Traumatized Supermen: When Self-Improvement Sabotages Self-Healing

A definitive guide on the role of trauma in success. Iconic thinkers who changed the world. Wear them. Express your mission. Right now subscribers get 20% off our entire t-shirt collection. Just [use this special link]( to get your discount. Trauma is real. Whenever I used to hear terms like "trauma" and "psychotherapy" I would scoff. There's no such thing as trauma, I thought. That's outdated thinking by people who don't know what I know about self-improvement. Exercise, gratitude, meditation, reading... that was the recipe for happiness. The truth was, I was traumatized but I didn't really accept that at the time. The reason I got interested in self-improvment to begin with was because I was trying to escape the suffering of my trauma. You see... When I was about 12, I found out that my brother was not my full, biological brother. I had no idea. When I was 18 I was held at knifepoint in a car by a heavily drugged up ex-convict. The same year I was attacked by a group of boys and trapped inside a shop. When I was in my early twenties I had a phone-call from my sister as she was getting attacked by a large dog. This year, my girlfriend's head started bleeding after she banged it into a fire-hose box. I was in a foreign country and didn't know what to do. I wish I could say these experiences were easy to brush off and forget about, but they left a mark deep in my psyche and even deeper in my body. When these things happen it's really hard to view the world as a safe place... and that understanding is at the heart of trauma. Lately I started researching what trauma is, how it's caused, and how to heal it. I took a deep dive, and now I want to share my discoveries with you in [this article](. The fact is, self-healing is a different process from self-enhancement, but we typically confuse the two. I believe this is the most important article I've ever written. The information contained in this post may fundamentally change the way you see yourself and your personal growth. I would love for you to read it and let me know your thoughts. With Love, Jon Brooks [Traumatized Supermen: The Role of Addiction and Trauma in Success]( “Unlike other forms of psychological disorders, the core issue in trauma is reality.”― Bessel A. van der Kolk [Read More]( Carl Jung once observed, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” We created [30 Challenges to Enlightenment]( to help you do this. To become the strongest, wisest, and most honest expression of yourself. As you know, taking action is hard and scary. It’s much easier to cling to what you know, to what is stable and comfortable. And yet, on some level, you realize that the treasure you seek cannot be found in your familiar routine. You’re reading this because you want something more: Adventure. Authenticity. Confidence. Purpose. Enlightenment. Whatever it is you’re seeking, your well-worn patterns can’t get you there. They can only bring more of the same. And that’s why we created this epic course: to break you out of your old patterns—to give you room to become a stronger, wiser, more heroic version of yourself. One of the most powerful aspects of this course is that it is divided into six unique quests, which are based on the stages of enlightenment described in the Zen tradition. The quests form a natural progression toward self-actualization and spiritual realization, providing meaningful direction to your journey. This is just one element which sets it apart from everything else out there. Each quest provides another stepping stone to increasingly liberating perspectives, greater awareness, and more enlightened states of being. Our aim was to create a kind of “PhD in self-development.” The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche understood the utility of temporary challenges as well as anyone, and he was one of our greatest inspirations in building this course. Nietzsche recognized that in order to become stronger and wiser, it was necessary to overcome yourself—to leave behind your established ways and paradigms. Nietzsche thought we should engage in perpetual self-conquering, regularly transcending our current conditioning to become something more. In pursuit of this end, he developed the idea of a “gymnastics of the will”—a practice of undertaking temporary experiments of willpower, with the intention of strengthening, mastering, refining, and deepening our being. Friedrich Nietzsche understood that our conditioning runs deep. Even if you admit that you want to change your life, it’s damn difficult to override your habitual programming. The solution to this problem, for Nietzsche, was to regularly attempt a variety of life experiments—experiments that would push one to act contrary to one’s conditioning. If we could just make a habit of attempting life-transforming challenges, Nietzsche thought we would unearth our own greatness, that which lies beneath our conditioning, and become resilient masters of life. However, we’ll let you in on a sad secret: Most of you won’t accept the challenge. Even though you perceive this grand opportunity, most of you will find an excuse. And you will find reasons to believe this excuse. As Nietzsche proclaimed, self-mastery and greatness are reserved for the very few. Most are destined to spend their lives doing what is easy, procrastinating on what they truly desire. However... Some of you are different. Some embrace what is difficult. The rarest of souls delight in challenging their limitations and becoming doers, not mere dreamers. And they are rewarded. They unearth the hidden jewels of human existence. Are you such a person? Will you accept the challenge? [I ACCEPT]( Copyright © 2017 HighExistence, All rights reserved. You signed up to receive the top 5 top-voted posts daily from HE Our mailing address is: HighExistence 40 E. Main St. #1137Newark, DE 19711 [Add us to your address book](//highexistence.us9.list-manage.com/vcard?u=dd9bd4972680a66763ae32a9e&id=9298f81796) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](