Psychology – Breakaway Consciousness

Book Review: Unmasking The Face – By Dr. Paul Ekman | #SmartReads | #SocialEngineering

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
July 10, 2019

In the current state of worldwide affairs, knowing how people feel is a vital skill. Knowing when people are lying, even more so, particularly in the realm of politics and media, which is the vanguard reason I got this book a while ago.

While reading emotions might seem like a straight forward task, it is quite certainly not for many. A primary example of this is by the fact that many people, even though they realize politicians are corrupt in general, fall for lies of myriad types that those politicians expound, whether it is on your side, or that of the other side. Dr. Ekman’s book engages similar circumstances rather poignantly.

Transitioning to a quick sidebar that dovetails with this topic, the highly intriguing and groundbreaking show Lie To Me [2009] brought to the fore the issue of spotting lies to solve crimes when coupled with reading microexpressions in individual’s faces.

What are micro expressions a curious mind might inquire? Excellent question.

Micro expressions are very brief facial expressions lasting only a fraction of a second. They occur when a person is either deliberately or unconsciously concealing a feeling. These emotions have universal signals: happiness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust and sadness.

Along with that, throughout the series, not only did Lie To Me feature still-frames of people acting deceitfully, but the show also began to cover various other aspects of people’s behavior in order to find dishonesty.

And it just so happens that individuals can be taught, or can learn by themselves how to spot these errant behaviors.

In plainspeak, in Lie To Me, various methods of psychology were employed in order to ascertain whether or not people were being duplicitous. This is vital because it just so happens that the above show was in large part based on the work of behavioral psychologist Dr. Paul Ekman.

Getting back on track, Unmasking The Face – A Guide To Recognizing Emotions From Facial Expressions by Dr. Paul Ekman is an incredible book that details part of the knowledge that was used within the TV show referenced above.

Unmasking The Face helps individuals be able to pierce of the veil of lies that’s often cast upon them.

In his phenomenal and fascinating book, Dr. Ekman covers some of the tools and data available in order to determine people’s true feelings via their facial expressions.

At its core Ekman gives individuals the facial schematics to enable the recognition to be able to read the emotions referenced above. Concurrent with that, the author also covers many of the psychological reasons why people carry out the actions and the decisions that they choose.

The author also notes why many people at certain times make mistakes in reading emotions.

In cataloguing facial deceit, Ekman also narrows down facial expressions to four reasons: cultural display rules, personal display rules, vocational requirement and the need of the moment. The author then proceeds to expound upon those four reasons at length.

Coupled with that, the three management techniques individuals employ, which are simulating, neutralizing and masking, are also covered in some detail.

Without a doubt, this book is foundational for a robust understanding of reading and understanding people’s behavior at a much more comprehensive level.

With the totality of everything discussed and even more still, the topic and the skills in this book should definitely be something considered at length, being worth easily the price of this gem.

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Suggested Reading & Watching:

The Tavistock Institute: Social Engineering The Masses by Daniel Estulin
Social Engineering 101
Invisible Influence by Kevin Hogan
Lessons From Orwell’s 1984
What Is The Difference Between Education & Public Schooling?
The Catastrophic Decline Of Public Education: 21 Facts About Why Public Schooling Performs So Poorly
What Our List Of Most Banned Books Says About Our Society’s Fears
Logical Fallacies Employed In Every Day Life
Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
Weapons Of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto
13 Great Reasons To Study Logic
How A Generation Lost Its Culture – by Professor Patrick Deneen
A Different Kind Of Teacher by John Taylor Gatto
Socratic Logic by Peter Kreeft Ph.D.
Philosophy 101 by Peter Kreeft Ph.D.
Brave New World & Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley
What Is Education? The Elite Curriculum – John Taylor Gatto
Astroturfing & Manipulation Of Media Messages – Sharyl Attkisson
Breakaway Guide To Censorship, Disinformation, Logical Fallacies & More
How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
History So It Doesn’t Repeat – The Deliberate Dumbing Down Of America With Charlotte Iserbyt
Classrooms Of The Heart [Documentary] – John Taylor Gatto
Sumerhill School – A New View On Childhood by A.S. Neil
Dialectical Thinking – Zeno, Socrates, Kant, Marx by Tommi Juhani Hanjijarvi Ph.D.
Underground History Of American Education With John Taylor Gatto
The True Purpose Of Modern Schooling
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Open-Source Method: Genius Education – Examples | John Taylor Gatto
The Trivium – The Liberal Arts Of Logic, Grammar & Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph Ph.D.
Cultural Literacy – What Every American Needs To Know by E.D. Hirsch Jr.
A Rulebook For Arguments by Anthony Weston
A Workbook For Arguments by David R. Morrow & Anthony Wesson
Drilling Through The Core – Why Common Core Is Bad For American Education by Sandra Stotsky & Contributors

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If you find value in this information, please share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com

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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

Depression & Mental Health | #Life | #Death | #Depression | #Suicide | #MentalHealth | #Psychology

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
June 26, 2019

As a preamble, this piece on mental health is prompted by two different significant circumstances, one of which is personal, one of which is not, that took place the last day. The personal component will lead to set the foundation for what follows.

This piece will only touch lightly on the subject of mental health as equal parts vent and equal parts reminder for others to make sure that whether you happen to know someone, or simply think someone else might have mental health concerns, let them know that you are there, no matter what. No matter how many times it takes, for there are not enough ways to tell people you care for them.

When any single person takes their life because they thought nobody was there for them, which has happened way more often than it ever should have, it shows the possibility that (1) these individuals were not told they were cared for, or loved, (2) they were told, but didn’t really believe it, (3) they were told, but they were not shown, (4) they were told and shown, but it never registered anyways, (5) they went through one of the above circumstances, but their health issues didn’t allow them to have their mental faculties in full, preventing them from noticing, or appreciating the truth behind someone’s actions, or (6) another issue altogether that couples to the above in a different way.

As it happens, I have been writing quite a bit about mental health the last couple of days, and all of this stemmed from a poem that I helped co-write, which was thankfully a collaboration with a very talented acquaintance that I only met nigh a week and a half ago or so. During a conversation, she brought up the idea of a collaboration before me, and after we jumped at the chance, she settled on the topic of depression, which I didn’t mind whatsoever.

To say the least, the poem was incredibly thought provoking, and quite inspiring in a few different ways, which I kind of didn’t expect to be honest. On a subjectively deeper level, this piece made me think of lots of personal emotions and issues that I haven’t delved into for quite some time for various reasons, and even downright buried for many years. Having said that, what we wrote resonated with me so much that I have written dozens of poems of myriad types, some of which I plan on sharing in the future hopefully, including some the topic of depression, or darker subjects that revolve around mental health.

In fact, today, while I was stretching and writing poetry on this and other subjects, I got a text from a friend that said someone that we followed on social media had unfortunately passed away, which is where the second component of this blog posts comes in.

Through my friend I come to find out that Desmond “Etika” Amofah passed away due unfortunately to suicide. Whether someone is a youtuber or not, it’s extremely unfortunate when someone takes their life, especially when there were significant mental health issues that were known for months beforehand, but this is also how it happens at times.

How I ran into Etika’s work was simply by watching him over a decade ago on Youtube covering gaming, which is something that I am incredibly fond of. He was one of the content creators that clawed his way from the bottom and rose all the way to the top, and was incredibly popular for what he accomplished, and even inspired many in his journey. I won’t cover much more than that given that there’s literally countless articles out there covering the deeper aspects of his life. I simply mention this because although I didn’t know him, I did watch him enough to find an incredible affinity and kinship towards him, as many others have, when he was doing his work and it made me incredibly gloomy after hearing of his passing, especially given the circumstances.

The keystone point is, don’t ever assume people know you care, or even love them, and even if they do, they might still have problems reconciling that fact. Everyone thinks differently, so how someone expresses how they care is vastly different from how another individual does. Likewise, different people see acts of caring and love in different ways. Some people see small circumstances and find a lot of caring and love behind it, others do not; some people express themselves in ways they think are obvious forms of caring and love towards others, but others might not see it that way given countless reasons.

With all of that in mind, it is downright crucial to show others that you care and/or them, whether they have mental health issues or not, but especially if they do.

Consistent acts of kindness, whether small or not, can go a long way to help others come out of the catacombs of mental health issues, or prevent them from getting there in the first place.

Never underestimate the power that showing others you care can have. It might be the smallest gift you can give, but it might be the best gift someone could ever receive, because it just might change the course of their life forever.

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Author Notes:

[1] I say perhaps, because I am uncertain of what these individuals have gone through, or go through, but subjectively speaking I have found this to be true for myself and some close to me)

[2] Honestly, I wouldn’t had written this blog post if I hadn’t collaborated with the person I co-wrote that depression poem with. It’s not that I don’t have appreciation for mental health issues, it’s just hard for me to speak about these issues subjectively given some things that have happened in my past. But having had to privilege not only to write something on this very topic, but have it be meaningful in a way, incredibly so in fact for me personally, has nudged me in a direction that I hadn’t contemplated in going toward, but one that I appreciate to the fullest extent. I definitely let the person know that I appreciated the opportunity and I sure hope we can work together again, not only because (I think) we worked well together, but also because of how well the poem came out, but that will ultimately be up to them.

Either way, this situation is just one of those seemingly little circumstances that can change your outlook on many things, and make you realize that there are people out there that will relate with what you have to say at the deepest levels, and I haven’t been able to do that with this topic, not like that. Especially given that I often mask emotions with metaphors and I am not as blunt as I am in my personal journal or random accounts I often employ in various nooks across the internet just to let off steam.

My main point is that many times people think that there aren’t others out there that care, or care enough to listen to them, or to help them wade through the issues, when in fact the opposite is true. There are people that would walk through oceans of fire for them to make sure that they are okay. But as I’ve alluded to elsewhere, many people often don’t show others that they care because they see the acts that they themselves undertake as ‘obvious’ acts of kindness, even when others might not see it that way. And if a person sees their own actions as an obvious act of kindness and love, why wouldn’t others? Simple: because not everybody thinks likes you, feels like you, acts like you, or ultimately lives like you, why is why you should never underestimate the power of acting out of love, no matter who this action is towards, and whether you know that person or not.

You all have a great evening, and no matter what, always show others you care.

#Quote Of The Day | #Happiness | #Emotions | #Anger

“For ever minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
– Ralph Waldo

Mist Of Dark Bliss | #Poetry | #Poem | #Prose | #Quote | #Writing | #Darkness

My soul escaped into the boundlessness of dark bliss
Free, whole & reshaped, I found this mist of darkness

Zy Marquiez | The Lightning Baron
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A World Of Grays | #Family | #Darkness | #Life | #Abuse | #Obstacles | #Perseverance

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
April 16, 2019

I am writing the following due to a post on Instagram that was shared a long time ago that had to do with child abuse and so on. I just finished reading that right now, which is why I am writing this. That’s the ‘inspiration’ for this, if you could call it that.

I wrote a post long ago on Instagram called “Black Unicorns”, based on a topic that I discussed with a friend of mine many years ago. The whole point of that piece was it was under the premise for my appreciation for women which became the metaphor for Black Unicorns. That much was obvious, what wasn’t obvious is what follows.

In my nascent stages of life, my family and I underwent significant and excruciating abuse. This type of environment obviously tailors who you become, what your fears are, what terrifies you, who you trust, and so on. The main part of all of this abuse stemmed from my father, which I have alluded to him countless times as being the ‘father of darkness’. Conversely, I have alluded to my mother as the ‘Mother of light’. Neither parent was perfect, but I appreciate both, though obviously my Mom by magnitudes more, but it was my father who chose to unleashed cataclysmic pain that no human being, yet alone a child should ever endure.

That dichotomy leads to me often feeling that I live in a world of grays, a subject which once again arose in my mind very recently. Perhaps I will write about it again, though I am uncertain as to this time.

Grays, as part of the color spectrum, is something that is synonymous with storms. Storms are a whole kaleidoscope of grays. That’s how I’ve often felt in life, and many of the scenarios that took place after only cemented my kinship with the colors gray, silver, platinum, and the like.

More importantly though, I say all this because people that did not know me as a human being made an erroneous assumption about why I wrote that post. Yes, that post was about women, as I said before, that much was obvious.

What isn’t so obvious that the pyramid under which that post stands, the pyramid that is the constant support, the walls that have provided a sanctum for my entire life, the very place where my spirit often rests, the foundation of the very person that I am, is my Mom. At the top of the pyramid my trust for women, all women, stands, because I haven’t been fucked over as much by women, nigh ever, as I have been screwed over by men, mainly my father. But it was my mom who was always the foundation for everything amazing that followed. Moreover, most of my best friends over time and still now have been female too, which only further reinforced my trust for women.

I didn’t plan on sharing this as it was on spontaneous feeling, but I share all this because I hope people in the future don’t end up misjudging others, whoever it is, without actually (1) knowing them, (2) knowing how their mind works, (3) knowing what the context is, but most important, (4) knowing what lead to that context.

It’s easy to see the world in black and whites, but most of the time the world really is a whirlwind of grays; a whirlwind that is never-ceasing because a lot of what happens in life, is entirely subjective.

That is why I always bring everything down to ‘the individual’.

Everything we do, see and experience is entirely through our independent point of views. These points of views, as I’ve often referenced, tailor every breath that we take, every step that we take, every road we will venture towards, and ultimately, the life that we live.

Perhaps a road will serve as a perfect conclusion for this, for never more will we see grays then on the road of life; the road that is littered with every single circumstance imaginable, all of which lead towards the future.

It’s on that road, the road of life, that we will witness countless storms, storms of every type imaginable, storms that are as wondrous as they are frightening, but storms that, at the end of the day, are paved in grays.

Fortuitously, it is within those grays, those storms that pour endless rain that water travels through and thankfully sprinkles the Earth with.

Water that brings life; water whose very essence is balance; water whose very being is interwoven within the streams of life more than any other element on earth.

And that world of grays up above is what helps it all along.

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Suggested Reading:

Have You Ever Walked On The Moon?
Never Underestimate The Power Of Imagination, The Power Of Dropping Seeds
Stranger On The Moon
Wings Are Made To Fly, Seeds Are Made To Grow
Why A Sound Mindset Is Crucial: The Light Side Of Mindset Vs. The Dark Side Of Mindset
Mindset Mindset Mindset!
A Sound Mindset Amidst The Obstacles Of Life
Mindwaves & Mindfulness
Modern Misteps Meet Mindfulness
How TV Robs You Of Your Life
How You Deposit A Truckload Of Black Pearls Into An Emotional Bank Account
How Are Your (Emotional) Bank Accounts Doing?
Emotional Bank Accounts: Mutual Funds
Emotional Bank Accounts: Deposits & Withdraws
Emotional Bank Accounts: Gems Gems Gems, Babies Everywhere!
Emotional Bank Accounts: I Call Your 7 Cents & Raise You A Dollar
Poker & Life: Pulling The Friend’s Card
Imagination Unleashed
The Inherent Power Of Curiosity
A 7 Cent Investment Into An Emotional Bank Account To Convert A Hater?
What Do You Find Inspiring?
Poker FlashBack: Swimming With Sharks, Swimming With Whales
Imagination Rises Out Of The Jaws Of Defeat
What’s Your Story?
You The Individual Are Author Of Your Own Journey, Of Your Own Destiny
Harry Potter Fans Trash Talk? Say WHAT?!
Consciously Creating The Road Of Change, The World Of Tomorrow
What Are Your Personal Defaults?
The Opening Salvo, The First Minute
The Seeds Of Today, The World Of Tomorrow
Assumptions Are Mother Of All F@!$ Ups
Piercing Perspectives #1: Taking Things For Granted | Health & Mindset
Piercing Perspectives #2: You The Individual Are Extraordinary
Piercing Perspectives #3: The Divide & Conquer Left Right Paradigm
Piercing Perspectives #4: Poker As A Mirror For Life
The Individual, The Foundation Of Society

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If you find value in this information, feel free to share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com

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About The Author:

#Book Review: A Mind Of Your Own: The Truth About #Depression And How Women Can Heal Their Bodies To Reclaim Their Lives by Kelly Brogan M.D. and Kristin Loberg | #SmartReads

“Psychiatric diagnosis still relies exclusively on fallible subjective judgments rather than objective biological tests.”
– Dr. Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal

“Probably as much as 75% of the medicine of sickness is unnecessary and its cost can be avoided.”
– Dr. Ghislaine Lanctot, Author Of The Medical Mafia

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
March 29, 2019

Dr. Kelly Brogan’s work first became known to me when she addressed countless health issues in an article she penned years back that was shared via the website GreenMedInfo. From there, she’s been one of my ‘go-to’ alternative medical doctors whose work is attempted to read as much as possible.

Given that, one can come to expect high quality information from the author, and in this recent endeavour, she does not disappoint.

A Mind Of Your Own: The Truth About Depression And How Women Can Heal Their Bodies To Reclaim Their Lives by Kelly Brogan M.D and Kristin Loberg shows the reader many of the inherent issues within Big Pharma and Big Psych.

Not only is the reader seamlessly shown countless examples of very troublesome issues regarding medications doled out like candy by Big Pharma and doctors, but also how this health for-profit system of ‘medicine’ is set up by loose strings, which care not for people’s health rights.

For example, did you know that the U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries which allow drug companies to advertise directly to consumers? Prior to 1997, there was a ban in place that restricted pharmaceuticals from advertising to consumers – known as drug-to-consumer-advertising, or DTCA- but this ban was removed, to the detriment of the populace.[1]

Why is this important? Because that law was in place to protect individuals from the highly specialized, and yet misleading advertising of all drugs.

Another point of serious concern is how the great majority of prescription drugs sold is due to DTCA. As Dr. Kelly Brogan notes in her milestone book, which homes in on the efficiency of this specialized advertising:

“It’s been calculated that DTCA [drug-to-consumer advertising] is responsible for nearly half (49 percent) of requests for drugs. And fully seven out of ten times doctors prescribe based on appeal by patients who learned through their computers and televisions that they have an “imbalance” that must be fixed with a pill.”[2][Bold Emphasis Added]

Predictably, all that already-disturbing information leads to prescription drugs being doled out at 4 Billion per annum[3], it’s no wonder that Medical Errors are the third leading cause of death.[4]According to a new John Hopkins study, which is covered by the Washington Post:

“Their analysis, published in the BMJ, shows that ‘medical errors’ in hospitals and other health care facilities are incredibly common and may now be the third leading cause of death in the United States — claiming 251,000 lives every year, more than respiratory disease, accidents, stroke and Alzheimer’s.”[5][Click here for the study named Medical Error – The Third Leading Cause Of Death In The US]

You, as an astute reader, might be wondering, okay, what does that have to do with psychiatry? Excellent question.

About 10% of Americans take anti-depressants, which equates to about 30 million people. With the downright disconcerting facts that Dr. Brogan brings up in her book A Mind Of Your Own, many of the people that will be railed by the medical system will be within the psychiatric field.

What’s disturbing about this is that, as Dr. Brogan herself cautions, most drug research is in fact, short term:

“Their patients have never consented to the long-term effects of these medications because pharmaceutical research is, by nature, short term. There is no incentive on the part of the pharmaceutical companies to take a good look at what happens to the average individual when she takes a medication for a decade or so.”[6][Bold & Underline Emphasis Added]

As an individual who’s had a few friends that have depression and continues to meet people with it randomly through life, and also as a person who has a great interest in health, the information presented within this book is certainly greatly appreciated.

One of the greatest strengths A Mind Of Your Own showcases is the fact that this book is chock-full of real verifiable data that would shock most people who haven’t begin doing their own research within the health establishment.

Not only is this book rather easy to comprehend, but the reader can feel the honesty and concern that have been staples of Brogan throughout her work. This is vital, because in the arena of medicine there are countless doctors who care more about prescribing pills, than they do about the welfare of the patient and actually solving the problem. This is known personally to me and my family via my many hospitalizations due to poor health, doing exactly what the doctors suggested which was always taking more pills. It was only when seeking my own solutions following nutrition, getting off of medications, and many other issues that true healing began for myself.

On that note, this is where Dr. Brogan shines because she is doing what should be undertaken by most, if not all doctors or concerned individuals within the medical establishment, which is outlining the dangers so many people are going through in respect to side effects by the overmedication of America, as well as – and arguably more importantly – offering solutions/alternatives to the for-profit (and not for-health) medical system.

Brogan’s outlook on the mental health in America is quite unique and reminiscent of another author. In fact, for me, it reminds me of a book called Toxic Psychiatry by Peter R. Breggin M.D., where the author not only outlines problems within the psychiatric establishment, but also, like Brogan, covers issues with medications that most people would consider safe, but aren’t as safe as they are made out to be.

Am not implying that the Dr. Brogan’s work takes from Dr. Breggin. What am saying is however, that both doctors have great concern regarding mainstream health, and seem to share very similar values in how they think patients should be treated in respect to solutions and such.

With that said, this particular book ventures in a myriad paths. It rightly gives an extensive look into the flawed theory of depression but also shows how that theory is an outright fallacy. It also covers many of the ways in which depression symptoms can manifest in people, which at times are solved with merely vitamins.

One would expect, with tens of millions of lives at stake, and with dozens of side effects to boot per medication, a more thorough process would be in place to safeguard individuals against possible iatrogenic mistakes that plague the populace en mass. But such is not the case.

Another great notion Brogan centers in on within her book is done in her chapter called The Great Psychiatric Pretenders. Within it, Brogan details not only how the one-size-fits-all type of care that is carried out in America is inefficient, but she also provides a few of the circumstances that create bedlam within individuals and are often categorized as depression, but are incorrectly diagnosed.

It’s imperative to know this because people are walking around thinking a pill is the only solution to their problems when there are many more solutions than they realize.

Brogan also sheds light with a cursory glance at the fact that serious drug fraud has taken place in the past which is unknown to many.

Although there aren’t many doctors out there standing up for what’s right within medicine, Dr. Brogan and a growing number of others are, such as the aforementioned Dr. Peter R. Breggin, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Duzanne Humphries, Dr. Sircus, Dr. Natasha Campbell-Mcbride, Dr. Russell Blaylock, Tetyana Obukhanych Ph.D, and more, are forming new grounds in the field of health – true health. Each of these individuals all put out very high quality information regularly and are concerned with various aspects of health. But don’t take my word for it, do your own research so you can be better informed. I cannot stress the ‘do your own research’ part enough

It is vital for individuals as a community to support these people, because they’re in it to HELP people and refuse to throw people under the bus merely for profit.

In any case, if you’ve read any of Dr. Brogans work, this will definitely follow suit. She definitely pulls no punches in her journey to not only outlining dangers individuals should be concerned about, but also in offering holistic solutions that many do not realize are available.

If you’ve made it this far, and are really interested in the topic, do yourself a favor and purchase this book. That, or perhaps recommend it to people that might find great value in it because they will find information that’s not only deep, but quite extensive. The information in this book can really change the course of someone’s life if they realize what’s out there. I’ve seen it happen myself with friends.

In the age of information, ignorance is no excuse, and this book does an outstanding job of erasing mountains of ignorance that otherwise would be everpresent in respect to the mainstream medical establishment if one were not exposed to it.

Bottom line, not only does Brogan absolutely eviscerate the Depression is a “chemical imbalance” meme with truck loads of data, but she also gives the reader precise methods in which they can retake their health back.

Now, if that’s not self-empowerment, what is?

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Suggested Viewing:

Depression: Busting Myths & Finding Answers (Full Interview w/Dr. Kelly Brogan)

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Sources & References:

[1] Dr. Joseph Mercola, The Great Bird Flu Hoax, p. 39.
[2] Dr. Kelly Brogan M.D., A Mind Of Your Own – The Truth About Depression, p. 52.
[3] http://www.naturalnews.com/037226_drug_prescriptions_medical_news_pills.htm
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/05/03/researchers-medical-errors-now-third-leading-cause-of-death-in-united-states/?utm_term=.d262ea291b26
[5] http://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139
[6] Dr. Kelly Brogan M.D., A Mind Of Your Own – The Truth About Depression, p. 35.

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About The Author:

#Book Review: Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy | #SmartReads

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
March 28, 2019

“It always seems impossible until it is done.”
– Nelson Mandela

“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”
– James Allen

Given the penchant of self-help books guaranteeing everything under the sun, “Never judge a book by its cover” was the first thing that came to mind upon seeing the cover of this book. Thankfully though, this book was not merely a ghost in a shell.

Maximum Achievement by Brian Tracy is a rather unique approach to create a road to success.

Drawing from a wide-array of fields such as philosophy, psychology, history, metaphysics, and more, Tracy fuses the insights learned through experience and research into this treasure trove of information. All of this is aimed for individuals to become active in their own self-mastery.

The insights are varied, but critical, for they cover subjects such as an individual’s relationships, mindset, critical decision making, and even interactions with children. The book features a lot more than that too.

In fact, some of the tips suggested in this book remind me of Neurolinguistic Programming [NLP] books, given the nature of the topic, which is focusing your thoughts into creating new habits in order to bring about profound individual change. The loose comparison is mentioned to serve as a reference for those that might have read books on NLP or are interested in them.

The one thing that the author homes in on, and does so aptly, is the importance of having a sound mindset. As the author alludes to often, with proper mindset anything can be achieved.

In fact, in a sentiment that calls to mind the timeless quote by Yoda, “Do or do not, there is no try,” the author states:

“A major turning point in your thinking comes when you change your language from “whether” to “how.” When you start thinking about how you are going to accomplish something you want, and you simultaneously refuse to consider whether it’s possible or not, your entire mentality begins to change.”[1][Bold Emphasis Added]

Is it really that simple? Henry Ford seemed to think so when he intimated, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”

A strong mindset is crucial. In fact, maintaining a keen mindset is everything. Maintaining a proper mindset should be a key focus of individuals, since creating negative habits can happen a lot quicker than one realizes. Tracy soberingly notes:

“The most dangerous habits you can form…are mental habits. Because of the fact that whatever you think about continually you create in your life, your negative or self-limiting thoughts hurt you more than anything else you can engage in.”[2][Bold Emphasis Added]

This is something attentive individuals will notice when being mindful of their surroundings and thoughts. Not only has this happened to me, but I have witnessed it often in family, friends and acquaintances. Such is the power of the human mind, and as such it should be carefully and thoughtfully employed.

Whether we become our own worst enemies, or we become our best friends is up to us. The great thing is that we hold the key to the doorway of change.

Maximum Achievement is a terrific read in its totality, made all the more relevant by how high-speed our lives have become, as well as how easy it is for people to get distracted and create poor habits. Complement this book with Getting Things Done by David Allen, and you will undoubtedly have a great foundation from which to proceed into a better and more rewarding future. Stay focused, stay productive, and do not be dissuaded by any obstacles that might arise.

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Footnotes:

[1] Brian Tracy, Maximum Achievement, p. 88.
[2] Ibid., p. 91

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Suggested Reading & Watching:

Logical Fallacies Employed In Every Day Life
13 Great Reasons To Study Logic
How A Generation Lost Its Culture – by Professor Patrick Deneen
Socratic Logic by Peter Kreeft Ph.D.
Philosophy 101 by Peter Kreeft Ph.D.
What Is Education? The Elite Curriculum – John Taylor Gatto
How To Read A Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
Social Engineering 101
The True Purpose Of Modern Schooling
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Open-Source Method: Genius Education – Examples | John Taylor Gatto
The Trivium – The Liberal Arts Of Logic, Grammar & Rhetoric by Sister Miriam Joseph Ph.D.
A Rulebook For Arguments by Anthony Weston
A Workbook For Arguments by David R. Morrow & Anthony Wesson
Drilling Through The Core – Why Common Core Is Bad For American Education by Sandra Stotsky & Contributors

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