to celebrate...

Because we subconsciously believe that we cannot celebrate when we mourn.

But...

This is a false dichotomy...

An incorrect belief that we are unable to have multiple things at the same time...

That there are sides instead of a spectrum.

As humans...

We have an incredible spectrum of emotional capacity.

We can hold any and all emotions simultaneously...

Happiness and sadness.

Anger and pity.

We also can...

Be mourning and celebrating...

At the same time.

We can indeed mourn that the light is no longer here...

While celebrating that we have experienced that light and have the capacity to carry it within us...

To spread it to others...

Just as it was spread to us.

I believe that there is a beauty that can come from holding these together...

In harmony.

If we celebrate without mourning seems wrong.

To mourn without celebrating makes us blind and numb to other good in life.

But...

If we discover how to walk the line between celebration and mourning...

We have the ability to still be impacted by the weight of what is no longer here...

To know that the love within us is real and meaningful...

While also bringing honor to that love by seeing what is beautiful within it...

And bringing that love to others who are still here beside us.

Some people, when they experience mourning...

Just want the pain to disappear...

And I understand that.

Yet...

I cannot help but find myself wondering...

If that pain were to disappear...

Completely...

What would that really mean?

To no longer feel that light?

Is there not something horribly sad and amiss with its disappearance?

Perhaps...

That mourning should stay with us...

Perhaps changing shape along the way...

But never disappearing...

Because what that mourning reveals...

Is something true and beautiful in life...

A light in the darkness...

That is well worth celebrating.

I encourage you...

Find that line between celebration and mourning.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

The Challenge Of Standing For Your Beliefs

Determining Where You Have Rooted Yourself In A World Of Darkness

Written by a human, for humans, always.

We live in a difficult world.

One where things often appear to be misaligned.

Groups of people...

Who set themselves against each other.

Experiences we have...

Which leech into unrelated events.

Beliefs that we hold to...

That we are told to stand for...

But which are not always right.

This becomes a real challenge.

If you stand for something...

Are you brave for doing so?

Or are you a monster?

Will people understand?

Or will they slander you and say things you do not believe?

Will you change hearts?

Or will you harden their hearts?

Will you create unity through those beliefs?

Or will you expand the chasm?

Are you expressing the light?

Or have you unwittingly become an agent of darkness?

Are you standing for the right things...

But doing it in the wrong ways?

Or are you standing for the wrong things...

But doing it with the best of intentions?

These are the questions that must pour through our minds when we make a decision to stand for our beliefs.

We tend to believe that it is the heroes who are those who stand for their beliefs...

But fail to see...

That villains often do the exact same.

How do you know...

Which you are...

When both heroes and villains stand proudly for their beliefs?

How do you know...

Which you are...

When both will claim that the other is wrong?

How do you know...

Which you are...

When both fail to understand each other’s motivations?

How do you know...

Which you are...

When both are willing to die for what they believe?

Perhaps...

What is equally important...

Is whether you are willing to face the consequences...

If you are wrong?

Will you be able to live with yourself...

Truly...

If you are wrong?

Many people claim they will...

While simultaneously...

Being unable to sleep at night...

While constantly living their lives in fear...

With anxiety...

With doubts.

If the beliefs you hold were truly true...

Would they not create peace in your life?

You would be able to plant yourself by the pure river of truth...

Becoming unmovable...

A great tree that tells others that you will not step aside.

Yet...

So many in life...

Have planted themselves in places...

That does not have water...

That has been polluted and diseased...

And they have adapted...

Not in health...

But in ignorance...

Believing that there is no other source...

That where they are...

Is the only place they can survive...

And the tree they become is emaciated and rotten...

Unable to produce fruit...

Not in their lives...

Or in the lives of others.

I have watched pure streams become tainted...

I have seen good trees begin to decay...

I have watched as the fruit that once provided for so many...

Became the source of sickness and pain when we failed to see the darkness creep in.

I have watched so many fail to reevaluate whether they were still on the right path.

I have watched as ideals became twisted in ways they were never designed to be.

I have watched invasions of boundaries continue to push with the hope of bringing destruction upon others.

I have watched all of these be done...

In the name...

Of standing for their beliefs.

It is true...

That if those who are good fail to stand for their beliefs...

That darkness will push to take hold.

Yet...

If the beliefs we stand for are not truly pure...

Then we risk destroying the world around us...

And ourselves.

You must stand for your beliefs...

But...

It is equally important to ensure that you are absolutely certain that your beliefs are pure...

That they bring you peace in your life...

And if you find that you do not have peace...

Perhaps...

A reason exists.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

There Is No One Right Way

The Reality We Must Understand To Move Forward In Life

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I was just reading an article...

About how a behavior that one person did...

Impacted another person negatively...

And how they felt terribly sorry about it.

But what was interesting...

Was that there was a huge response of other individuals...

Who actually appreciated the behavior.

So what happened?

Was the person wrong for doing the behavior...

Even though others absolutely appreciated it?

Was the person who was negatively impacted wrong?

Did they “take it the wrong way”?

Or perhaps...

There is something else at play.

The reality is that...

None of these is correct.

The person who did the behavior is correct in the behavior they did.

The people who appreciated it are correct for appreciating it.

The person who was negatively impacted was correct for how they took it.

The apology given to amend the situation was correct.

There was nothing “wrong” that happened, per se.

Really...

What happened was a simple reality that is inevitable in life.

Different people...

With different experiences...

Have different expressions...

With different results.

One set of experiences will inform different types of expressions.

Those expressions will impact different people in different ways.

The results will depend on what experiences we have...

What expressions occur when...

And who is giving the expressions.

For some people...

You could have two different people say the same thing in the same way...

But it comes off differently because of another’s past experiences with similar people or situations.

Past experiences can create reactions in current situations that are completely different...

But the results are still experienced as real.

What one person understands...

May begin to change as they have different experiences in life.

What offended them at one point may begin to become a source of inspiration at another.

So...

When we begin to look more closely at life...

We begin to see a reality that most people miss...

There is no one right way.

You could be the perfect person...

With the perfect experience...

With the perfect expression...

And get the perfect results...

In one situation.

Then...

Do exactly the same thing in...

But get terrible results...

Be accused of a horrible expression...

End up with a dreadful experience...

While being the same person.

The reason is that there is no one right way.

There are so many variables that exist in life...

Which we could never hope to account for.

Even if you happen to find a way or method of doing things that works frequently...

It will never work all the time...

With every person you encounter.

It cannot.

This is where so many people get lost on their paths in life.

They try to make everyone happy.

They try to do things in a way that never offends anyone.

They try to make plans without a single imperfection.

The result?

They can never get anywhere.

They become stuck.

Because...

It is impossible to make everyone happy.

It is impossible to never offend.

It is impossible to create a flawless plan.

What can we do about this?

The best we can.

Of course, we should not strive to be terrible people...

But neither should we tear ourselves up when we miss a step within the deep complexities of life.

If we are going to move forward in life...

We must understand that there has never been and never will be one right way to do anything.

We have unique and powerful ways to do things in life...

Which will work for some people and situations...

And get incredible results...

And will fail for some people and situations.

That is life.

We must simply aim to do the best we are able...

With what we have...

When we are able.

When we miss along the way...

We do what we can...

Then continue forward with the new experience to help inform us going forward.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Is The Mind Primarily A Weapon?

Thoughts On A Theory And A Counterargument

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I was just reading an interesting theory.

The idea goes...

That the mind that we have today...

Was designed as a weapon.

Which...

The argument was fairly convincing.

You have other tribes of people.

If you can out-think your enemies on the battlefield...

You survive.

Whoever has the greatest mind becomes the one who outlives the others.

The idea has merits.

But it really got me wondering...

Is the mind primarily a weapon?

Or...

Is there another possibility at play?

My initial thought was that the mind was a tool...

And just as a hammer can be used to build or destroy a house...

So, too, can a mind be used.

The theory I was reading made a quick decision to say this is not the “primary” use of the brain, though...

Many other species have brains that are used in a tool-like fashion, which are nowhere near as sharp as our own brain.

Now...

Does this automatically rule out the theory of the mind as a tool?

Not necessarily.

But it does beg the question of why our brains specifically have gone to such an extreme that we do not see in other species.

To get to this...

I think we have to actually go more deeply into what the brain is designed to do...

But also importantly...

What it seeks out.

My biggest issue with the idea that the brain is primarily a weapon...

Is the fact that the vast majority of people...

Avoid conflict.

In fact...

When we look deeply into psychophysiology...

Conflict actually is extremely detrimental to our health.

If we were to expect something to be a primary purpose...

You would also expect that the same purpose would prove healthy as its intended purpose...

But that is not what we see within psychophysiology.

The more conflict we experience...

The less healthy we become.

As they say...

Stress is the number one killer...

The precursor to every single disease and dysfunction we experience as humans.

This seems to quickly disqualify the idea that the brain’s design is primarily to be a weapon.

Yet...

We also know that we are exceptional at warfare.

Humans have become the apex predator of the world...

With our only significant widespread enemies being ourselves.

But if warfare and conflict are not the primary design of our psychophysiology...

Why are we also so good at it?

If we go back to the idea of a tool...

A tool can destroy...

But it can also create and defend.

Perhaps...

Our brains are, first and foremost, tools of protection.

When we look at our health...

The safer we feel...

Generally, the healthier we are.

We seek out things that make survival easier.

There are significant health benefits to being a part of a community...

Which would make sense if our brain’s goal is protection...

Because there is safety in numbers.

There is another aspect of how the brain functions that is also important to pay attention to...

Our drive to create.

When you look into Flow Psychology...

We are at our most creative and innovative...

When we are in a Flow State.

And...

Flow States are autotelic.

What this means...

Is that we will seek out these states...

For their own sake...

Without needing any other motivation except for the flow state itself.

We will seek out flow states...

Even at the expense of eating and sleeping...

Which are, inherently, necessary for survival.

In Flow States...

We also feel our best...

And when we get into Flow States with others...

We become closer to those individuals...

Capable of accomplishing significantly more together than alone.

What this indicates to me...

Is that our minds are not primarily weapons...

Rather, they are creative tools...

That are first designed to bring us together...

And secondarily designed to protect us.

This seems to be how we, as humans, function most optimally and healthily.

However...

Just as we have discussed...

A tool can easily be turned into a weapon.

This, I would say, is actually the byproduct of humans experiencing weakness and desiring safety.

We are not the fastest creatures.

We are not the strongest creatures.

We are big enough to be the target of many predators.

We have no natural weapons or defenses to protect us.

But...

With our creativity, we can see how being faster helps the predator catch prey or the prey to escape danger...

So we can create ways to make ourselves faster.

With our creativity, we can see how being stronger can deter others from trying to attack us...

So we create ways to become stronger.

With our creativity, we can see how having weapons or defenses can protect us...

So we create weapons and defenses.

When resources feel scarce, and we fear for our well-being...

We can turn this creativity on each other.

It is not how our brains and bodies desire to be utilized...

There are negative consequences when we do use them in these manners...

But we can do it exceptionally.

The more that I look into psychophysiology...

What drives us and what benefits us most as human beings...

The answer to me seems to be...

Creation.

We are designed to create...

To innovate...

To learn and understand so that we can do this at more incredible levels.

This seems to be more desirable and rewarded in our psychophysiology than even survival.

Simultaneously...

If we do not survive...

We cannot create.

This simple fact forces us to utilize our creativity in such a way as to ensure we do continue to survive.

If we feel or believe that there is something or someone that can cause us to perish...

This, too, means we cannot create...

So we will seek out ways to survive.

And...

If the situation appears to be so dire that cohabitation does not appear to be possible...

Regardless of whether it is true or simply a perception we have, inherently or trained...

Then our brains will consider creative solutions to eliminate that threat...

So that we can get back to the creation process we inherently seek.

The article I read that proposed this theory landed on the idea of training our brains in a similar manner to how we train in martial arts.

As a martial artist of over 25 years myself (I started when I was 5)...

I can appreciate that idea...

But I also find it ironic because I think this perfectly encapsulates what I am getting at more than it encapsulates the idea that the brain is a weapon.

The ultimate goal of the martial artist is not to fight...

It is to be so good at fighting...

That they can stop a fight before it even starts...

Turn someone who opposes them into an ally...

Then use their life and direct it toward something creative.

This is where the idea of the warrior who retires to become a gardener or farmer comes from...

As well as the martial artist who seeks to create a new style of martial art that represents something unique in the world...

It is also where the warrior poet and warrior philosopher are born.

What you see in all of these...

Is that the ultimate goal...

Is to actually become a creative force in the world.

This becomes the ultimate desire.

The only time we see a different type of culture born...

Such as warrior cultures...

Are within societies where they believed that war was the only way to survive.

But...

We have seen nearly every warrior culture collapse or evolve...

When they had survived long enough to gain enough peace...

To consider...

That there may be more to life than war...

And as soon as that thought enters their zeitgeist...

The subconscious desire to create takes over.

The mind only becomes a weapon when it believes...

Correctly or incorrectly...

That war is the only way to survive...

That there are existential threats that could prevent them from creating.

Yet...

As soon as the belief that there may be another way begins to be considered...

The creativity of the brain begins to seek other avenues forward.

What does this tell us about the world today?

If we believe that there is an existential threat...

Then we must seek to identify whether it is truly an existential threat...

Because there are real threats that exist in the world, and to delusionally deny that is fatal...

But if the threat is not existential...

Then we can begin to use our brains in ways it works best...

As a creative force to design a better world.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

What Will Keep You Going?

Reflecting On Why I Continue After Seeing So Many Fall Away Over The Years

Written by a human, for humans, always.

What is it that keeps someone going?

Especially in the long term?

It is something that I have always wondered.

I have spoken to many people over the years...

Who said they were dedicated...

That they were going to keep going with so many different things...

Yet...

So often it does not happen.

I have met entrepreneurs who gave up.

Writers who stopped writing.

Athletes who stopped being active.

People who wanted to change the world...

Who just did not.

I have seen it happen so many times.

Why is it like this?

What causes people...

To fall away?

To give up?

While only a few select others...

Continue forward?

There are some reasons that are legitimate and make sense...

Sickness and bodily harm...

Financial requirements to take care of family...

There are real reasons to change paths in life.

But...

Far more often...

There is another reason that I find that causes people to stop going...

They were doing it for the wrong reasons.

That is not to say that their reasons themselves were bad.

Yes...

It is true that there are some reasons that are clearly bad for their inability to provide what we need psychophysiologically as humans...

Money...

Fame...

Glory.

But I have also seen people give up when their reasons were good...

A desire to improve the world...

To help vulnerable populations...

To provide a better future for their family.

These are all valiant reasons to pursue something...

But that does not necessarily make it the right reason for any single individual.

That is where it becomes so confusing for so many people.

They believe that their “why” is what will keep them going...

And it can help...

But it is not what keeps us in the game.

You need to dig deeper than a why.

What keeps one going...

Is a seeking...

But a seeking that is vastly deeper than what most people pursue.

This is the problem...

What most people seek...

Even if it can be agreed that the reason itself is positive...

Is not a deep seeking in their life.

It only skims the surface.

This is also the reason why...

The efforts are abandoned.

When we pursue something, but we are not completely enveloped in it...

It will never be enough to keep us pursuing it.

At least...

Not at a strong level.

It needs to be important work to us, yes...

But it also must speak to our souls...

Help us understand ourselves at a better level...

To be more connected with the world at large.

How many people do you know...

Who are pursuing something at that kind of level?

That is why so many people do not continue on their paths.

They are not pursuing it at that sort of level.

They are not seeking that sort of dedication to that path.

Often...

What they are pursuing...

Cannot provide that sort of path for them.

This becomes the true reason most do not sustain the path.

The path they are pursuing is too shallow for their needs...

Even if the why is good.

So many people...

Are consumed with pursuing some grandiose why...

When what they really may need...

Is a path that speaks to them personally.

One thing I have noticed...

Is that for some people...

It is what seems the most simple of paths...

That provides everything they truly need...

Which they pursue at the most excellent of levels.

When you are seeking out a path...

Make sure that it speaks to the depths of who you are and what you truly need.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.

Most People Do Not Want The Truth

What They Actually Want And How It Creates Their Psychological Enslavement

Written by a human, for humans, always.

I used to believe that people wanted to know the truth.

That they understood the power of having it.

That they would have a desire to seek out the truth for their own sake.

As the old Bible verse says...

“...you will learn the truth and the truth will make you free.” John 8:32

But over the years...

In every aspect of life...

I have come to discover that even though most people will “say” that they want the truth...

They are lying.

Usually not purposefully...

Moreso in the sense that they are lying to themselves about what they want.

When truth and reality are presented to them...

They chose to ignore it or walk away from it.

But if what they want is not the truth...

What is it that they really want?

Most people actually want to be justified and affirmed in their lives.

They are terrified that the truth...

Might tell them that they are wrong.

They would rather live in a lie than face the truth.

They want to feel that their choices and ways of living have been justified.

That their actions and thoughts were proper.

That they are the heroes of their own story.

Then...

They want everyone around them to affirm this belief.

What they do not want...

Is to be shown where their logic is wrong...

What the horrifying consequences of their logic naturally lead to...

That they may have been told lies and deceptions...

Which they were gullible enough to fall into...

That they were unable to wisely distinguish between right and wrong...

That they perpetuated terrible things without realizing the results...

That they ended up being a villain in another’s story.

This plays heavily into a bias we have as human beings...

The sunk cost fallacy.

It is the belief that we must press further into the actions and decisions we have made...

Even if they are discovered to be absolutely false...

Because we have already put so much time and effort into them.

We would rather live in an illusion...

Because of how much effort we have put into maintaining that illusion...

Than to hear the truth.

We would rather surround ourselves with people who support that illusion...

Even if those relationships are detrimental to us.

We would rather continue to perpetuate harmful actions...

Trying to convince others that what is wrong is actually right...

Than to accept responsibility for our moral failings.

We would rather make up a story about a future that is impossible to attain...

Than work hard and change ourselves...

To make a real and truly better reality.

Why?

For so many people...

The choices they make...

The way they live...

The decisions they make...

Are inherently tied to identities they hold...

That they mistakenly believe are essential and static...

Even though that is false.

The problem with this...

Is because they have an insecure sense of their identity...

With nothing else to fall back on...

When how they live is questioned...

It feels like an attack on their identity...

Instead of a correction toward something better.

The result...

Is that they begin to feel like their sense of self is directly being questioned and assailed...

And if they lose that identity that they have held so closely...

They feel like they will be losing everything...

Because psychologically...

They do not know anything else...

And the death of that identity...

Begins to appear like the death of the entire self...

Simply because they have built their entire lives around identities that were always destined to collapse.

That is the reality they are fighting against when they reject the truth.

The truth would set them free from the bindings of these false and flawed identities they hold...

But when they do not know what other identities they may have...

Buried...

Subconscious...

Deeper than they know exists...

They begin to fear that they will become nothing without the bindings...

And choose to be slaves instead of seeking the truth.

They continue to allow themselves to be used.

They continue to allow themselves to be abused.

They continue to allow themselves to be deceived.

Simply because they do not know who they are...

That would make them free.

To Your Sageship,

Cody

P.S. - It can be Difficult to Figure Out How To Achieve…

• Stress Optimization

• Psychophysiological Freedom

• An Exemplar Wayset

If you want Aid on the Path to Sageship, let me know - I’ll be Your Coach and Guide.

Just Send Me A Message.