The only reason you get manipulated is because you refuse to learn. The reason you refuse to learn is because you haven't been manipulated to the point of absolute despair. You hear stories about men finding out their wives of 10-15 years had 3 kids (children he assumed were his) with someone else. Stories about men signing prenups that mess them up terribly later when things go awry. You hear about people hanging themselves after being duped of all they have. Yet somehow, the arrogance in you keeps telling you "it can never happen to me." You're like a sheep, walking amongst wolves. But because none has targeted you yet, you feel no need to get protection. The inevitable eventually happens. Your preparation today determines what the inevitable will be. Learn, prepare, arm yourself.

There are three resources I highly recommend.

Mental Warfare Strategies: https://gumroad.com/a/159143027 (an audio collection of some the best concepts on manipulation and spotting perpetrators)

Vizier: https://gumroad.com/a/533337203 (this is for the elite, not low level techniques, but that of nations, businesses, high stake environments, still applicable to you)

Manipulator's Bible: gum.co/manipulator (this is my personal expose to you, detailing over 13 sub topics on manipulation and how to become immune to such trickery)

BONUS: I'll be giving out 5 copies of The Manipulator's Bible at 50% OFF today. DM for code.

Don't wait till you become a victim. Learn!

This is gonna be in 4 parts.

First one will be posted later today to explain the process.

I will then explain Visualization and give you examples on how to do it.

Because it can get hard at first.

We'll then move to Mirror gazing and how to properly journal.

The main aim here is to increase self-awareness but also critical thinking and social skills.

You'll soon realize all that is linked to each other.

Okay I've made you wait for 2 days. Apologies for that.

So.

"What the fuck is E-go talking about?"

"What do these things have in common and why should we do them?"

Enough, let's explain.

If you took the 21 day program, you know that I like to combine many practices into one routine to reach my goals. I strongly believe that meditation only or journaling only are simply not sufficient to connect with your inner self.

But this time it's not just about that.

I've been experimenting the process that I'll explain during the next days and I've noticed an increase not only in my motivation and discipline but also in my ability to memorize things and focus.

This is why I wanted to share it with you.

The process is straight-forward and the objective is even more simple.

But for it to be effective you need to understand the mechanics and understand why you'd do it.

So why Visualization, Mirror Gazing and Journaling?

Visualization Meditation will aim at defining your objective, an ideal self. The next post will explain how to do it. I know many people might struggle with this so we'll touch base on some exercise that should help you with it. Many people simply cannot visualize anything, and will complain about only seeing darkness and some colors when they close their eyes.

But the thing is we're all born with this creative side so we're all capable of visualizing. It might be difficult to some compared to others but ultimately we're all capable of it.

Visualization Meditation, when done properly, will help you define your objective and keep it in mind. Through this type of meditation, it will almost be impossible for you to lose direction in your quest of reaching the best version of yourself.

Other side effects in the long run will be an improvement in your memory and your creative abilities. This is scientifically proven and used in mentalism and by "magicians" during training to better execute some of their tricks.

Mirror gazing, on the other hand, aims at improving and enhancing your self-awareness.

Might sound stupid but:

How do you know yourself if you don't even know what you look like?

And by that, I mean not having a constant reminder of your current progress and not realizing what you project to the outside world.

Because trust me, the less often you look at yourself, the more likely you are to lack social skills and control over how you behave.

But that's not just it, when coupled with Visualization Meditation, it allows you to see in real time your manifestations of your ideal self materializing through gradual changes.

The last part was journaling, which is essential and works as a reminder. Its through this that you can fully link your Visualization Meditation with your Mirror Gazing and reflect on not only the progress but also the issues you might face.

Done separately without Journaling, the two practices might have very little impact on you as you will forget and miss most of your thoughts and might not progress as fast or even not progress at all.

Listen.

I know.

This might sound a bit weird to you if you never did anything similar.

But if it does sound weird:

You're more concerned that the others reading this.

Truth is, you probably are so out of touch with yourself that anything that might bring you closer to it will sound useless and stupid.

If you're not convinced by wha I'm saying, I invite you to do your own research on these topics and come back here when you're convinced.

Because tomorrow we'll move to visualization meditation and go deep in the topic. As I mentioned before, we'll have some exercices to help you with it. Will try to make it extremely detailed to help those who are new to this.

If you'd like to understand how it works, please read this old post.

Mental Warfare Strategies helped me become more sharper when dealing with dangerous people. Nothing scares tyrants more than knowing someone is out there that knows their playbook by the back of their hand. Atlas and Ego have done a service for humanity by shedding light on the tricks the wicked use to inflict harm onto others, no more will their reign continue. Because you know where exactly to find the sword that cuts through the lies and deception.

I have edited and formatted my free body language book.

It's a lot more enjoyable and easier to read now; not just a collection of texts anymore.

gum.co/BLBasics

Exclusively for Basedonia.

This piece of content has not been posted anywhere and will be added to Mental Warfare Strategies.

This is part of Volume Zero, which I will give for free once I'm done with the production.

I hope you find value in this and enjoy listening to it.

Your feedback is highly encouraged and appreciated.

I'd also like to thank each and everyone of you for your support and for being loyal readers of my content.

Much love!

"Controlling what people think is our job"

Mirror Gazing: Why & How?

No, this is not some psychopathic practice done by crazy people and narcissists who can’t stop looking at themselves.

What I’m about to explain to you is a meditation practice that has been proven to help increase self-esteem and enhance self-awareness.

As mentioned before, the point of this meditation is to couple if with visualization meditation (which I’ll explain in another post) in order to feel more in touch and at peace with yourself. But that’s not all there is to gain. In fact, the main reward you will get from doing these things is an drastic improvement of your determination in achieving your goals and more importantly a better understand of you own behavior which will help you improve your social skills.

Let me explain how.

If you’ve never done this, it might be a bit difficult at the start.

Given that you’re not used to staring at a mirror for so long, your brain might start getting confused and create optical illusions by deforming what you see on the mirror.

But don’t worry about that, you’ll get past it on the second or third time.

While all meditation practices revolve somehow around one’s feelings and emotions, mirror gazing makes it far easier as humans naturally respond better to perceived emotions as opposed to visualized or imagined ones.

Now, what are the steps for it:

- Set a timer (5 to 20min, depending on how familiar you are with meditation)
- Put away all potential distractions
- Look at your reflection in the eye and maintain eye contact

Now as tempting as it will be, do not look elsewhere. If you break eye contact, consider the session over and start again. Which is why we set a timer, so that we keep focused on eye contact until the timer goes off; whenever you’re tempted to break eye contact, remind yourself to wait for the timer.

At first, given the confusion; you might notice that your face expresses negative emotions, which will make you feel self-compassion and a better understand of what you project when confused. As you start to realize this, it will slowly change to more relaxing and soothing facial expressions; which are not a result of you calming down but rather a subconscious attempt of yours to feel for yourself and reassure yourself.

Mirror gazing works in a way where we unconsciously interact with ourselves through body language.

It breaks the ice between what you think and how you behave and offers you the possibility to fully understand yourself inside and out.

Last thing:

Once you’re done, make sure to write down your thoughts after each session. That will allow you to keep track of your progress and review your own conclusions, to consciously act upon them and take action on what needs to be changed.

Next part will be on visualization as mentioned before. And then we’ll have a final part to explain how to use of meditation practices to benefit one another.

I'll be sending this e-mail 15 hours from now approximately.

You can sign up here to receive it:

e-go.wtf/#newsletter

Scheduled this post for tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy the read.

PS: Probably one of the longest I've posted here.

Be close enough to yourself enough that you can listen to your inner voice.

That is when you become who you truly are destined to become.

Nothing and No one else matters.

It is you with yourself in pursuit of becoming a better you.

Can you listen to what destiny whispers in your ears?

Can you walk the path God paved for you?

Find yourself anon.

Charm Principles

Be source of people’s attention

Every person is narcissistic at heart. All they desire is to be heard, recognized, and to feel importance. Focus your attention towards them - Listen to the person talk. Amplify their ego with indirect flattery. Rarely indulge in your own narcissism.

Be the source of pleasure

People live miserable lives, tensed & filled with unnecessary suffering. Offer them a sense of detachment from their problems. Use wit and humor to lighten their burdens. If you struggle with it - watch a lot of stand-ups.

Be bold

Timidity is dangerous. Hesitation creates confusion and makes you appear distrustful. Likeability & trust are the foundations of charm. Exude irrational confidence, be bold in your actions & demands. People are drawn towards confidence, because they are themselves insecure. This is a domain where you can fake it & make it. Be subtle there’s a fine line between confidence & arrogance.

Never point out people’s mistakes

Never tell someone he’s wrong, it offends their ego and they begin to associate negative feelings with you. Don’t be the bearer of bad news, no matter how well your intentions.

"Truth is for few, lies are for many…"

When the fallacy is committed blame it on circumstances, never on the person. It was the situation that failed him, not himself.

Keep your political beliefs private

People are ideologically captured. Their political beliefs are part of their identity, when you express differing political beliefs you are questioning their identity. Masses are emotionally invested in their identity, no matter how sound your argument they will consider it as an attack. Furthermore, in the current world you can be cancelled for having certain political beliefs

Be competent

Confidence is the result of competence. Be the master at what you do, it will make you irreplaceable. Moreover, nothing charms people more than being capable of helping them in the movements of despair. The helping hand is rarely forgotten.

Calm and emotional-possession

Be the rock in the moments of chaos, unfazed and extremely calm. In adversity & chaos, when everyone is panicking people find support in someone who’s calm, rational and unraveled by emotions. Learn to control your anger, fear and paranoia.

Humor & Personality

As promised, here is my analysis on how humor affect personality.

Disclaimer: I’d like to point out that what I’m about to say is NOT backed up with any scientific research and solely based on my own experience and analysis (which I’m pretty confident in).

Let’s start.

The thing with cracking jokes is that they most of the time come naturally to one’s mind.

In other words, there is rarely much thought (conscious at least) put into thinking of a joke.

You’ll also notice that the more you try to come up with a joke, the less funny it is.

That is because humor and making jokes come from fast connections that you make in your mind which result in a funny visualization in your head.

Now what makes something funny or not is a whole other topic.

What we want to know now, is what someone’s humor says about their personality and character.

But first, let’s explain why humor does in fact say a lot about someone.

As mentioned before, humor comes from subconscious thought processes that often come in a spontaneous manner.

As such, someone’s jokes are way more relevant to analyze someone’s personality than their properly thought and formulated ideas.

The point here is not to evaluate someone’s level of fun, but to understand what types of connections they make in their head and what type of ideas they think of, that led them to finding something funny and sharing it.

For simplicity & conciseness, we’ll consider 3 types of humor.

- Word plays
- Absurd humor
- Dark humor

1. Word Plays:

This is probably the most innocent type of jokes one can make, they’re also not always funny but they do say a lot about the person that makes them.

One of the things you can conclude about someone who constantly makes such jokes is that they could have some sort of attention deficit.

Let me explain, this is not about ADHD.

How does someone make a word play joke?

The answer is quiet simple.

Word plays come from how words or sentences sound.

That means that the person who just cracked a word play joke has repeated the initial word they made fun of, many times in their head.

That is an indication that said person puts a particular effort in understanding the information they’re given and that they unconsciously repeat said word in their minds to better understand it.

This is their natural way of dealing with information, and from time to time, that repetition will sound similar to something else that is unrelated yet sounds very close.

It is only in such cases that the person is able to make word play jokes.

Another thing we can conclude from the above is that, people who use this type of humor are usually highly invested in their conversations (although they tend to lose focus, which will result in such jokes.)

2. Absurd Humor:

This type of humor on the other hand, shows detachment and intelligence.
Yes I know, it doesn’t sound like it but bear with me I’m going to explain.

To be able to make absurd connections in your mind and make a joke out of it, you inevitably have to be detached from the conversation.

This is a sign that people who make such jokes, are in fact (and as opposed to the previous example) not very involved in the conversation.

They take what has been said to them very lightly and do not value the conversation they’re having.

Another thing to keep in mind is that such people, who behave in this manner, often consider that engaging with others is a waste of time.

They are however able to make fast connections between what’s being mentioned and things that are completely unrelated. Which shows how little they care about the exchange happening.

But that’s not only it.

To be able to have such kind of humor, you must be able to spot slight similarities and points of relatability. As such, as much as they’re not really involved in the conversation, they are able to spot a specific point and relate it to something else very quickly, which is a sign of higher intelligence.

Although, some of you might argue that this is a waste of intelligence.

Statement to which I completely agree.

3. Dark Humor:

I truly believe that, although this kind of humor is the funniest, it’s a sign of emotional weakness and instability.

People with a dark humor, make connections between seemingly normal facts and things that are absolutely not socially accepted.

It goes to show a feeling of resentment and a refusal to comply with social norms.

Although I am someone that is against complying with social norms, this type of humor is a sign of insecurity and attention seeking.

The main goal being making the interlocutor cringe and feel torn apart between discomfort and the funny side of the joke.

It creates such an uncomfortable situation, which makes it even more laughable.

However, as mentioned above, it’s alarming when someone constantly makes dark, pessimistic and/or hateful connections.

As it shows a sign of emotional immaturity.

Will drop a thread on how to spot a manipulator later on 🥂

On Self-Awareness

I often talk about the importance of self-awareness, I also occasionally mentioned a few practices that can help increase and enhance it (like our ongoing series on Mirror Gazing & Visualization, next part dropping tomorrow). I’ve however never made a specific post about the importance and meaning of self-awareness and I believe it’s high time to do so.

First, let’s explain in simple words what self-awareness is.

Self-awareness can be defined as one’s level of understanding of the different traits and behavioral pattern that they tend to have.

Now why is it so important?

This is probably a dumb question but let’s answer it anyway.

The more you get to know yourself, the more you can work and improve it to help yourself become the best version of yourself.

What might sound like a platitude turns out to be an essential aspect of everyone’s daily life.

Pick any topic, I’ll tell you how it’s related to self-awareness.

Social skills? Highly related to it.

Love relationships? Nothing more related to it.

Job opportunities? Of paramount importance.

Discipline? I don’t even need to explain.

The point being, MANY if not MOST people never truly take the time to analyze themselves and connect with themselves to better behave and act in order to optimize their lives and seek their well-being.

At the end of the day, self-awareness is one of the special characteristics of humans. It’s our ability to be conscious of our existence, actions and behavior that makes us different from other species.

As such, those who never take the time to improve their self-awareness behave in robotic manners, and simply fit the mold of programming imposed by society.

It’s because most people lack self-awareness that you see people who are embarrassingly lack originality and uniqueness.

You’ve probably seen me or other people, or even used this word yourself: NPCs.

They’re simply programmed by the matrix and not aware of their own behavior.

In short, be it to build self-confidence, discipline or simply feel better in your own shoes; it’s essential that you work on your level of self-awareness.

That will help you mold yourself into the person you want to be and not simply what you were told to be.

PS: If you need help check this out, you can use the code "basedonia" for a 50% discount.