Skip to main content

Book Review: The Ultimate Key to Happiness - Robert Scheinfeld

I first came across Robert Scheinfeld in an interview with him on James Wedmore's Mind Your Business Podcast, Episode 192. That interview was focused on Robert's 5th book, The Ultimate Key to Happiness. If you follow the links on the podcast episode page you can actually download the ebook version of Robert's book completely free. Which is what I did.

I read the entire ebook but I felt I wasn't able to focus on it properly to really absorb the ideas it presents. So I bought a physical copy to read again.

The book is an interesting essay on how the mind works and how almost everything we do, we're doing because we want to be happy.

In the book Robert talks about various emotions, how the mind processes information and events based on a story we've been told about how we should react to it. Something he calls 'The Mind Machine'.

For example, if something makes you angry, it's very likely you're only angry because you've been told (and have learned) that's how you should react in that situation. It's a story your mind machine is telling you. This thing is something to be angry about, so be angry.

Robert uses the analogy of a movie to make his point that the mind is telling you stories. It's possible for a person to go through a whole range of real emotions whilst watching a movie, but at the end they're perfectly fine and can get on with the rest of their lives... because it's just a movie.

From that point on the concepts get a little fuzzy for me. He's kind of saying you can go through life in a similar fashion. Everything going on around you is just a story. Regardless of what it is you can change how you are about everything. but not so much on a conscious level.

You have to really get inside your head and recognize that your mind is feeding you stories. Creating a narrative that isn't always in your best interests. I feel the concept is kind of like a quote that I've somewhat adopted as a mantra in recent times by Terance T. Gorski (author and mental health expert);
I am capable of thinking ...yet I am not my thoughts; I am the thinker of my thoughts; therefore I can change what I feel and still be me.
Robert's book seems like it's attempting to go beyond that idea into a state of being where emotions are not really emotions but are more of an energy (he describes them as frequencies). There's no good or bad energy it's all one thing.

He also calls his concept 'The Truth Virus'. Once you understand it, it begins to spread through all aspects of your life leading to ultimate happiness.

Anyway, I may be going off track because I need to finish my second read. It's been a while since my first read through.

The book itself is certainly worth a read. Particularly if you're blocked by negative thinking in any way. The ideas here may resonate and be extremely helpful in the way you experience your daily life.

You can also get much of the information delivered by Robert himself through free video courses on his website. However, therein lies the one caveat for me.

Sign up to anything on Robert's website and his marketing machine kicks into gear. It's all about funnelling you into one of his programmes or events.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing but the marketing is a little pushy.

I ended up unsubscribing because it was a little too much. I just want to read the book at this stage. Robert's no bells and whistles style can be a little too high frequency for those of us who don't like to be rushed.

That aside, I felt there was something to the book and what it has to say. Enough so that I bought a physical copy to read it again. That's saying something. I've never done that with any other book to date.

Comments

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

Checking in on Tesla's Optimus Robot - Managing Expectations

Last year Elon Musk announced at the first Tesla AI day the Tesla Bot, which has since been renamed the Tesla Optimus, that is basically a general purpose humanoid robot assistant with human like appearance and proportions. Elon expected they would have a working prototype by the end of 2022. While very little has been released about the project since, in June Elon took to Twitter to announce that they would delay this year's Tesla AI day until September 30 in anticipation of having a working prototype of the robot by that time. Elon Musk announces the Tesla Bot at the 2021 Tesla AI day. When I initially wrote about the Tesla Bot I noted that both Boston Dynamics and Disney Imagineering are developing robot technologies that demonstrate a streamlined, humanoid robot like Optimus is certainly possible. However with precious few details, and the occasional appearance of static, concept manikins of Tesla Optimus bots at places like the Cyber Rodeo Gigafactory Austin, Texas  (see vi...

1X's NEO, The Home Robot, Fails to Impress But It is Progress For Home Humanoid Robot Assistants

1X's NEO, The Home Robot, Tends some Plants. Image: 1X website . J ust over a year ago I wrote about new robotics start up, 1X and their Plans to Build 100,000 Humanoids by 2027  in the form of their NEO Home Robot  household assistant. About a year later and NEO has undergone a bit of a makeover, and you can pre-order your own NEO in one of three stylish colours, for delivery some time in 2026. At USD$20,000.00 the price is a bit of buzz kill but 1X does offer a $499 monthly subscription plan as an alternative. Unfortunately the launch hasn't been the show stopper 1X might have hoped for because NEO isn't a fully realised, autonomous robot just yet. While it can learn to do tasks around your home autonomously, there's a bit of a learning curve between when you first receive it, and when it actually becomes useful in a meaningful way. Which was not helped by a video released on The Wall Street Journal's YouTube channel,  I Tried the First Humanoid Home Robot. It Go...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art  image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

New Software Blues - Forgetting What You've Learnt

Serif DrawPlus X5 Image: Serif Website . There was a time when I could skim through a manual for virtually any application software in the space of a weekend and that would be all I'd need to find my way around the program from then on. There was even a time when I could work out applications based on my previous experience of using similar software. Whilst those days aren't completely gone I'm finding it harder and harder to learn new software simply because the software can do so much more than it used to. For example, I got very used to using Corel Draw 8 and the suite of tools that came with it back in 1995. I learnt to use it over the space of a weekend so I could complete a large commission I was working on for a client. I'm from the school of if it does the job then don't upgrade . Corel Draw 8 has done the job I need it for well for nearly 15 years. Plus I don't like spending money unnecessarily on upgrades - I just don't buy into the wh...

Course Review: YouTube for Bosses - Sunny Lenarduzzi. How to grow your YouTube Channel into a Business

YouTube for Bosses Free Mug...  or the most expensive mug  you'll ever buy? I've been subscribed to  Sunny Lenarduzzi's YouTube channel for a few years, learning a lot on how to grow a following on sites like YouTube and Instagram. If you have any interest in growing your own YouTube channel I'd highly recommend watching some of Sunny's videos on the subject.  Definitely explore her 2019 back catalogue for the most useful information. This year she's been on a bit of a 'being authentic' pivot that, personally, doesn't resonate all that much with me (but probably speaks volumes to anyone with similar experience). I'm not saying she shouldn't or isn't being authentic, it's just I didn't subscribe to hear stories about her life journey. To get back on track, Sunny runs a successful online business with her flagship course, YouTube for Bosses , a stand alone paid course that does act as something of a gateway to further paid (but opt...

Are Ion Thrusters the Future of Flying Cars? Spoiler - Probably Not But... Hover Boards... Maybe?

Undefined Technologies Ion Propulsion Drone prototype 3D concept image. You may have heard of Ion engines or, more likely, Ion thrusters. NASA uses them on their spacecraft to help maintain a craft's position or to propel them through space.  Upon hearing that you might think they're big, powerful engines, but actually they are not. They work well in the vacuum of space but, once any kind of atmosphere and gravity is involved they'd be hard pressed to launch you off the ground if you strapped four of them to your lawn chair and yelled "up, up, and away!" I am no expert on Ion thrusters - they're basically magic that science has an explanation for. If you want to know the details, The Space Techie website has a layman's explanation .  Build Your Own Ion Thruster Earth based Ion Thrusters work a bit different to their  space based cousins by Ionizing the same air that we breathe to create thrust (an effect known as Ionic-wind ).  While they sound highly soph...