A Condensed Free Version of Un-Crap Your Life: Part 1
It occurred to me that potential readers of my book, Un-Crap Your Life, will not know the exact problems and solutions contained within it. This no-nonsense guide will inform you of the exact solutions I created and also will serve as a condensed, free version of my book. This is designed to show the framework of my book so people who find themselves relating to the content can go ahead with pre-ordering it to learn more in-depth details. There is one chapter I did not include in this post and it’s called Surprise Gems. That chapter contains an Easter egg for 25 lucky readers. All of my future books will contain Easter eggs in a chapter at the end.
Are you ready? By the way, I created solutions for all these situations in real life.
Chapter 1: Are You Stuck In A Craptrap?
Problem: How can you figure out if you’re stuck in a miserable life situation?
Solution: Read through the list and if you identify with some of them, you’re indeed stuck in a craptrap. Here are two of the items on the list:
1. “When you get up in the morning, you are filled with unspeakable dread and you don’t want to go to work.”
2. “Your energies are being sucked into someone else’s dream, and your own dreams lie withering in a corner.”
Main takeaways: It is necessary to take an inventory of your current reality. This is a crucial first step and possibly the most difficult. For example, I was hating my job and felt like I was going to go broke. I thought the lack of money was my primary problem. However, through a long process of becoming self aware, I learned that I was suffering from PTSD. My fear of going broke was tied to my past traumatic experiences, from which I was still suffering. We tend to gloss over the serious stuff in an attempt to bury the pain and then create an alternate problem that is less painful.
Chapter 2: I Went On A Date With a Serial Killer
Problem: How can you stay alive once you realize you have accidentally gotten yourself into a personal situation with a killer?
Solution: The first step is to listen carefully to your gut instincts. The second step is to psychoanalyze your killer and thereby identify his weaknesses. Figure out if he has low self-esteem or has been abused in the past. The third step is to take control of the conversation by exploiting his weaknesses. The fourth step is to formulate an escape plan and then do it. You must remain strong and not give in to fear in order to stay alive.
Main takeaways: Killers have weaknesses just like the rest of us. Find the weaknesses, use them against the killer in order to save your life.
Chapter 3: I Am An Addict
Problem: Your brain wants to feel good all the time. Your brain has refused to accept feeling bad, sad or blasé. You take the shortest route to instant good moods and now find that your brain is hooked on drinking, drugs, sex, social media or whatever. You’ve become a rat in the cage and your brain is screaming for more.
Solution: You recognize that your addiction has taken over but now you’re ready to live. You will need to first understand what your addiction is feeding your brain. Does your cocaine pellet make you feel confident, witty, desirable, happy, lusty, powerful, funny, artistic, intelligent, loved, secure, satisfied, full or amazing? Answer the question right now: what emotions does your brain feel once you have taken your drug of choice? Without knowing what your brain is getting fed, you’ll never overcome your addiction. Understanding what you’re not getting in life will help you understand what you need to do to get those things into your real life. Remember, you cannot just quit drugs. Quitting will not solve anything. Your brain needs to feel good and so it’s absolutely essential that you focus on what things bring you those good feelings naturally. You have to think of overcoming an addiction as replacing an addiction with something else that will not kill you. It can be done. I’m a living example.
Main takeaways: You have to rethink what addiction means. It’s not useful to think about quitting a drug. Quitting never worked for me. What worked for me was replacing my addiction to alcohol with other activities that created immensely happy brain chemicals: writing, getting therapy, making art, reading, designing a life instead of living the 9–5, and taking on big life challenges.
Chapter 4: I Hated Living In Kansas
Problem: You only have $2000 saved up but you want to move to a new city.
Solution: You sell or give away most of your stuff and hyper-focus on everything related to your new chosen city. You find work in your new city and create a plan to move. Determination becomes your primary emotion.
Main takeaways: Once you make the decision to move, the rest of your decisions become easier to make. Your determination will create the framework for your future. Your happiness and confidence will grow and other people will feel your happiness. You will work hard every day in your new city and look for new opportunities when things don’t go as planned.
Stay tuned for part 2 and 3. And join my newsletter too: http://leahstephens.weebly.com/sign-up-for-my-newsletter.html
