J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Category: Metaprogramming Page 5 of 29

Remembering to Be Emotionally Non-Reactive (Electric Hot Tub Emergency)

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On October 26

In Mental Health, Metaprogramming

Not our house, not our hot tub.

My wife and daughter really wanted a hot tub. Eventually they convinced me. And with all the money we’ve saved by not traveling or eating out during the pandemic, we could afford it.

There were two dozen things that needed to happen in the back yard before we could put in the hot tub. An old trellis needed removing. Some post holes needed to be filled with concrete. A fence needed repairing.

Eventually we completed all these tasks as a family. The hot tub arrived. Our electrician installed it.

And it didn’t work. It turned on but it didn’t heat up. Instead of a hot tub we just had a tub.

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Luck is the Opposite of Efficiency

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On July 13

In Lifestyle Experiments, Metaprogramming

I have a repeating to-do item in my Todoist: do something to increase luck.

To remind myself of the things I can do to get more lucky, I include the following subcategories:

  • Do something nice/kind
  • Meet someone new
  • Show up (purposefully vague)
  • Bring someone up (signal boost, advise, or otherwise help someone with less power than myself)
  • Put myself or my work out there (submit something, publicly speak up, etc.)

Those subcategories have evolved somewhat since I first performed my 30-day luck experiment. I’ve picked items that mesh well with my personality and that are easily actionable.

Some people do these things naturally everyday without a second thought. But I’ve had to train myself, and I still consider myself a luck beginner.

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How and When to Use Negative Visualization

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On November 16

In Metaprogramming

I don’t enjoy worrying or ruminating. Excessive rumination is linked to depression, a loss of hope, and a more negative interpretation of events and experiences. When I find myself obsessing on a negative possibility, I do what I can to break out of that thought pattern. Exercise or sports usually helps, as does any kind of physical activity that demands my full attention. Writing and journaling can help to crystallize or express my thoughts, and to gain perspective.

There are advantages to optimism. Optimists tend to live longer and have better health outcomes when they get sick. They may be more successful in their careers and have better financial health. I’m usually optimistic, but I have plenty of worries and anxieties as well. I also wonder how much I should try to be optimistic and not worry about various possible calamities, and in what circumstances it makes sense to consider worst case scenarios and other poor outcomes.

I usually try to imagine best case scenarios. Even though those best case scenarios are unlikely to materialize, imagining them help keep me oriented in the direction I want to be going.

But I think there is a place for imagining bad possibilities in detail.

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Imagining Best Case Scenarios

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On October 9

In Life Purpose & Goals, Metaprogramming

I’ve been experimenting with two complementary techniques for influencing the quality and direction of my life. In this post I’ll write about one of those methods: imagining and describing best case scenarios.

While it’s easy and natural for most people to imagine and try to mentally prepare for worst case “what if” scenarios, it’s less intuitive to imagine what life would be like if everything went amazingly well.

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Communicating with Your Unconscious Mind (a Two-Way Street)

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On June 12

In Metaprogramming

Keep your eyes on the watch…

During the most recent SFWA Nebulas Conference I had the opportunity to speak with author Lawrence Schoen about hypnosis. One of the conference events is something called “office hours” during which authors, publishers, and other conference attendees share their time and expertise in scheduled fifteen-minute one-on-one conversations. Lawrence was offering to share his knowledge in regards to hypnosis, and I signed up out of curiosity, and because I already knew and liked Lawrence from last year’s SFWA conference in Pittsburgh, where he was my conference mentor.

Going into the conversation I knew very little about hypnosis. I knew that therapeutic hypnosis could be used for a variety of applications, everything from smoking cessation to wart removal, and also that some susceptibility to hypnosis might be related to dopamine levels in the brain, regulated by activity of the COMT gene. Lawrence confirmed the former and strongly disagreed with the latter, a position which appears to be backed by fairly recent scientific research (susceptibility to hypnosis appears to be unrelated to dopamine levels and the ability to focus attention).

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