Mastering Depression and Living the Life You Were Meant to Live

If you're looking for the book that will help you stop feeling like crap, you've found it. I wrote it because I wanted to change my own life but I couldn’t find anything that helped. Way too many books focus on why you’re feeling sad, anxious, angry and depressed but they never really tell you how to fix it. Or they just tell you to be mindful and meditate. But that doesn’t work for the other 99.9% of time you’re not meditating. Pretty soon you’re right back to feeling like crap again. I wanted clear, simple, practical steps that work in the real world and deliver permanent change, so I set out to find the answers myself. After an intensely personal journey with a lot of wrong turns, I found them. I'm going to save you a lot of wasted time so you can skip those wrong turns. In these pages, you'll learn how to: •Crush that negative voice inside that says you won’t amount to anything •Ask for what you really want in life instead of just accepting the crumbs thrown to you •Say no to the people who waste your time and leave you exhausted •Get out of the house and have fun again •Throw aside that distorted, fun house mirror image of yourself so you can see what you’ve really got •Shut down your mind when it won’t shut up •Craft a diet that gives you lifelong health •Toss your broken relationships and find a partner who gets you fired up every day So what are you waiting for? This is your life and it’s time to take it back now. Table of Contents Prologue: You Can Change Chapter One: Action Chapter Two: Crushing Haunting Thoughts Remembrance of Things Past and Things Yet to Come The Seeds of Our Discontent Full Circles of Pain My Mantra Exercise: Crafting Your Own Mantra The Six Simple Rules of Mantras A Game Mantra A Simple Example Stopping the Broken Loop Chapter Three: You Have No Idea How to Breathe Exercise: Box Breathing Chapter Four: The Killer Inside Me The Nature of the Tormentor Weapons of the Tormentor Perfectionism Name-Calling, Global Put-Downs, and Absolutes Imagery and Highlight Reels Should/Could/Would Horriblizing/Catastrophizing Projection Chaining Why Is the Tormentor There? What Didn’t Work and What Did Exercise: The Best Friend Inside You Exercise Follow-Up Chapter Five: A Realistic Picture of You Exercise: Pictures of You Exercise Part One Example Exercise 1.Physical Appearance 2.Personality 3.Mental Functioning 4.Emotional Landscape 5.Performance at Work/School 6.Performance on Everyday Tasks 7.Friendships 8.How Other People See You 9.Love Relationships 10.Sexuality Exercise Part Two 1.Physical Appearance 2.Personality 3.Mental Functioning 4.Emotional Landscape 5.Performance at Work/School 6.Performance on Everyday Tasks 7.Friendships 8.How Other People See You 9.Love Relationships 10.Sexuality The Fault in Our Stars Exercise Part Three The Revised List Exercise Part Four: Building on Your Strengths Exercise Part Five A Time to Reflect Chapter Six: Reinforcement Learning Exercise: Crafting Your Own Affirmation Chapter Seven: Flow What Makes an Activity a Flow Activity? The Seven Keys to Flow Exercise: Picking a Flow Activity for Yourself Flow as Lifestyle Chapter Eight: Do Cool Shit Trying New Things in a New Way Finding Fun and Adventure on the Road and at Home Step One: Release Expectations Step Two: Learn Your Lessons Exercise: Finding Adventure Part One: Exploring Your Own Ideas Part Two: Leveling Up Part Three: AirBnB Experiences Breaking the Cycle Chapter Nine: Mastering Depression Diet Which Diet Do I Pick? What to Eat Avoiding Processed Foods and Additives Forget Perfection Being Less Wrong Longevity Versus Weight Loss Start Where You’re At Eating Like Okinawans Kicking Bad Food Habits Economic Arguments Against Healthy Eating Just Because You Walked into Whole Foods Does Not Make You Healthy Plan for When Your Willpower Is Weak Listen to Your Body Early Warning Signs of Disease Exercise: Healthy Eating Now Follow-Up Exercise: The Common Sense Diet Chapter Ten: It’s Okay to Feel Bad Sometimes Exercise: Embracing Negative Emotions Bonus Follow-Up Exercise: A Day of Self-Care Bonus Follow-Up Exercise: Make It Regular The Way Out Is Through Chapter Eleven: Don’t Be Afraid to Suck Adventures in Unawareness Exercise: Learning to Suck Exercise: Part Two Exercise: Part Three The Mountain Is the Way Chapter Twelve: Asking for What You Want The Threefold Path Exercise: What Do You Want? Work Relationships Friendships Health Money Experiences Sexuality Exercise Part Two: Refining Your Dreams Exercise Part Three: Your Nightly Request to the Universe Chapter Thirteen: Asking for What You Want from Other People Aggression and the Way of Rage Beliefs and Emotions Behind Aggressive Behavior Where Aggression Leads You Passive Beliefs and Emotions that Drive Passive Behavior Where Passivity Leads You Passive Aggressive Beliefs and Emotions that Create Passive Aggression Where Passive Aggressive Leads You Why These Styles Fail My Story Assertiveness Why Aren’t You Assertive Already? Fear. Breaking the Loop Exercise: Getting Assertive Exercise Part Two: Facing the Fear More and More Assertive Each Day Chapter Fourteen: The Power of No Opting Out Something’s Got to Give Trimming the Fat Saying Goodbye Planning for a Rainy Day Exercise: Planning for Depression Exercise Part One: What Really Needs to Happen Today? Exercise Part Two: Estimating How Long Things Really Take Exercise Part Three: Doing the Basics on the Hardest Days of All Day to Day to Day Chapter Fifteen: Mastering Relationships and Love 50 Shades of Gray Out of Purgatory The Broken Template Society Recognizing Good and Bad Relationships Spirited Away Emotional Balance A Meeting of the Minds Better Living Through Chemistry The Five Keys to Better Relationships Exercise: Understanding Your Relationships Chapter Sixteen: The Cave You Fear to Enter The Guiding Light The Ministry of Sleep Where You Fear to Tread Action The Path of Fear Put that Boulder Down Exercise: The Final Summit Notes Chapter Two: Crushing Haunting Thoughts Chapter Three: You Have No Idea How to Breathe Chapter Four: The Killer Inside Me Chapter Five: A Realistic Picture of You Chapter Six: Reinforcement Learning Chapter Seven: Flow Chapter Eight: Do Cool Shit Chapter Nine: Mastering Depression Diet Chapter Twelve: Asking for What You Want Chapter Fifteen: Mastering Love and Relationships Chapter Sixteen: The Cave You Fear to Enter