Philosophy Discussion Forums

Amy Jackson wrote: ↑December 4th, 2023, 10:26 am I'm good at getting ideas. If I understand something well enough and take the time to think about how to make it better, I get ideas for it. I can't put every idea I get to work for myself because of the people and other resources needed. Yet, I feel I can monetize this ... what 'should' I call it? Skill, ability, gift, talent?
Please what's your advice for me on this?


[Emphasis and color added.]

There is nothing you should do. There is never anything you should do.

There is nothing you should call it, and there is nothing you should not call it.

There is no 'should', and there is no 'ought'.

That is a key teaching in my book, "In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All".

May I ask if you have already read my book in full?

Regardless, here are some other topics I wrote about the subject of how 'shouldness' is an illusion/superstition that leads to you giving up your inner peace (a.k.a. happiness):


- An elaboration on how judgemental moralizing and the superstition of 'moral law' infringes on free-spirited inner peace

- I lovingly and deeply pity those who think unchangeable reality "ought" to be different than it unchangeably is.

- The Six Dangerous Misery-Inducing Words: "Must", "Have to", "Need to", "Should", "Ought", "Try"

- To believe in an all-powerful God and think 'should-not-have-ness' exists is to therefore believe that God did a bad job

- My Advice: Cut the **** by letting go of the shoulds. #SelfResponsibility #Freedom #SelfDiscipline #FreeSpirit

- There is no "Is-Ought Problem" because there is no 'ought'.

- Don't should on me. If you are going to should on anyone, go should on yourself.

- How Unassertiveness Leads to Aggression and the Illusion of 'Shoulds' and 'Oughts'

- Dangerous Moral Busybodies | "A tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive."

- Letting go of expectation | How clinging to the superstitions of expectation and blame disrupts your inner peace

- Six Questions for People Who Believe Should-Not-Have-Ness Exists (i.e. for people who believe in 'shoulds' and 'oughts')



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

Thank you very much for your response.

Let me rephrase the question: Which would be better for me to achieve success and be wealthy? Paid employment or running my own business?
But you've already answered it, and I believe what you're saying is that there's no fixed formula for everyone. What may be good for one person may not be good for another person because we are all unique. We are free to make our choices based on what we want and we are in the best position to know what's best for us and go for it.

I hope I understood correctly.

Thank you again.

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.

Jenna Padayachee wrote: ↑December 5th, 2023, 11:21 am Hi

When did you know that you wanted to become an author and how did you go about developing the right process for you, in your schedule, to commit to writing your books ( including filtering down to the genre)?

Thank you,

Jenna

Hi, Jenna Padayachee,

Thank you for your question.

I think I already answered this in response to the earlier question, What motivated you to write your first book?

It's worth nothing that I have never primarily seen myself as an author or as wanting to be an author. I am no more (or less) an author than I am a million other things, such as a salsa dancer, a rock climber, a father, a weightlifter, etc.

I see it less as something I am and more as something I do.

The verb to be and by extension the phrase "I am" are both very equivocal, especially in regard to what my book calls the "Two Yous".

The Two Yous (and the equivocal of the word you) essentially go hand-in-hand with the equivocalness of the word "am" in the question "What am I?" It's a question that can be answered in two very different and often contradicting ways, but both are accurate, just in regard to a different one of the Two Yous.

One day, I can be red shirt guy, in that at that particular point in spacetime I happen to be wearing a red shirt. But in the other of two senses of the Two Yous, I am never ever red shirt guy, and I am never ever an author or writer or dancer or rock climber. Those are all just some of the countless things I happen to be doing at any one point in spacetime.

In another example of the same concept, when I was President of the state-wide Special Education PTA in Connecticut, one of the things I learned was to replace phrases like, "That child is autistic" with phrases like "that child has autism".

It's very analogous to me thinking it's clearly to say "I write books" than to say "I am a book writer" because the latter can imply that it is a defining characteristic, or even the primary defining characteristic, of who and what I am, when it's not even at all a defining characteristic.

That might seem a little technical or overly tangential, but it actually speaks to the foundation of my free-spirited creativity: I see a big difference between asking myself what will I be versus what will I happen to do next.

Separating those two questions and asking them both separately and giving different answers to each helps you get in touch with both of the two yous. To the first question, I find firm invincible footing in my self-actualization and spiritual freedom, meaning that I know that no matter what happens and what shirt I happen to wear or activity I happen to temporarily do next, I will still be me and have this same beautiful naked soul underneath the ever-changing clothing. From there, answering the question, what will I do next, becomes like making a brush stroke on a blank canvass while painting. No stroke is the final word, and there's no one right final answer that needs to be found; there's infinite right answers from which to choose with fun artful free-spirited creativity. It's more open-ended and free and artful. Writing a few books is just one of the very many brushstrokes I've made in this art piece that is my life as Scott Hughes / Eckhart Aurelius Hughes.

I didn't ever choose to be an author, and never had to make such a lofty choice. I simply chose to spend a tiny fraction of my 37 years on this planet writing. It was an easy and light-heated decision because it was just a few brush strokes, not the whole painting.



With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott





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In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.

Hi Scott,
A lot of people over the years have mentioned to me that, because of all of the unusual things that happened in my life, I should write a memoir. I have been hesitant as I don't have the writing bug. My question is, do you think that I need to give it a try or let it be as I don't have the writing urge? In your opinion, are only the successful authors the ones who have felt the need to write?

Have you ever once had times when you had a lot of goals to pursue, I mean before you started online book club, or presently such that you thought you could run things simultaneously? How do you cope with focus at that moment and still achieve your success, or do u decide to leave some aspirations for some other ones?

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Amy Jackson,

Thank you for your follow-up question!

It's great to get a follow-up or rephrased question, so that I can better understand your meaning and exact inquiry and give you a more in depth and applicable answer.

Amy Jackson wrote: ↑December 12th, 2023, 7:44 pm I believe what you're saying is that there's no fixed formula for everyone. What may be good for one person may not be good for another person because we are all unique. We are free to make our choices based on what we want and we are in the best position to know what's best for us and go for it.

Yes, that's a great way to summarize my answer to the previous version of your question.

Amy Jackson wrote: ↑December 12th, 2023, 7:44 pm Let me rephrase the question: Which would be better for me to achieve success and be wealthy? Paid employment or running my own business?

Okay, great. I understand much better. I can also narrow this down even further by adding one more word to your question to make it as follows:

Which would be better for me to achieve financial success and be wealthy? Paid employment or running my own business?


In that case, I would answer that, generally speaking, running your own business will ultimately be a much more effective way to become very wealthy, especially in the sense of retiring early via savings and passive income (e.g. royalties or other investments that pay you profits/dividends regularly with little to no additional work on your part).

However, don't fall for the false dichotomy that you must only choose between the two. For example, I started OnlineBookClub in 2006, but didn't give up my hourly jobs and go full-time at OnlineBookClub until 2014 (8 years later).

In other words, for 8 years while I built OnlineBookClub into a successful company that could pay my bills, I also worked full time as a bartender/server (i.e. did paid employment).

There's 168 hours in a week. You can get a full 8 hours of sleep per night (56 hours per week), which I strongly recommend, and you still have 112 hours per week left. You can easily work a full-time 40-hour-per-week paying job to pay your bills and put food on the table, and then spend another 40 hours working for no pay at building your own business. Even then, you are only working 80 hours per week, which is typical for an entrepreneur.

I did that for years: I worked full-time as a bartender/server at a local restaurant, and I worked 40 hours a week at OnlineBookClub (for no pay).

When I first finally went full-time at OnlineBookClub.org, it wasn't that I reduced my hours to 40 and just gave up the full-time job. But rather I moved the 40 hours so that I was working 80+ hours per week at OnlineBookClub, which I then did for years just to scrape by.

Typically, you can do this gradually. You can start by working 40 hours at your paid employment and 40 hours at your business, then move to 35/50, then move to 30/60, then move to 25/65 and so on, until you are working 80 hours solely at your business and 0 hours in paid employment.

However, (and this ties back into what I originally said about one person's trash being another person's treasure), if working 80+ hours per week for years and years does not sound exciting and delicious to you, then huge wealth and exceptional financial success is probably not something you want to choose. It might be to you what tuna fish sandwiches are to me, which is:

In contrast, I can be a bit of a workaholic, where others find the thought of that as distasteful () as I find tuna fish sandwiches.

There's an interesting irony there: For instance, the reason I can retire early is the same reason I don't, and that reason is that I'm something of a workaholic. In more ways than one, that kind of financial freedom has a way of running away from people who chase it and running towards people who won't even use it when they get it. That's something that's explored by the concept of the power of an abundance mindset and by extension unconditionally grateful inner peace, meaning that all the things that many people falsely think will buy happiness or give happiness tend to come to those who are already invincibly happy (i.e. grateful) and run from those who are unhappy (i.e. ungrateful/entitled/miserable/unappreciative/possessive/clingy). That concept is also explored in these tweets of mine:


https://twitter.com/scottmhughes/status ... 3984013313

https://twitter.com/scottmhughes/status ... 9098531840

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 3281498126

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 1628946657

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 0804850689

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 9679957007

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 4728179720

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 0416209920

https://twitter.com/EckhartAurelius/sta ... 5083312133


In short, if your #1 primary goal is to make huge amounts of money and become extremely financially wealthy, then the process is simple: work 80+ hours per week, 7 days a week, consistently for years, with a focus on gradually transitioning those hours from paid employment in someone else's business into self-employment and/or running and owning your own business and portfolio of investments to generate passive income.

If you are a workaholic who is happy while working like me, and deeply grateful every day with inner peace no matter what, and your goal is to be happy like me, then the means will be the same (work 80+ hours per week) but the financial success and such will just be an accidental symptom.

However, otherwise, if neither of the above two things apply, then huge financial success probably not something you want to seek, since for you then it would be like me going tuna fish sandwiches.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott




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In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.

Thank you for your question, Amy, and thank you for your detailed response, Scott.
These are the same thoughts I had with my inquisitive 16-year-old. (she is eager to work towards being financially independent)
The way you break it down to the number of hours is incredibly helpful, and I will share this with her.

It greatly simplifies the approach.
Thanks again.

Amazing advice. I just want to add the reason why this system (of working a paid job and running a business) works is that your paid employment helps you learn many processes that you can apply to your business (irrespective of how similar your job and business are).

People do not realize that to be successful, you need to put in the work, the 80-hour week. Sometimes, like you said, it is without pay. That is the sacrifice that you make in the beginning and if you stick with it, you will reach your goal of a successful business and an extraordinary cash flow.

Hey there, scott! Just wanted to share how much your book has influenced me. I've realized that the opinions of others don't define me. I've learned to appreciate myself, recognizing my own grace and hard work. It's even motivated me to hit the gym, which I've surprisingly found enjoyable. The benefits I've gained from this journey are immense. Your work has truly made a difference in my life. All I need help with now is better academic advice because even your book didn’t help that much. I think I need a different approach to that. Kudos to you!

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes wrote: ↑March 17th, 2023, 4:43 pm To be able to post in this topic, you must have purchased my book, In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All. If you purchased the book, but are not able to post in this topic, please simply email a copy or picture of your receipt, or other proof of purchase to scott@onlinephilosophyclub.com and then I will give you access to post in this forum and topic. Please allow up to 48 hours after emailing your receipt for me to see the email and upgrade your account.
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Public Q&A for My Mentees (or Anyone Who Wants My Advice) -- If you want my advice about anything, post your questions here.

Primarily, I am creating this topic for the sake of those who have signed up to be mentored by me. But anybody who has bought my book is welcome to post their questions for me here to get my advice about any topic, which will also help mentees since they may have similar questions about similar matters.

I am happy to offer my advice about and and all of the following:

• physical fitness (e.g. weight loss, weight gain, strength training, endurance training, being able to do a pull up, etc.),
• finances and business (e.g. getting out of debt, building wealth once of debt, starting your own business, growing your own business, etc.)
• anything else about which you want my advice (e.g. how to become a bestselling author, how to get very good at dancing, how to shoot a shotgun, how to get good at boxing, how to learn jiu jitsu, or anything).

If you are in my mentoring program or may want to take part in it in the future, please do use this opportunity--right here, right now--to post any and all questions you have for me.

This is not merely a favor from me. I am requesting you to do it for my sake too, and for the sake of everyone else in the mentoring program.

For those in my mentoring program, I am essentially insisting that you use this opportunity (starting now and moving forward), to ask any and all questions you have for me that don't need to be kept private. Unless there is some significant reason your question or my answer needs to be kept private, please ask it here now.

The reason is because this will save us all a lot of time. Many of my mentees will have the same or similar questions. Even when the questions are different, many times the answers and advice will still be the same. For example, the formula for "how to get really good at boxing" versus "how to get really good at dancing" will be almost entirely the same. The formula for "how to get my shoe-selling business off the ground" will be almost entirely the same as "how to get my hat-selling business off the ground". Reading my answer to one will likely answer the other, or at least mostly answer it such that you will have much fewer unanswered questions left, which will help us both greatly.

To illustrate the value here by example, I won't be able to mentor anyone effectively if I have the same ten-hour one-on-one private conversation with each person separately. That won't be good for you or for me. It would wreak the whole thing for everyone. Instead, we will reserve the time-consuming one-on-one private conversations for things that specifically need to be private.

I'm not just talking about killing two birds with one stone here. I'm talking about potentially killing millions of birds with one stone. It's much, much better for all of us. Don't worry about the birds, they are just figurative. No birds will be harmed in the making of this program.

One reason I have explained my reasoning for this post in this post in such detail is because I think that explaining myself as such will itself act as advice and help those I mentor. This concept of killing two birds (or more) with one stone is extremely crucial to the fundamental formula I use to be so successful in business, finances, and other areas. Wealth is not a zero-sum game. It can be created. So, like I encourage in my book, let's be creative!

My friends, I say, let's get our loving free-spirited creativity going!

Let's work together in a mutually beneficial way to create wealth and succeed together. After all, we are in this together.

For those who already signed up for my mentoring program, even if you have not yet completed the initial 100-day startup period (i.e. "Phase One"), please still use this opportunity to ask any and all questions you have for me now, both right now and as they pop up in your head or come up in your life moving forward.

I'm here for you, right here in this thread.

When replying, make sure the little box "Notify me when a reply is posted" is checked so that you get notifications of new posts.

I suggest you continually read through all the questions by others, and then if even partly applicable to you, read through my answer to them.

One reason is because of the role of reasoning from first principles that will often come up in my answers. While superficially it might at first seem that a question is unrelated to your own life, when you read my long in-depth answer, especially the logic and reasoning behind the answer, you will likely see that those first principles from which I reason, and thus much if not all of the reasoning itself, apply greatly if not just as much or more to your unique situation. More interestingly, seeing how seemingly different problems can be resolved and solved by the same few fundamental processes will indirectly teach you those tools as well, so that you can solve your own problems in the future without having to ask me, both in terms of (1) teaching the incredible empowering value of these tools and (2) teaching you by example what they are and how to use them.

By reading my replies to others in this topic, you will not only be getting mentored by me, but you will also be learning how to mentor others (and in sense mentor yourself). You will not only be getting the fish you want, you will be at the same being shown how to fish and how to provide fish for others. There we go killing two birds with one stone again.


With all that said, let's do it! Fire away! Please ask your questions now. I am happy to do my best to give you my best advice about anything. Right here, right now.




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Buy the book: on Barnes and Noble | on Amazon | on Books-A-Million
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Hello Scott, I have a question. What do you do when you keep failing over and over again?

Please I'd like to know why manual verification on the other website wastes so much time. What can I do to reduce the time wasting.

Please I'd like to know why manual verification on the other website wastes so much time. What can I do to reduce the time wasting.

Hi Scott.

This question might have come up earlier, so please direct me if the answer is already given.

So here's my question.

I really want to write a memior of my life. Bits and pieces of growing up but mainly about what I went through from the age of 19 to 32. My goal with this is to help people that's in the same situation that I was, to get out and get help. My problem though is I don't know how to get started. Where to begin, and in what way must I write this, 3rd person or first-person. What should I avoid to not make it a tedious read.

I hope my question is not to lengthy.

Thanks in advance.

If you haven't already, you can sign up to be personally mentored by Scott "Eckhart Aurelius" Hughes at this link.


Hi, Shirley Labzentis,

Shirley Labzentis wrote: ↑December 14th, 2023, 11:09 am Hi Scott,
A lot of people over the years have mentioned to me that, because of all of the unusual things that happened in my life, I should write a memoir. I have been hesitant as I don't have the writing bug. My question is, do you think that I need to give it a try or let it be as I don't have the writing urge?

Your short question above contains three of the six misery-inducing words.

Have you read my book, In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All?

If so, how many times have you read it?

I recommend you read it at least twice all the way through. The reason for reading it at least twice (as opposed to just once) is explained here.

So my first recommendation to you is to read the book twice.

My second recommendation is to stop using any of the six misery-inducing words.

If you are quoting someone else, that's fine, but then please put in quotation marks.

Assuming you have read the book in full at least twice, please do re-post your question but re-phrased to avoid any un-quoted uses of any of the six misery-inducing words.

Of course, you might be surprised how much quiet clarity you gain from letting go of those kind of words, and by following the similar teachings in my book, and then find that the answer becomes obvious to you.

Part of the wonder of spiritual freedom (a.k.a. self-discipline) and free-spirited inner peace is the way the would-be friction and anxious decision-making evaporates and your inspired actions and art flow with infinite creative ease, once you let go of all the things of which my book teaches you to let go.

Shirley Labzentis wrote: ↑December 14th, 2023, 11:09 am In your opinion, are only the successful authors the ones who have felt the need to write?

No. "Need to" is one of the six misery-inducing words. I don't ever feel the "need to", but I consider myself a very successfully author.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a Scott



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In addition to having authored his book, In It Together, Eckhart Aurelius Hughes (a.k.a. Scott) runs a mentoring program, with a free option, that guarantees success. Success is guaranteed for anyone who follows the program.