1 00:00:00,590 --> 00:00:06,360 Whenever you need to make a decision in life, be it choosing a career path, a job or when 2 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:12,200 you go through a personal crisis like a family bereavement, it is important to know yourself 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,770 and to know what your real potential is. 4 00:00:16,770 --> 00:00:22,160 Your real potential can be realized when you find something you can do amazingly well with 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,050 minimum effort on your part. 6 00:00:25,050 --> 00:00:31,029 To find your true calling, the path that can help you realize your potential, it is important 7 00:00:31,029 --> 00:00:39,620 to get to know yourself very well or, as Carl Jung said, to go through the process of individuation. 8 00:00:39,620 --> 00:00:44,680 Individuation is a process of personality transformation, of bringing the subconscious 9 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,070 parts of yourself into your personality, becoming a whole. 10 00:00:49,070 --> 00:00:56,879 Carl Jung was a one of the founders of psychoanalysis which is a set of psychological theories and 11 00:00:56,879 --> 00:01:00,969 methods aiming to release repressed emotions and experiences. 12 00:01:00,969 --> 00:01:08,869 He made huge contributions to the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, 13 00:01:08,869 --> 00:01:11,869 philosophy, psychology and religious studies. 14 00:01:11,869 --> 00:01:18,279 Jung’s philosophy is called “Jungian philosophy” and some of his most important books are: 15 00:01:18,279 --> 00:01:23,469 “Psychology of the Unconscious”, “Man and His Symbols”, “The Archetypes and 16 00:01:23,469 --> 00:01:28,749 The Collective Unconscious”, “Modern Man In Search of a Soul”, “The Psychology 17 00:01:28,749 --> 00:01:34,729 of the Transference”, “Memories, Dreams, Thoughts”, “The Relations Between the 18 00:01:34,729 --> 00:01:37,479 Ego and the Unconscious.” 19 00:01:37,479 --> 00:01:41,880 Jung’s mentor was the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. 20 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:50,229 However, he split from him, founding his own school of psychology, called analytical psychology. 21 00:01:50,229 --> 00:01:55,539 Analytical psychology focuses on the present as well as mythology, folklore, and cultural 22 00:01:55,539 --> 00:02:00,979 experiences, with the purpose of integrating the human consciousness. 23 00:02:00,979 --> 00:02:06,179 One of the most important aspects of this analytical psychology which Jung founded is 24 00:02:06,179 --> 00:02:07,849 the process of individuation. 25 00:02:07,849 --> 00:02:14,069 Jung considered the process of finding the self and realizing your potential as an important 26 00:02:14,069 --> 00:02:16,730 task in human development. 27 00:02:16,730 --> 00:02:21,390 To help you understand how to use Jung’s teachings to realize your full potential in 28 00:02:21,390 --> 00:02:28,799 life, today we bring you 8 lessons you can learn from the philosophy of Carl Jung: 29 00:02:28,799 --> 00:02:36,269 Don’t let others define you  Jung said: “The world will ask you who you 30 00:02:36,269 --> 00:02:40,750 are, and if you don't know, the world will tell you.” 31 00:02:40,750 --> 00:02:44,640 Jung departed from Freud in many ways. 32 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:49,150 One way was that he didn’t consider that all psychological diseases come from some 33 00:02:49,150 --> 00:02:55,579 childhood traumas or that he was not for the concept of Superego - which for Freud represent 34 00:02:55,579 --> 00:02:59,719 the voice of conscience, the voice of other people inside ourselves. 35 00:02:59,719 --> 00:03:05,470 It is formed in childhood based on what parents and educators told us regarding what is good 36 00:03:05,470 --> 00:03:08,180 and what is bad and who we should be. 37 00:03:08,180 --> 00:03:13,700 Jung believed that the internal voice which demands us to behave in one way or another 38 00:03:13,700 --> 00:03:19,340 can have many different causes, and is not limited to biological ones or to past events 39 00:03:19,340 --> 00:03:21,530 from childhood or teenage years. 40 00:03:21,530 --> 00:03:28,349 Jung thought that our behavior is also influenced by future aspirations and by the way we see 41 00:03:28,349 --> 00:03:30,189 ourselves. 42 00:03:30,189 --> 00:03:35,939 When we don’t have a realistic and positive outlook of ourselves and of our future, we 43 00:03:35,939 --> 00:03:40,560 are weaker, with less resistance to face the possible aggressions from other people or 44 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,459 from the environment and these can make us vulnerable to psychological diseases. 45 00:03:46,459 --> 00:03:51,780 The world constantly demands us to be in one way or another and sometimes it gets aggressive 46 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:54,069 with us, testing our limits. 47 00:03:54,069 --> 00:04:00,900 What we need to do is to diminish its voice and increase the voice of our own self. 48 00:04:00,900 --> 00:04:06,700 From the moment we’re born, we are somehow forced to copy others, starting even before 49 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:08,810 our school years. 50 00:04:08,810 --> 00:04:14,239 If your Self is weak, then you will listen to them, you will do whatever others demand 51 00:04:14,239 --> 00:04:15,560 you to do. 52 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:21,599 However, in time, you will grow bitter, full of resentment and regrets that you didn’t 53 00:04:21,599 --> 00:04:23,180 follow your own way of being. 54 00:04:23,180 --> 00:04:31,031 Don’t try to copy anyone, but rather reflect first on what you really value in life, do 55 00:04:31,031 --> 00:04:37,151 you value more security or freedom, are you more competitive or collaborative, are you 56 00:04:37,151 --> 00:04:42,680 an explorer or do you feel better following a routine schedule and so on. 57 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:48,280 Don’t pretend to be someone you are not, for example don’t try to force yourself 58 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:53,300 to appear to be outgoing, when in truth you are an introvert. 59 00:04:53,300 --> 00:04:56,300 This will only damage you in the long run. 60 00:04:56,300 --> 00:05:01,740 You need to always question yourself, who you really are, what your likes and dislikes 61 00:05:01,740 --> 00:05:05,560 are, and who you really want to be in the future. 62 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:10,530 Only after you have been through this introspection, would you know what actions to take and how 63 00:05:10,530 --> 00:05:16,130 to impose your will on the world instead of letting the world overwhelm you with its demands. 64 00:05:16,130 --> 00:05:22,569 No matter your age, you should still invest effort in finding your own style, your own 65 00:05:22,569 --> 00:05:27,180 voice, your own behavior and your own way to conduct your life. 66 00:05:27,180 --> 00:05:31,000 To live a good life, you need to live a life which represents you. 67 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,949 Without knowing what makes you unique, you can’t know what kind of activities you should 68 00:05:35,949 --> 00:05:42,850 pursue that can help you reach your true potential. 69 00:05:42,850 --> 00:05:47,710 Understand your passions  In the words of Jung: “A man who has not 70 00:05:47,710 --> 00:05:53,599 passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.” 71 00:05:53,599 --> 00:05:58,610 As one of the founders of psychoanalysis, Jung understood how important it is for his 72 00:05:58,610 --> 00:06:03,819 patients to have the courage to face the subconscious elements, which are usually repressed desires 73 00:06:03,819 --> 00:06:10,490 - for example, sexual desires or desires to harm somebody else or a desire for performing 74 00:06:10,490 --> 00:06:14,990 an activity that can put you in an embarrassing situation. 75 00:06:14,990 --> 00:06:20,639 Only when we have this courage to face them, can we  heal ourselves from them. 76 00:06:20,639 --> 00:06:25,850 When we run away from what upsets us, what makes us uncomfortable or scares us, that 77 00:06:25,850 --> 00:06:31,740 thing will come back to haunt us even worse, affecting our behavior and increasing our 78 00:06:31,740 --> 00:06:33,780 anxiety. 79 00:06:33,780 --> 00:06:39,330 These subconscious elements usually are related to repressed desires or passions. 80 00:06:39,330 --> 00:06:43,730 We usually repress them because they are either immoral and unacceptable from society’s 81 00:06:43,730 --> 00:06:49,930 point of view or they are too overwhelming and we are not able to cope with them at all. 82 00:06:49,930 --> 00:06:55,740 When we have an aloof attitude towards life, when we are passive, reacting slowly to external 83 00:06:55,740 --> 00:07:02,040 events, avoiding social contacts, we are usually running away from our passions or, in other 84 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:07,870 words, from strong emotions which affect our behavior, especially when they are repressed. 85 00:07:07,870 --> 00:07:12,110 For example, you might have a passion for communicating with other people, you might 86 00:07:12,110 --> 00:07:18,050 have the potential of becoming a great public speaker, but you have a childhood trauma: 87 00:07:18,050 --> 00:07:22,250 one adult made fun of you and your way of speaking  when you were a child and this 88 00:07:22,250 --> 00:07:26,720 event made you fear about opening yourself up to other people and risk being embarrassed 89 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,050 again. 90 00:07:29,050 --> 00:07:34,729 The best way to heal from such anxieties and discover your real passions again is to 91 00:07:34,729 --> 00:07:40,790 practice more journaling, analyze your dreams, get to know yourself better, be more forgiving 92 00:07:40,790 --> 00:07:47,289 with yourself, make time for things you really care for, learn to overcome your fears step 93 00:07:47,289 --> 00:07:49,669 by step. 94 00:07:49,669 --> 00:07:54,800 Looking at the given example, you could take some lessons of public speaking and maybe 95 00:07:54,800 --> 00:08:00,289 you can discover how talented you are and how unjustified your fear was. 96 00:08:00,289 --> 00:08:04,460 Get more in touch with what makes you feel alive and more knowledgeable about the inner 97 00:08:04,460 --> 00:08:10,000 workings of your inner passions. 98 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:17,139 Focus on who you want to be  To quote Jung: “I am not what happened to 99 00:08:17,139 --> 00:08:21,520 me, I am what I choose to become.” 100 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:28,939 Although Jung was deeply interested in mythology and even came up with the concept of collective 101 00:08:28,939 --> 00:08:33,840 unconscious, which is the part of our unconscious that is common to all human beings, deeply 102 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:39,810 influencing us in many aspects of life without our awareness, he was for a stronger development 103 00:08:39,810 --> 00:08:44,770 of our conscious capabilities to decide our own fate. 104 00:08:44,770 --> 00:08:49,820 It is also possible that precisely because of knowing how vulnerable we are to the unconscious 105 00:08:49,820 --> 00:08:55,970 elements, Jung emphasized on the importance of choosing who we want to become and integrating 106 00:08:55,970 --> 00:09:01,200 all the unconscious elements into this identity, even the components of our immature psyche 107 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:06,870 - for example, some attitudes we got from our childhood, like a constant desire for 108 00:09:06,870 --> 00:09:10,350 love and attention or the fear of abandonment. 109 00:09:10,350 --> 00:09:17,380 We need to  integrate them over time into a well-functioning whole which is our individuality. 110 00:09:17,380 --> 00:09:22,700 This process of integration Jung called individuation. 111 00:09:22,700 --> 00:09:29,260 What defines us is the end goal towards which we aim, this being the well-functioning whole, 112 00:09:29,260 --> 00:09:31,900 what we choose to become. 113 00:09:31,900 --> 00:09:36,560 Having a goal regarding the person we wish to become is extremely important for the good 114 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:39,430 functioning of our psyche. 115 00:09:39,430 --> 00:09:43,460 If we don’t know who we want to become, how we want to represent ourselves in the 116 00:09:43,460 --> 00:09:47,810 face of the world, we will just go with the flow. 117 00:09:47,810 --> 00:09:52,731 One danger in living your life as it comes, without putting your will to work, without 118 00:09:52,731 --> 00:09:58,290 putting efforts in thinking through when taking important life decisions, is that you might 119 00:09:58,290 --> 00:10:04,650 find yourself in a situation that completely copies a traumatic episode from your past. 120 00:10:04,650 --> 00:10:09,620 When we leave our life to the unconscious driver, it leads us back to something unresolved 121 00:10:09,620 --> 00:10:14,940 from early times and it is usually a negative experience that we need to find an answer 122 00:10:14,940 --> 00:10:16,630 for. 123 00:10:16,630 --> 00:10:21,630 For example, if you come from a dysfunctional family in which you were neglected or perhaps 124 00:10:21,630 --> 00:10:26,930 abused, if you just follow your instincts or your heart in choosing your life partner, 125 00:10:26,930 --> 00:10:32,440 you risk ending up in the same type of household, copying the same situation. 126 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:37,880 Following your instincts blindly and not using your reason into taking decisions that prevent 127 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,880 you from taking the best decisions in life and from realizing your potential. 128 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:49,460 The immature element of the psyche in this example is the fear of abandonment and this 129 00:10:49,460 --> 00:10:54,400 fear makes you search for the same pattern of dysfunctionality. 130 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:58,920 To overcome this fear, you need to have a clear vision of where you really want to end 131 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:04,890 up, make a clear and rational plan on how to get there and follow through, not giving 132 00:11:04,890 --> 00:11:07,870 too much attention to your doubts and fears. 133 00:11:07,870 --> 00:11:13,190 Thus, while focusing on who you want to become, you integrate the components of your immature 134 00:11:13,190 --> 00:11:18,350 psyche into this new personality who is not afraid anymore. 135 00:11:18,350 --> 00:11:22,870 To avoid being a victim of your fears and of your past, you need to spend more time 136 00:11:22,870 --> 00:11:29,820 with yourself, reflect on your past experiences, think what they can teach you, understand 137 00:11:29,820 --> 00:11:35,950 that they do not define you, what defines you is who you want to become. 138 00:11:35,950 --> 00:11:43,070 Then decide who you really want to become and strive in real life to be that person. 139 00:11:43,070 --> 00:11:53,410  Give up your addictions  Jung teaches us that: “Every form of addiction 140 00:11:53,410 --> 00:12:01,710 is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism..” 141 00:12:01,710 --> 00:12:07,410 Addiction is a serious problem, affecting people on many levels, including the biological, 142 00:12:07,410 --> 00:12:11,460 social, psychological and even spiritual levels. 143 00:12:11,460 --> 00:12:18,150 Jung encountered many types of patients suffering from addiction, however he saw some similarities 144 00:12:18,150 --> 00:12:24,030 between people with real addictions like alcohol, some compulsory gestures and so on and people 145 00:12:24,030 --> 00:12:26,750 suffering from idealism. 146 00:12:26,750 --> 00:12:32,420 We sometimes become fixated on some ideal views over life, avoiding to see that reality 147 00:12:32,420 --> 00:12:36,920 is completely different than that rosy picture. 148 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:41,710 We just try to find ways to escape facing the real problems of life, of what really 149 00:12:41,710 --> 00:12:45,460 hurts us because we don’t feel capable of facing those issues. 150 00:12:45,460 --> 00:12:51,310 That is why we find refuge in drugs, alcohol, and idealism. 151 00:12:51,310 --> 00:12:57,250 To maintain our healthy psyche, we need to be in touch with reality, not avoid it. 152 00:12:57,250 --> 00:13:01,660 If you don’t like that you are overweight and unsuccessful in life, do not waste your 153 00:13:01,660 --> 00:13:08,490 days with narcotics, drugs, alcohol or idealism, but rather have the courage to face reality, 154 00:13:08,490 --> 00:13:13,890 make a plan to change the situation, apply more aggressively to jobs, and consistently 155 00:13:13,890 --> 00:13:16,580 follow a workout routine. 156 00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:21,850 If you continue to spend your days partially unconscious or stuck in some damaging idealism, 157 00:13:21,850 --> 00:13:27,390 you can’t get in touch with your real self, you can’t think of any solution how to get 158 00:13:27,390 --> 00:13:32,680 unstuck from the situation you are in and start developing a plan to change your life 159 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:39,990 into a life which better reflects yourself and gives you the chance to realize your potential. 160 00:13:39,990 --> 00:13:49,110  Be honest about your capabilities  Jung considers that: “You are what you do, 161 00:13:49,110 --> 00:13:51,950 not what you say you’ll do.” 162 00:13:51,950 --> 00:13:58,020 As a psychoanalyst, Jung always saw through his patients, no matter what they pretended 163 00:13:58,020 --> 00:13:59,510 to be. 164 00:13:59,510 --> 00:14:05,200 We are almost never who we pretend to be, what we do speaks for oneself much louder 165 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,300 than anything we communicate verbally. 166 00:14:07,300 --> 00:14:13,801 The process of individuation which Jung wrote about implies aligning your actions with your 167 00:14:13,801 --> 00:14:15,810 ideal about yourself. 168 00:14:15,810 --> 00:14:21,550 We are born with a Self, which needs a lifetime to be brought to a full realization. 169 00:14:21,550 --> 00:14:26,360 At the beginning of life, we are not even sure who we want to be. 170 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:32,730 Jung considered that the first stage of life is dedicated to both ego development and personal 171 00:14:32,730 --> 00:14:35,810 development, the image we show to the world. 172 00:14:35,810 --> 00:14:41,430 However, we need the second stage as well, the stage when we should reach a full integration 173 00:14:41,430 --> 00:14:43,390 of our Self. 174 00:14:43,390 --> 00:14:48,490 In the first stage, you are not even sure who you truly are so you just experiment with 175 00:14:48,490 --> 00:14:54,800 different ways of living; one you reach above 40, the second stage begins, and you should 176 00:14:54,800 --> 00:15:00,670 get a clear idea of who you really want to be, and so you should align all of your actions 177 00:15:00,670 --> 00:15:04,380 with that image of yourself. 178 00:15:04,380 --> 00:15:09,210 Even before this stage, it is always a good practice to keep your word and have a realistic 179 00:15:09,210 --> 00:15:14,040 view over your time limits and skills and this view should be formed according to your 180 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:16,700 past experiences. 181 00:15:16,700 --> 00:15:22,200 If every time you studied for an exam just the night before and you always got a lousy 182 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,150 mark, maybe you should not do that next time if you want better marks. 183 00:15:26,150 --> 00:15:32,240 In the same way, if your boss asked you if you can do this task by tomorrow, don’t 184 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:37,620 rush to say yes, especially if you know you are really not that strong in that area and 185 00:15:37,620 --> 00:15:41,900 it would be very likely you need the help of another colleague and that it will take 186 00:15:41,900 --> 00:15:45,390 you much longer than a well-practiced expert. 187 00:15:45,390 --> 00:15:50,490 If you fail in delivering your promises repeatedly, people will stop trusting you and your words 188 00:15:50,490 --> 00:15:53,350 won’t mean anything to them anymore. 189 00:15:53,350 --> 00:15:58,270 It is okay at the beginning of life to overpromise and push your limits to accomplish certain 190 00:15:58,270 --> 00:16:03,570 things, but there will be a time in your life when you need to draw some conclusions regarding 191 00:16:03,570 --> 00:16:09,240 your limits and you need to align your promises according to those conclusions. 192 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:13,470 In our journey to reach our potential, it is important to face our limits which can 193 00:16:13,470 --> 00:16:18,700 be considered as good indicators to turn around and do other projects instead. 194 00:16:18,700 --> 00:16:24,800 It is always better to be honest with yourself first and with others regarding your capabilities. 195 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:30,670 It can help you enormously to find the most appropriate path for you to achieve your potential. 196 00:16:30,670 --> 00:16:35,030 The more honest you are regarding what you can do and what you can’t, the faster you 197 00:16:35,030 --> 00:16:40,470 can find those activities which you can excell at with minimum effort, and the faster you 198 00:16:40,470 --> 00:16:45,570 can find your way to achieve your potential. 199 00:16:45,570 --> 00:16:53,370  Make strengths from your weaknesses  Jung stated: “I regret many follies which 200 00:16:53,370 --> 00:16:59,970 sprang from my obstinacy; but without that trait I would not have reached my goal.” 201 00:16:59,970 --> 00:17:06,159 In his book “Memories, Dream, Reflections”, Jung reflected on his life and how different 202 00:17:06,159 --> 00:17:10,139 it could have been if he himself was different. 203 00:17:10,139 --> 00:17:14,970 He considered himself being too obstinate, stubborn, but at the same time he acknowledged 204 00:17:14,970 --> 00:17:19,569 that without this stubbornness, he would not have reached such successes in life as he 205 00:17:19,569 --> 00:17:20,740 did. 206 00:17:20,740 --> 00:17:25,120 In some ways, any weakness can prove to be a strength if it is explored in the right 207 00:17:25,120 --> 00:17:26,189 direction. 208 00:17:26,189 --> 00:17:32,539 Perhaps outside the professional world, Jung’s obstinacy was wrongly placed, but in professional 209 00:17:32,539 --> 00:17:37,750 life this proved to be the best tool to achieve success. 210 00:17:37,750 --> 00:17:43,090 As long as you are going through the individuation process, your life would be for you as it 211 00:17:43,090 --> 00:17:44,179 should be. 212 00:17:44,179 --> 00:17:50,430 Jung believed that we all have a kind of destiny which is strongly tied to our personality 213 00:17:50,430 --> 00:17:54,139 and we should just follow it wherever it takes us. 214 00:17:54,139 --> 00:18:00,100 The most important thing is to live in harmony with our Self that is in a continuous process 215 00:18:00,100 --> 00:18:01,130 of realization. 216 00:18:01,130 --> 00:18:06,910 Do not criticize yourself for your weaknesses, but rather think how they can help you in 217 00:18:06,910 --> 00:18:10,190 certain areas of your life. 218 00:18:10,190 --> 00:18:14,950 Make a list of all the things you are criticized for and of how you can use these bad traits 219 00:18:14,950 --> 00:18:18,660 in a useful way and avoid using them where you should not. 220 00:18:18,660 --> 00:18:25,220 For example, let’s say you are a very sensitive person, living more in your imagination and 221 00:18:25,220 --> 00:18:29,951 others used to criticize you for your lack of practical skills, that you don’t even 222 00:18:29,951 --> 00:18:33,730 know how to fix a common problem in your household. 223 00:18:33,730 --> 00:18:37,600 Instead of fighting with yourself, trying to prove others wrong and focusing on upgrading 224 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:43,220 your practical skills, you should turn your focus to your creative side, towards your 225 00:18:43,220 --> 00:18:45,280 imagination. 226 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,799 Perhaps you can discover that there is a great artist living inside you who just needs the 227 00:18:49,799 --> 00:18:52,890 right tools to come out. 228 00:18:52,890 --> 00:18:56,590 Perhaps you could be a great painter, a musician, or a great writer. 229 00:18:56,590 --> 00:19:01,299 It is much better to work around your skills and make sure they are directed in the right 230 00:19:01,299 --> 00:19:08,149 way than to focus on fixing your weaknesses. 231 00:19:08,149 --> 00:19:14,610 Find a connection to the infinite  As we learn from Jung: “The decisive question 232 00:19:14,610 --> 00:19:19,659 for man is: Is he related to something infinite or not? 233 00:19:19,659 --> 00:19:23,220 That is the telling question of his life.” 234 00:19:23,220 --> 00:19:29,600 Although Jung liked to be viewed as a man of science, his work has deep metaphysical 235 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:31,660 implications. 236 00:19:31,660 --> 00:19:35,620 This is due to the fact that he could see that many of people’s problems could be 237 00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:40,400 solved if they were able to add a metaphysical dimension to their life. 238 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:43,890 It can be religion or another type of spirituality. 239 00:19:43,890 --> 00:19:49,289 When our life is understood in the context of something bigger than ourselves, our life 240 00:19:49,289 --> 00:19:56,370 gets more meaning and we start to feel more secure and happier, stronger to tackle life’s 241 00:19:56,370 --> 00:19:57,740 problems. 242 00:19:57,740 --> 00:20:02,610 Even if you are not religious or particularly spiritual, it is recommended by Jung to link 243 00:20:02,610 --> 00:20:05,679 your existence to something infinite. 244 00:20:05,679 --> 00:20:09,870 Perhaps you could think about the universe and how everything is connected, coming from 245 00:20:09,870 --> 00:20:16,429 the same source, including every human that has and will ever exist. 246 00:20:16,429 --> 00:20:21,570 The effort you put into your work, the kindness you show to the humans around you can be reinforced 247 00:20:21,570 --> 00:20:26,789 by the thought that you are part of this human species and your life matters. 248 00:20:26,789 --> 00:20:32,500 You are one of the millions of forms through which our species evolved and continues to 249 00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:33,500 expand. 250 00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:39,309 Looking at all the amazing advancements of human civilizations can leave us amazed and 251 00:20:39,309 --> 00:20:45,120 fascinated and we can feel grateful that we are a part of this human civilization. 252 00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:50,120 Some people can see the infinite in their faith in God, some in the mysteries of the 253 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:55,179 universe, some can see the infinite in their children, our successors who will continue 254 00:20:55,179 --> 00:20:57,999 to expand human civilization. 255 00:20:57,999 --> 00:21:03,200 The infinite can be described as anything which gives you a meaning beyond your time-limited 256 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:04,710 existence. 257 00:21:04,710 --> 00:21:08,809 Your connection to this infinite can boost your desire to want to reach your potential 258 00:21:08,809 --> 00:21:14,110 here on Earth and give your contribution to human society whatever your primary reason 259 00:21:14,110 --> 00:21:20,549 might be, whether that's religious, spiritual or otherwise. 260 00:21:20,549 --> 00:21:29,190  Make time for deep reflections  In our final quote from Jung for this video, 261 00:21:29,190 --> 00:21:35,100 he says: “You must be alone to find out what supports you, when you find that you 262 00:21:35,100 --> 00:21:37,149 can not support yourself.” 263 00:21:37,149 --> 00:21:43,010 Jung has personally seen solitude as one of the best ways to heal oneself and he even 264 00:21:43,010 --> 00:21:46,419 said that solitude makes life worth living. 265 00:21:46,419 --> 00:21:50,679 To find happiness and realize our potential, we need to live in harmony with our inner 266 00:21:50,679 --> 00:21:56,710 demands and solitude is the best occasion to discover what our inner demands are. 267 00:21:56,710 --> 00:22:02,169 This is especially true when you face difficulties in life and you feel helpless. 268 00:22:02,169 --> 00:22:06,570 You should go into solitude to reflect on what can give you meaning in life, what can 269 00:22:06,570 --> 00:22:13,200 support you emotionally, and what steps you should take next to realize your true potential. 270 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,149 Maybe a stroll by the lake can make you understand that life's beauty does not rely on how many 271 00:22:18,149 --> 00:22:22,570 bucks you have in your wallet or how many titles you hold, but on the happiness and 272 00:22:22,570 --> 00:22:27,429 the state of peace you feel when you have most of your affairs in order, that you perform 273 00:22:27,429 --> 00:22:32,251 in life those activities which make you feel happy and fulfilled, helping you realizing 274 00:22:32,251 --> 00:22:33,510 your potential. 275 00:22:33,510 --> 00:22:36,830 Think of what activities make you happy. 276 00:22:36,830 --> 00:22:39,169 Don’t hold back. 277 00:22:39,169 --> 00:22:44,769 Imagine money was no object, what truly makes you happy? 278 00:22:44,769 --> 00:22:51,799 Identify that, and you’re now free to stop and think, to find ways to focus your energy 279 00:22:51,799 --> 00:22:57,279 on those activities which help you realize your potential. 280 00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:02,429 Realizing your potential is a journey, and solitude can provide moments of reflections 281 00:23:02,429 --> 00:23:08,860 that can help you assess how far you are on this journey and what you should do to advance 282 00:23:08,860 --> 00:23:11,590 more. 283 00:23:11,590 --> 00:23:15,570 If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out the full Philosophies for Life 284 00:23:15,570 --> 00:23:20,860 playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical 285 00:23:20,860 --> 00:23:23,499 wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. 286 00:23:23,499 --> 00:23:25,890 Thanks so much for watching.