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Inside Out

Tony Robbins believes we have six major needs.  Certainty, Connection, Contribution, Growth, Uncertainty and Significance. This movie manages to take a premise like that, and show the inner workings of a child's mind as they solve problems with fear or anger, empower things like joy, and even come to understand the necessity of sadness. This is, quite frankly, a beautiful peace of work.  I could actually see this being used as a counselling tool, and, much like pay it forward, I feel it should be something kids watch in school at some point or another.

Good Will Hunting

While one of the dramatic climaxes of this film directly contradicts Tom Bilyeu's "everything is my fault" statements of taking personal responsibility for change, this nonetheless is a very inspiring movie. I see that life creed contradicted in other areas of PTSD recovery, so Tom might only be right when it comes to taking responsibility for one's growth. Regardless of where you fall on the "fault spectrum" this movie shows how anyone can take themselves from where they are, to where they want to be, if they take on the responsibility to get there, and do the work.

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

Bruce Lee is indeed a legend, for a great many reasons. In the context of this movie, I will mainly be focusing upon how he deals with the back injury - but rest assured, we all owe Bruce a great debt for what he brought to the western world, and martial arts as a whole. Anyone who seeks truth has the capacity to be legendary, and that was what Bruce did.  He sought out, and created his own truth.  He added what made him stronger, removed what made him weak. He overcame, he endured, he perfected. There have been many artists, but Bruce Lee was considerably more.  He did what he loved, he pursued what he loved, and he created what he loved. Plus, he punched big blocks of ice ;-)  Good movie!

Gattaca

We all have "early wins" in some areas.  Sometimes, those areas are also our areas of interest, and sometimes they aren't. Just because we're tall doesn't mean we should play basketball, and just because we're good at math doesn't mean we should be an accountant. Now, I wholeheartedly believe in Ikigai, but I think the often-neglected aspect of it is the "love to do" category. Gattaca is a story based upon someone being genetically created to do one thing, while being emotionally driven to do another. As Tom Bilyeu would say, the game we're all playing is brain chemistry.  Do what lights you on fire. The struggle is guaranteed, success is not - so you might as well do what you love. It's also a rather telling tale of just how much a person will go through to do what they love.  A man with a strong enough why can achieve any how!

The Sneeches

This book made a pretty decent impact on me as a kid. They say that the addiction to other people's opinions is more insidious than drugs and alcohol, that to be enslaved by what other people MIGHT think of you is a horrific way to live. I'm not sure if this book was what helped me escape that particularly pervasive addiction, but I think that it helped. I do think that social awareness and empathy are the unfortunate casualties of leaning too far one way over the other however, and I'm thankful for the lessons I've learned in those arenas.

The Shard Chronicles

"The Matrix + The Bourne Identity + a self-development seminar" Sexy, violent, action-packed, raw... and somehow incredibly insightful and educational. This 2019 urban fantasy is the epitome of mindsettertainment.  The reader is just as interested in Amber's boobs as they are in mastering the art of human needs psychology. It is my hope that  Tom Bilyeu , Tony Robbins , Tim Ferriss , Moran Cerf and dozens of others would love to see their words of wisdom echoed in the lives of this series' characters. We need books like this now more than ever - if we are to survive as a species, we need to have more productive years.  The only way to achieve that is to get awesome sooner. The best way I know how to do that is through mindsettertainment. Increase The Awesome Any way you can. Ono Northey

SMBC

Identity is such a powerful thing. I know this is a comic, intended to be funny and absurd - but the truth of life is not all that different.  Zach has a pretty great approach to humor, and his series is well worth a read. In fact, SMBC recently co-launched a new politically educational comic... so I think we might have a mindsettertainment enthusiast in there after all...

Neon Future

To be fair, I haven't read it, as they haven't come out with their digital version as of yet. But I have faith in their creator.  Give it a look if you're in the USA!

Heroes in Crisis

An enjoyable read as we take quite a bold look into the inner workings of our classic heroes' minds. I really connected with Superman's plight.  That of having to exaggerate both Clark, and Superman... and wondering who "he" was, anymore. I think that as a martial arts instructor I spent many years wanting to appear as wise and powerful as possible, so as to inspire the students to be greater. The truth is, the more effective approach was to simply be myself, flaws and all, and model the perseverance of striving to be better. To being open to BEING better. Well written, and well drawn.  Looking forward to the next one!

The Cycle of Arawn + Galand

Dante travels the land, obsessively learning and growing, and embracing the very essence of moving forward without a surefire plan to victory. If his pragmatic and chaotic approach to strategy or, indeed, his life ethos as a whole could be summarized, I think it would be something along the lines of that he'd rather be moving 100mph in the wrong direction than doing nothing at all - he has faith in his ability to adapt, learn, and pivot should the need arise, and he does what he thinks is best for the whole and for himself. My favorite part about this series is that it teeters on being a villain as the protagonist.  He's a necromancer, he's caused all sorts of problems... but he's doing what he thinks is right. I think writing like that is brilliant. Do make sure to read his second series as well, the cycle of Galand.