Tag Archives: Mindset


The Blog Post That the Self-Help Industry Doesn’t Want You to Read

I just read a blog post by Aytekin Tank about why self-help doesn’t work. There are some truths in that post. Yet, I wanted to publish a response to express my objections. Let’s discuss some of his arguments. What works for everyone is different. Therefore, self-help content won’t work for you. I partially agree with […]


Help Yourself First

Yesterday, I received a question from Quora that resonated with me. Here, it is. “What should I do? I feel weak and dumb because I am a young computer scientist and I think I can’t help people in difficulty.” The Messianic Stage We all go through a developmental stage that Jordan Peterson calls the Messianic […]


Maximum Motivation

Sentient beings, including humans, are mostly motivated by the principle of pain and pleasure. I want to add two variables to that formula, the belief in one’s capability and the perceived pain of taking action. Motivation = Actual or Anticipation of Pain + Anticipation of Pleasure + Belief in One’s Capability – The Perceived Pain […]


Turn a Loss into a Life-Time Win

The basic premise of economics is that we have unlimited desires but limited resources. That means we will experience the pain of failure, disappointment, or rejection sooner or later if we haven’t already done so. How do you deal with the pain of failure, disappointment, or rejection when you experience it? Do you deny it […]


From Despair, Lethargy, and Mental Fog to Bliss, High Energy, and Mental Clarity

When I observe myself, I recognize two states. The first state involves productivity, happiness, bliss, joy, peace of mind, and mental clarity. The second state involves negative thoughts and emotions, feeling down and depressed, lack of energy, lethargy, and mental fog. As you see, both of those states involve physical, emotional, and mental symptoms. In […]


Self-Coaching on Multiple Levels

Once in a while, you might come across a challenge that has solutions on different levels. Moreover, this challenge might point to a bigger problem on a deeper level. Today, I’m going to work on a challenge that I had recently to give you an idea of how to process issues on multiple levels. Last […]


Pain, Pleasure, Satisfaction, Mental Toughness, Success

We, humans, are hardwired to avoid pain and seek pleasure. This simple principle was a wise rule of thumb before the civilization. Our environment provided us with sufficient challenges to deal with. This is not the case anymore. Civilization brought us abundance and removed pain from our daily lives. This is good news on the […]


Eliminating Self-Sabotage from Your Life

Yesterday, I shared the dynamics of self-sabotage. Self-sabotage occurs when our deep-seated beliefs are challenged by the reality. Unconsciously, we’d rather experience loss, failure, and pain than to see our beliefs invalidated. If you think that you don’t deserve a promotion, you’ll set yourself up for failure when you receive one. Self-sabotage is an unconscious […]

Burak Bilgin

Software developer with a Ph.D. and 15 years of experience. I write daily on personal development and life lessons. Sign up to my email newsletter to receive a weekly overview of my latest content on personal development and life lessons.