What conditioning does, however, is to convince us that our curiosities are sources of fear. It will make us believe that our intuition is faulty, and that success or serenity will be elusive if we follow it. It will make us believe that everyone else has the answers, and that listening to our own voice is a distraction from pursuing what’s

They take the form of social expectations, suggestions, and judgments that make you feel like everyone else has the answers.

Mastery is the quest to improve yourself as an end in itself. Comparisons are not made with other people, but only with prior versions of yourself.

Embedded in every “why” is the “how” to proceed once you’ve had that realization. This is what writing for yourself helps you uncover, and the best part is that you don’t ever need to call yourself a writer to see this. Since reflection is all about

This is further solidified by a commitment to mastery, which ensures that any point of comparison will be redirected from the outside to within.

Let’s start by defining what intuition is. Some say that it’s a gut feeling that validates a decision. Others think of it as an alarm that alerts you of potential mishaps. And in some circles, it might be described as a divine force that guides you toward truth.

And given that people favorably judge that which they already know, he will be incentivized to imitate the familiar.

Every inner compass starts at true north, which is the state of trusting ourselves. This is because we are all born with the gift of presence (as discussed in Chapter 2), which is when your inner state is in alignment with your external surroundings. There’s no worry or fear when you’re present because you’re content with what simply is.

The answer resides in one simple word: self-understanding. Because the more you know yourself, the less you look to others to show you what the world is like.