Belief

Belief

5 Beliefs That You Need to Rethink

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 24 2021

As most people familiar with the Personal Growth space of a bookstore know, eliminating negative or limiting beliefs is a central focus of helping people feel and live better.  Most of those limiting beliefs come from two places: Now, most of those are about you, which is the focus of most self-help.  If you believe that you can't succeed at doing...

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Meaning

Disagreements Around Meaning

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 17 2021

Disagreements can be tough.  On one hand, you believe that you are right about your conclusions based on the information you have and the reasoning and ethics you are using to draw those conclusions.  On the other hand, the other person believes the exact same thing.  The reality is that you have different perspectives, information, and ethics, so...

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Meaning

The Fine Line Between Justification and Rationalization

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 18 2021

An important part of feeling meaning and fulfillment in life is being proud of your actions.  Your actions are how most people judge you, and those actions are judged based on both what the people see and how they perceive or interpret those actions.  You also judge yourself based on your thoughts, beliefs, desires, ethics, and actions, but you hav...

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Planning

You Didn’t Choose to Be Born...But Should You Act Like You Did?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 28 2021

You might not have chosen to be born, but you're surprisingly better off acting as if you had. You know the scenario: a parent and child get into an argument.  There's usually some sort of pressure on the child to behave in some way or meet some set of expectations that results in the now-cliché response, "I didn't choose to be born!"  What is caus...

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Desire

Follow the Signs

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 21 2021

Signs.  They’re indicators that you should make a decision or take an action in life.  There are real, tangible signals in life like your emotions.  Your emotions are giving you critical feedback as to your current state of growth or harm.  If you’re happy, you’re healthy and growing; if you’re afraid, there is a danger to your health and safety.

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Suffering

Use Cognitive Dissonance to Your Advantage

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 14 2021

Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between a belief you hold and a behavior, new information, or a conflicting belief.  The "dissonance" in this case causes discomfort, necessitating a change in the person's behavior or beliefs to alleviate it.  The most famous example in history is the Aesop fable of Sour Grapes.  In the fable, a...

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Happiness

People See What They Want to See

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 30 2021

This post is intentionally luring you in as the seeming beginning of a rant about how the world is one way but people refuse to accept it.  On the contrary, however, seeing what you want to see is actually one of the keys to life and the secrets to happiness and success.  To use it as a derogatory comment is pretty ironic in the grand scheme of thi...

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Emotions

Where Psychology and Spirituality Overlap

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 2 2021

Law of Attraction, or self-fulfilling prophecy?  The power of faith, or the Placebo effect?  Science and spirituality make different arguments for the cause and effect happening between human thoughts and behaviors and the outcomes that they see.  What is really going on here, and (why) does it matter?  Let’s explore.

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Suffering

Believing What’s True vs. What Benefits You

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, May 26 2021

This seems like it should be the shortest blog post ever: “Should you believe what’s true or what benefits you?  What’s true, of course!  What a stupid question!” Okay, well what if someone just had the greatest failure or disaster of their lives and the truth is that their life will never be the same again?  What if their dog, friend, or family me...

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Meaning

Is There a Higher Purpose?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 10 2021

When people ask about their purpose, they often want a "greater" meaning or "higher" purpose in life.  But what do they mean by this?  Greater/Higher than what?  Does this mean a divine meaning?  And, if this exists, what is it for you, and is it the same for everyone?  Well, while this sounds like an impossible question, it's actually fairly simpl...

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