Hello Everyone!
I decided that I would start a series on the hit book "12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos" by Jordan Peterson. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend giving it a shot, even if you aren't an avid reader. I plan on diving into a chapter a week (every Friday), and hopefully we can get some good discussion going on!
If you guys like this discussion a lot then I may try and analyze 2 chapters per week so we can keep it fresh.
Stand Up Straight With your Shoulders Back -- Chapter 1
Dr. Peterson starts off with commonalities between humans and... lobsters!? Territory... status... conflict... it's ingrained into the deepest parts of nature, (lobsters) and humanity alike. Where 85 of the top people make as much as the bottom 3.5 billion, this world looks grim for those of us who are just scraping by. Romance, finance, mental and physical health; the top grow higher and the bottom fall lower. The gap grows wider and we're stuck in the middle with no direction or motivation. How can this possibly be overcome!
This is where Dr. Peterson introduces the physical foundations in preparation for the long hike up the mountain of a successful life. Starting small: a healthy breakfast, waking up at a consistent time, posture. Fixing these simple habits will begin to point our lives in the correct direction.
"If you present yourself as defeated, you (and others) will start to believe you're defeated"
Peterson ends this chapter off with a very profound challenge. He says "Stand up straight, not just in the physical, but in the metaphysical as well. You are stronger knowing that you are facing the demands of life voluntarily. You respond to a challenge, instead of bracing for a catastrophe... It means willingly undertaking the sacrifices necessary to generate a meaningful reality..." It is difficult, but it makes a world of difference to see life through the lens of a champion rather than seeing it as a hopeless list of events that we passively watch.
With the conclusion of the first chapter, I want to encourage discussion on these topics. It only gets better from here!