Self-improvement is masturbation...

... is a great quote to think about from both the book 'Fight Club' (by my favourite author Chuck Palahniuk, it's not my favourite book by him, but possibly my favourite movie) and the movie of the same name.

When I was younger this movie was everything, it was the bible to my nihilistic puberty self, I would have had to read Nietzsche all day every day and lose a couple of kilos to be that kid (Dwayne) from 'Little Miss Sunshine' (fantastic movie too by the way).

In the book and movie this statement comes up to represent the identification with the masses, the status quo, the Ikea self-expression and the temporary fix and means to an end that a self-improvement like this (hint: one that can be finished, not unlike masturbation) represents. So looking at it from that point of view this seems to ring true.

I love self-improvement. Been going at that since after puberty, read 'How to Win Friends and Influence People', countless other self-help books and personality tests and working on habits and trying to become a better version of myself. Unlike masturbation this is a task that is possibly only finished when I die. So self-improvement is clearly not like masturbation and rather a noble path I find.

The reason I am writing this is because our worldview changes all the time. Recently I am super entertained and learn a lot from podcasts, mainly that is 'The Joe Rogan Experience' (the one I listened to today with the absolutely awesome Joey Diaz) and H3H3 (the guys that always punch up).

Coincidentally both podcasts had the same guest this week: Jordan Peterson. A clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto. Jordan Peterson is a role model, he is super smart and speaks the truth, he is a fantastic example of keeping your cool in the face of adversary and with a book out that I am planning to read as soon as possible - '12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos'.

Currently I am in a great state of mind and body. I have the big move to Germany in front of me and the re-integration there after 6+ years in China, I restarted the blog and got all the old articles back, I sleep very well and I am recovering from the ACL surgery and dropping weight due to intermittent fasting and no alcohol (as inflammation would not be beneficial for the healing of my knee). In this state of mind I thought I might want to learn a bit more about myself and masturbate, nah, jokes aside I did a personality assessment test developed by Jordan Peterson on www.understandmyself.com, where in case you want to do one for yourself (and you should because it's brilliant) you can use the code 'h3h3' that gives you 2 dollars off of the 9.95 price. Well worth it!

What I really want to say is that self-improvement is great and for me a necessity and hopefully plays a role in most people's live. I would like to leave you with the following video that was suggested to me with all the Jordan Peterson mania going on and I learned it was pleasantly surprising not what I thought it was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkDANY6KyDo