In “Essentialism,” Greg McKeown advocates for a fundamental shift in our mindset and approach to work and life. He challenges the prevailing notion that more is better and encourages readers to focus on what truly matters, distilling their efforts to the essential few. McKeown introduces the concept of essentialism, a disciplined pursuit of less but […]
In “Can’t Hurt Me,” David Goggins shares his remarkable journey from a traumatic and impoverished childhood to becoming one of the world’s toughest endurance athletes and elite Navy SEALs. With unflinching honesty, Goggins recounts the physical and emotional hardships he endured, including obesity, racism, and abuse. Drawing upon his experiences, he emphasizes the power of […]
In “12 Rules for Life,” clinical psychologist and professor Jordan B. Peterson offers a profound and practical guide to navigating the complexities of life and finding meaning in a chaotic world. Peterson presents twelve transformative rules derived from various sources, including ancient wisdom, psychology, religion, and his own experiences. Each rule is a poignant lesson, […]
In “Antifragile,” Nassim Nicholas Taleb introduces a groundbreaking concept that challenges conventional thinking about resilience and adaptability. Unlike traditional systems that are merely resilient (able to withstand shocks without breaking), Taleb argues for embracing antifragility—the ability to thrive and improve in the face of volatility, randomness, and uncertainty. Drawing upon examples from various fields, such […]
If you’ve been following my work, you know that I’m a proponent of holding a flexible belief system, especially in regards to who we are, our identity, and the character we choose to play. You see, identity is simply a matter of belief system. The word basically describes how we think of ourselves. The way […]
Being in alignment means taking action from a place of completeness rather than from a place of lack. It means making choices while connected with your bigger, more expansive self, rather than your smaller, more limited version. Your indicator of this alignment is your emotions. When you feel ungrounded or dissatisfied, you’re living out of […]
“Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light, but making the darkness conscious.” – Carl Jung As you can imagine, unlocking your true, authentic self can be a lifetime of discovery, but overall, this means being more of who you truly are, bringing more of your own unique light into the world, more of your essence, […]
Recently, I was bitten by a yellow Scorpion. Fortunately, the Scorpion’s venom wasn’t too poisonous, its effects were mild and the numbness and tingling went away eventually. Compared to my snakebite near-death experience a little over a year ago, this time there was no drama, no panic, and no pain. Just me and my thoughts… […]
We (aka I) have an obsession to keep busy. We often run around like ants who’ve lost their trail, pretending that if we cease for a moment life will somehow fall apart. What we do, in reality, is distracting ourselves from the real, big, and often scary questions. You know, questions like, “What’s the meaning […]
Recently, I went on a waterfall tour through the more remote region of northern Bali, where I was able to re-discover just how sacred water really is. In society, we tend to view water as just a typical liquid substance. However, water is, in effect, a medium with memory. “Water memory experiments” have been conducted […]
Having lived in Australia for 6 years, it was devastating to hear of Kangaroo Island’s recent fire, where tens of thousands of koalas are feared dead on one island alone. Due to the increasing number of global wildfires and our warming planet, I decided to educate myself on the subject and felt like sharing some […]
Setting personal boundaries is not only important for ensuring relationships are mutually respectful, but it’s also imperative for upleveling your life. Your ability to define and maintain these boundaries has a direct impact on the character you want to evolve into, and it can save you a lot of precious time and energy. When you […]
We live in a 24/7 fast-paced world. From the moment the internet came into being, we’ve been constantly “ON,” constantly on our devices, constantly on-the-go. Most of us race through our days without taking enough time to renew our mind, body, and spirit. When you think about it, we rarely stop in our daily lives […]
We all have a point in our life where we idealize something – money, power, freedom, beauty, prestige, a person… Here’s, however, something important to remember: Idealize money, and you’ll never have enough of it. Idealize power, and you’ll always be in need of control. Idealize freedom, and you’ll find yourself constantly running away. Idealize […]
As men, we hardly ever express vulnerability. We learned to hide feelings of insecurities and keep up the pretense that things are always fine. But they aren’t. 80% of all suicides are men 76% of problem drinkers are men Men make up 93% of work fatalities. The majority of the homeless are men. Men have […]
When it comes to committing to a new journey, it’s easy to come up with excuses. In fact, we tell ourselves so many excuses (i.e. lies) that if I listed them all, I’d never get to the point. I do, however, want to touch on the major ones. You see, from my experience, making excuses […]
Recently, I made a small change: I changed my personal website’s domain name from Talgur.Me to Talgur.Org – A small change, but one that signals a mindset shift. For more than a decade, I’ve worked on developing myself. I’ve contributed and helped others along the way but the focus was very much ME, MY life, […]
New Year’s Eve doesn’t have to be about who can shout the loudest and drink the most. It can be about quiet reflection, making heartfelt resolutions for the year ahead. This year, I decided to spend my New Year in a remote place in nature. No big party, no fancy celebration, no bells and whistles […]
Seems there’s never a dull moment in my life. A few days ago, I was bitten by a yellow Scorpion. Lucky, the venom wasn’t too poisonous. Its effects were mild and the numbness and tingling went away eventually. Compared to my last year snakebite experience which nearly cost me my life, this time there was […]
It’s that time of year again — time to reflect on the past year, turn a new page, and set new intentions for 2020. If you’ve been following my journey thus far, you’ll know that every year, around the holiday season, I pick one primary focus for the upcoming 12 months. This simple yearly ritual […]
It’s this time of year again… time to reflect on the past year, turn a new page, and set new intentions for 2019. If you’ve been following my journey for a while you’ll know that every year, around the holiday season, I pick one primary focus for the upcoming 12 months. This simple yearly ritual […]
Stop. Yes, just stop. Sit down for a moment, instead of rushing through life as if it is a race. It isn’t. Sit down and feel your body. Is it telling you a change is needed? You’re not going to live forever, you know. Life can be very short. What is it that you truly […]
As a lover of travel, I’ve been to some of the most poverty-stricken places of what’s often called the ‘Developing world.’ But when others see poverty, I see abundance – of community, of selfless generosity, of trust in life and fellow men. Take Bali for example. Most Balinese live in compounds where each family member […]
These days, it seems that almost everyone is searching for something MORE. More peace, more love, more abundance, more happiness, more freedom, more enlightenment… But here’s something I’ve recently realized: Chasing for MORE already assumes scarcity. Even worse, it reinforces scarcity. Not only that, paradoxically, the chase for MORE only takes us further away from […]
I often get asked how I stay creative. The answer is, I don’t “stay creative”. Creativity is not something I can force. What I do is quite simple, I prioritize time with myself and then I get out of my own way. That’s it. Even though what I do sounds quite simple, it’s not always […]
