The Secret to Getting What You Want: Don’t Try

The epitaph on the memorial plaque of my favorite writer, Charles Bukowski, reads: “Don’t try.”

Liberate yourself from social expectations and future projections that conflict with your propensity towards hedonistic pursuits. Hedonism is overlooked and frequently cited as a rationale for reveling in all humanistic pleasures. However, many people are unaware that hedonism is an integral element of reciprocal altruism, a strategic tool for advancing evolution.

Photo by Pereanu Sebastian on Unsplash

Renowned psychologist Carl Jung claimed that the unconscious deteriorates itself along with the consciousness when it imposes unnecessary constraints on itself, preventing an individual from reaching their potential or, as he termed it, their “individuation.”

Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the “Hierarchy of Needs,” a holistic pyramid that an individual must ascend to reach “self-actualization” — accepting oneself in perspective of their capabilities and potential.

Psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (yes, that Freud) coined the term “catharsis” to describe the greatest release from repressed emotions and the transformation of self-validation, which forms a healthy consciousness.