A Daily Dose of Sanity Summary
- Book by Alan Cohen
The Book in 1 Sentences
A Daily Dose of Sanity: A Five-Minute Soul Recharge for Every Day of the Year
“Acts of genius are less a matter of doing, and more a matter of allowing.
Less trying, more flowing. Less forcing, more being. You quit being the doer and you become the vessel.” ~ Alan Cohen
This book is packed with wisdom that really can change your life!
5 BIG Ideas
1. The secret of success is to be TOTAL!
2. “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken!”
3. “Fire your inner critic and reinstate your inner fan club."
4. Love Yourself FIRST!
5. “Anger is fear under pressure.”
A Daily Dose of Sanity Summary
1. Integrity
“I have a very simple definition of integrity: you are in integrity when what you are doing on the outside matches who you are on the inside.
I respect people who live unapologetically. I know people who do things I do not agree with or would not do myself, but I honor them for being 100 percent who they are. They are in integrity.”
Being aligned with your values, saying and doing what’s inside you is the best way to live.
Does what you are doing on the outside match who you are on the inside?
If not, what can you do to fix this?!
Alan Cohen also says: “The secret of success is to be total. If you are going to do something, really do it. Do not second-guess yourself, let guilt undermine your joy, or wonder if you should be somewhere else. Either do it with a whole heart or do not do it. Be total.”
YES. BE TOTAL! That’s the secret of success…
2. Take it EASY!
“My friend Ernie and I were granted an audience with the revered Swami Satchidananda, an enlightened yogi who introduced spiritual practices to America beginning in the 1960s. He opened the legendary Woodstock music festival with his invocation.
My friend and I were ushered to the swami’s inner chamber and seated before him. At that time, Ernie liked to make deep, heartfelt eye contact with people and he did his best to peer into the swami’s soul.
After a few minutes of our conversation, the swami turned to me and asked, “Why is this guy staring at me?” We all broke into laughter, including the swami’s very serious disciples. It was truly a moment of enlightenment!”
Take it easy and enjoy the ride, even in serious moments! 😊
3. The Call of Greatness
“The difference between those who move the world forward and those who stay stuck in a rut is that the world movers trust the voice that keeps knocking, and they act on it.
You can and will be among the movers if you listen to the persistent call of greatness and move with it.”
Have you ever heard that little voice that comes knocking? I bet you did! But the question is, have you answered it? Or will you?
It’s the call of greatness…
Answer it my friend! 😊
4. Replicate Yourself!
“My friend Ben admired his spiritual mentor so much that he took a summer to live and study with the master at his retreat in the Northwest. One day Ben asked his teacher, “How can I be more like you?”
The healer smiled and answered, “The best way to be more like me is to be more like yourself.”
This brilliant answer contains the wisdom of a lifetime! If you are trying to imitate someone else’s greatness, you have missed the point of greatness. The secret is to find your own unique style and talents and bring them forth. No one has ever attained mastery by replicating another. The truly great simply replicate themselves.”
That’s totally right!
Oscar Wilde also said: “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Every time you catch yourself imitating someone, remember that the best version of you is… guess what?! Is YOU!
5. The Light!
“When asked how to remain an individual in the face of great commercialism, Bradbury suggested, “You just live your life and write your stories. If you set out to write a bestseller, it can’t be done.... People who try to make a name for themselves are usually surpassed by people authentically expressing their joy and talents.”
Those who live to see their name in lights usually miss the light within themselves. They place fame and glory at the top of the ladder of success and overlook personal satisfaction and creative expression.
People who sweat to become stars rarely do, while those who live to share their gifts and enjoy the ride often find their way to the upper echelons of success.”
So, what do you think about that? On which side are you?
Always remember that “Those who live to see their name in lights usually miss the light within themselves”.
6. Your Inner Fight!
“Fire your inner critic and reinstate your inner fan club.”
That’s it! Stop your inner critic voice! Start appreciating yourself, your life and what you do!
You’re AMAZING. Never forget that… 😊
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7. Angry or Afraid?
“Anger is fear under pressure. Behind every angry upset there is a fear.
If you attempt to deal with anger at the level of anger alone-by either venting it or repressing it-you are manipulating the symptom without addressing the cause.
If you can discover the fear behind the anger and dismantle it in the light of awareness, the anger dissipates. The next time you are angry, ask yourself, what am I afraid of?”
That relates to me! Every time I catch myself angry, I know that I’m afraid of something… That’s it!
“Anger is fear under pressure” as Cohen says… Think about that and reflect on your life..
8. Love Yourself FIRST!
“Psychic self-injury is neither heroic nor practical. You cannot say that you have mastered love until you include yourself in its embrace. If you make everyone in your life happy but yourself, you have missed the point of living and loving.
Self-honoring is the beginning of true service. When you practice self-nurturing, others around you will catch the energy and you will create a wave of well-being that far supersedes the illusory benefits of self-sacrifice.
Do not do anything to yourself that you would not wish on anyone else. Instead, do everything for yourself that you would do to make others happy ... and the world will be a happier place for everyone.”
If you want to serve the WHOLE world, love yourself first.
Love and appreciate yourself, then you’ll have the energy to help others… Ok? 🙂
9. RIDDIKULUS!
“The film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban depicts a group of young wizards in training standing before an imposing armoire—a boggart box—which contains terrifying shapeshifters assuming the form of whatever a person fears the most.
Luckily, instructs Professor Lupin, a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart: “Riddikulus!”
After the students practice the chant, the professor explains that what really finishes a boggart off is laughter.
One by one the boggarts come forth, and when the students proclaim them “Riddikulus!” and laugh at them, they shrink to humorous, nonthreatening forms. A truer teaching was never revealed.”
That reminds me of Steve Chandler. In his book “100 Ways to Motivate Yourself Change Your Life Forever”, one of these 100 ways is “Run Toward Your Fear”.
So, run towards your fears, and also laugh at them! And they’ll fade away! 😊
10. BAMBOO!
“Bamboo is a fascinating plant, the fastest growing in the world. A bamboo stalk can grow six inches or more in one day! I know a fellow who swore he actually saw it growing.
One of the clever adaptive qualities of bamboo is that it grows its leaves in the summer and its roots in the winter. It takes advantage of each season, and while it appears dormant, it is not.
The roots grown in winter prepare for rapid branch and leaf development in summer.
We, too, go through seasons, all of which afford us opportunities for different kinds of growth.
In a prosperous economic season, there is a lot of building and external expansion. When an economic winter comes, with little activity in the outer world, that is the time for inner deepening.”
UPS and downs… that happens to all of us!
How you act in these seasons determines how you grow in your life!
In which season are you right now? And what are you going to do about it?!
That was my A Daily Dose of Sanity summary, a very quick look at this great book. If you haven’t read it yet and you’re interested in it, get a copy. There is a HUGE amount of wisdom and value in this book, and we’ve only touched on a tiny bit of it.
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