I neither consider myself a cinephile nor take satisfaction in having
seen enough movies to be able to suggest any. However, I strongly
recommend that every man watches this film at least once in their
lifetime.
We as men are meant to do great things. Our ambitions should be larger
than life. Not even the sky should be a limit to what we can achieve.
That’s what we are biologically evolved to do.
But the matrix is killing us and our masculinity. There’s too much
distraction in our lives in terms of cheap dopamine from porn, alchohol,
processed food and social media to focus on the things that truly
matter.
During these times it's important to be disciplined. Discipline is the
key to all your problems, but it also is the hardest thing to pursue.
You need a push. A catalyst. Giving this movie your undivided attention
can put you on the path to attaining that discipline you need in your
life.
This is not because it is a really inspiring movie like Rocky which
would urge you to "push your boundaries". It's a psychological
thriller with such deep themes that it makes you doubt your own
reality.
Allow yourself time to digest and reflect on what this film is
attempting to say, and you will not be disappointed.
I am talking about ‘The Fight Club’ and here are the most thought
provoking dialogues that made me fall in love with this movie.
While we spend most of our time attempting to understand others around
us and deciphering what they do and why they do it, I was surprised at
how little I understood about myself.
I'm reading books and biographies of great individuals and
corporations, but I'm not willing to delve within myself to figure out
what makes me, well, me. Why?
Is it too hard to look within? Too painful and disturbing?
Knowing why you do what you do will help you master your actions for the
future and the best way to know THIS is by putting yourself in harm's
way.
It's that flight and fight response which instinctively takes over your
sense that defines who you are. That’s when your actions are no more
influenced by how others are perceiving you. It doesn't matter
anymore.
We've programmed our brains to always operate in the way that others
expect us to. So, in the most basic and honest sense, we are never our
raw selves.
If you don’t always act the way you want to, how can you ever truly know who you are?
Unknown
Knowledge is power. Knowledge of oneself is a bliss.
I talked to many people my age since moving to Bangalore. Struck deep
conversations with most, be it friends or strangers
All of them are chasing the best for themselves. The best job, the best
package, the best profile, the best college, the best relationships, the
best of friends, the best trips
And it's not wrong wanting the best for yourself
Ironically nobody has all that they want. Not even a single one of them.
All of them think that they are this 🤏 close to being complete
They 'just' want that next salary hike, and all will be set
They 'just' want that next trip to happen, and they would be complete
Only when I saw all of this happening around me, I truly understood what
Tyler meant.
You can never be complete. You will never be perfect. You are a space
monkey. Evolve.
Working hard towards something is fine, but thinking upon achieving the
results you will be complete is nothing short of stupidity.
Stop being stupid.
It’s human nature to want to make progress, but becoming better just for
the sake of becoming better will give you nothing but stress and
anxiety. Why do you want to be better? You can read a book and feel good
(masturbate) that you are becoming a better person, with no actual
results to show for it.
The paradox of self-help is that the more self-help information you
consume, the more you think you need help. When in fact, the last thing
you need is help. You don’t need help. You need to love yourself. Enough
so that you stop consuming self-help and start living.
I notice that most people who considered themselves self-help junkies go
to a lot of training and seminars purchase a lot of books and keep on
practicing and improving themselves but avoid the necessary hard-work to
finish the job.
Self destruction is the answer
Tyler Durden
What I’m pointing is there’s no real self-improvement. We only improve
on the things we do if it hurts us.
If we hurt are muscles by going to the gym then it will become
stronger.
If our business fails and it hurts us, we can become wise onto our next
venture.
If we get rejected by the girl we want, there’s a chance that we can be
better for our next approach.
Seek discomfort to grow. Self help is fantasies
We should feel the pain (Self-Destruction). We should be comfortable
with it. Because that is the way forward. Real growth happens when we
are in this state.
In all the things we want we will always feel the pain. I know this is
hard at first but that’s what makes life challenging. We must learn to
sustain the pain we’ve been choosen.
In Fight Club, the Narrator loses everything when his apartment is
destroyed, and it frees him up to follow his heart and start an
underground anarchist group. However, the phrase is powerful enough to
inspire people to do more positive things with their lives too.
The Things You Own End Up Owning You
There is deeper relevance to this than just material things. It relates
to everything else in your life that you tie your identity to.
You are not your job. You are not the person you date. You are not how
much money you have in the bank. You are not the car you drive. You are
not the contents of your wallet.
Once you dissociate your identity from all these things can you truly
know who you are.
This is because now you do not have a tag to live up to. Lose all the
tags you have been carrying as baggage all your life.
Only when you have lost everything, you are free to do anything.
This is a straight jab to the face of consumerism by Tyler. We have
become consumers. Consuming crap at all times.
We consume foods that are bad for our body and content that is messing
with our brain.
We are consuming anything and everything that society has to feed us.
All the great visionaries of the world have been responsible for
creating magic in this world. It is their creations which have made them
immemorial. Their inventions, art, literature or any other
contribution.
These people didn’t achieve what they did by mindlessly consuming all
that was being fed to them. They were producing and creating.
Be a creator. Create your own destiny.
We're the middle children of the history, no purpose or place, we have
no Great war, no Great depression.
Tough times create strong men, strong men create easy times. Easy times create weak men, weak men create tough times
Our forefathers were one tough motherfuckers to have created such
blissful times for us. They fought for our independence so that we could
binge watch FRIENDS till dawn on a weekday.
And as I mentioned earlier, self destruction is the answer. If we are
not putting ourselves in harm's way, how will we ever truly know who we
are let alone give us a chance to improve.
This is my most favorite line of the movie.
Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel's life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted
Tyler Durden
We have a tendency of those things slide which truly matter to us. If we
don't have Tyler holding us at a gunpoint asking us “What did you wanna
be?” we will mindlessly waste away our lives slogging
Truth is that we will never have Tyler coming after us. You have to be
your own Tyler.
Answer for yourself what would you have done if you were to die today
and do it. Nothing is stopping you.