7 Powerful Habits: Keys to Self Development

A Tribute To Shark

REPOST: Originally On December 6, 2010 by Shark

1. Read: A book gives a man the opportunity to explore a perilous idea, step into a phantasm, and consume the visionary thoughts of others. It is food for your mind, a greenhouse for your imagination. It makes you a more interesting person. The first 10 minutes of talking to a girl is rehearsed, an act that we have exercised in front of a mirror a thousand times until perfection. But after that, you voyage into the unknown. You can memorize a book of openers and pick up lines but that’s all you’ll be able to do — open. Game goes beyond that, it goes deeper. The renowned pick-up artist Mystery said it great in an interview; when a comedian makes a funny joke, the joke is funny. But when he makes 10 funny jokes, the comedian himself is funny. YOU need to be interesting and engaging, you can’t just say a couple of interesting lines. You must enrich your thoughts, breath life into your creativity. Reading creates a haven where your mind can innovate and imagine. If you were a girl, would you rather have a conversation with a man who works at a bar for 10 hours a day, or with a man who travels the world for a living? Through books, you can be both.

2. Dance- Pay close attention to clubs scenes. The guys that have the most girls around them are the ones who can dance. And by dance, i mean really move, not just hip-thrust. Dancing means being in tune with the music, and using the core part of your body to move. Only about 5% of the male population can do this. The rest either flail their arms around like a tortured flamingo, stand in the corner and stare at other people dancing, or hip-thrust. Hip-thrusting is especially unattractive, it makes it look like you’re dry humping everything on the dance floor because you’ve been sexually deprived all your life. Take lessons if you can’t dance, or join a dance team for a year if you’re in college.

3. Play an instrument- “The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention: the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril.”

4. Travel- “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” -Mark Twain

5. Engage in an intellectual activity- Preferably, choose a competitive intellectual activity like chess. The combination of your ambition to win with the extraordinary amount of acumen required to excel makes it much more than just a lifeless mathematical exercise. The victory you achieve from an analytical sport represents the triumph of your mind and launches your ingenuity to new heights. Keep your brain sharp, it is the strongest asset you will ever own.

6. Play a Sport- “I don’t know anything that builds the will to win better than competitive sports.” — Richard Nixon
Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. Recently in a documentary I saw about the most successful people on Wall Street, the makers pointed out how most of the moguls were all obsessed with a sport at an earlier point in their lives. The competitive nature of sports amplifys the will to power in all of us. It teaches character, discipline, and stimulates courage. Being good at a sport builds natural confidence and cultivates a powerful personality.

7. Believe- It doesn’t matter if it’s a religion or a philosophy, Islam or existentialism. Find a body of thought that you would be willing to believe in, something that gives you purpose. Create your own if you want to. You’re thoughts are the most powerful things you have, don’t waste them. For more about using your thoughts constructively: check out thinking positive