It’s REALLY about beliefs: The more PERMANENT labels you
have for yourself, the dumber they make you.

I believe Paul cut all the way to the core and
stopped one step short of the finishing line.

Let’s ask the obvious question and think about it:
So, what do you do next?

If you were to decide to keep your identity small,
how would you go about it?

The key is NOT in identity size.

In fact, the essay is not about IDENTITY at all.
(Paul commits some equivocation in discussing
identity, and let’s face it: it’s tough not to:)

The essay is about limiting beliefs that disserve progress.

The strategy is to remove unwanted parts of your identity
so you can adopt different "identities" at will.

The tactic is to remove limiting beliefs directed to
unwanted goals (all beliefs are goal-directed) and
adopt different beliefs as an act of will.

The approach is to practice disassociation.

I’m glad you’re with me so far:)
Keep on reading, it gets better.

So, one may ask, what is a Belief?
A conviction of a "truth of a statement" or "reality of a fact"

How about Conviction?
=an assertion brought by argument to assent.
You are convinced of things to be real.
You think "this is it"

So, where do these things, these little personality
components come from?
Where do beliefs come from?

We seem to be born with fear of falling and
fear of loud noises.
All other boundary conditions seem to be learned, and
most learning happens before you turn 6.

By the time you’re 6 most limiting beliefs are set.

You may see parents argue about time, money, space and
believe "scarcity is normal"

You may see person screaming the loudest winning
and believe "anger gets results"

You get my drift. This is where beliefs come from.

They are mental constructs.
They are goal-directed, and therefore useful as long as the goals are still desired.

Imagine the goal was to become smarter and have
a fruitful conversation (or to experience half-hour thunderous orgasms...hey, I'm just sayin:)

What if we were to imagine we can remove beliefs,
change them, or add new ones as an act of will?

What if beliefs are temporary, arbitrary ways of
seeing the world? Merely a temporary, arbitrary
way of treating something as though it was true or
a fact.

What if beliefs were NOT a part of your identity?
Better yet, what if you needn’t to define identity
at all to examine and manipulate beliefs?

I believe Paul means to encourage us experimenting
with this Alternative, Dissociated Belief.

Let’s call this ADbelief.

Let’s leave out judgments whether it is good/bad,
familiar/unfamiliar me/not me, and follow the path.

Now, if ADbelief is a temporary, arbitrary useful assertion, then what is ADconviction?
=one of these arbitrary assertions that is held at a level
BELOW conscious examination.

So, if we were to imagine having thunderously orgasmic
AND fruitful conversations, then it may involve
Dropping Goal-directed Belief/Conviction pairs and
Adopting ADgoal-directed ADbelief/ADconviction pairs.
(you can imagine Goal-ADgoal distinction might be: something you simultaneously don’t have and desire when you’re <6 v.s. Now).

If you were to do that, you may notice an effective approach would involve dissociation:
1.Examine what Belief/Conviction pairs get you
(each gets you something), and whether you still
need/deserve that

2.Harvest ADgoals, adopt matching ADbeliefs/ADconvictions

3.Skip countless ritualistic elements, go directly to the
effect

Skipping rituals requires generating stimulus in a state where your brain mistakes it as direct sensory input.

Generating such stimulus requires practicing dissociation: stepping back from the reality that is happening by setting aside the sheer mass of sensory input coming in, right now.

You may have experienced this when you travel alone to a place where most things you know and believe to be true are false (for westerners, asia or middle east would do).

Recall an experience where there is nothing else to relate to, except that which you brought yourself.
Virtually all the "identity" baggage you carry with yourself is not there. Anything that you
bring is there because YOU chose to carry along.

Aren’t you smarter in that place?

Hmmmm...just a thought:)
Cheers.

Ammo

P.S.1: I’m seeking co-founders or to join a start-up.
I can perform or otherwise get done all none-coding
tasks with a flair: fund/find money, distill
PrematureDesignChoice-free stories from market,
write pseudo code, design attractive simple UI/UX,
test, schmooze, influence, attract partners, sell,
close deals etc.

I PREFER consumer-facing technologies that extend upon
an unexpected success (Let’s generalize Netflix challenge)
or unexpected failure with the demographic wind in
the sail (Yes, I’m talking baby boomers: never before the
50+age cohort dominated US discretional spending.
Think about it: very soon $4 of $10 will be spent by a
Boomer and it will last 10+ years).

You must be an honorable person(s) of great taste, with
a deep respect for reality and healthy amount of skepticism
towards the impossible (I will show you things that you
thought were ABSOLUTELY impossible).

It would also help if you smell nice, enjoy good red wine and simple delicious food.

P.S.2: If you read this far thinking "this makes sense"
I feel we should talk:)

P.S.3: Yes Paul, I'd LOVE to:)