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LIFESTYLE, SELF
IMPROVEMENT

December 30, 2022 Dan Koe

The Focus Formula

(How To Take Control
Of Your Life)

Society Is A Pyramid …

Early last year, I came across an

American philosopher that was touted
to be “the most conscious man alive.”

His name is Ken Wilber.

I bought a few of his books, like “A Brief

History Of Everything,” and was
instantly hooked.

His teachings on holism,

consciousness, and integration helped
me understand the world from a high
level. A cosmic lens. Wilber answered
my burning questions that other
philosophers couldn’t.

As I researched, I found one interesting

thing:

David Deida and Mark Manson (the

authors of The Way Of The Superior
Man and The Subtle Art Of Not Giving
A F*ck) were former students of his.

Deida went on to use the integral

model to help explain sexuality and
masculinity in his books.

My writing had a significant uptick

after reading Ken’s work as well. This
philosophy stuff is a lot more practical
when you are building your own thing
(as you’ll find out).

But Mark Manson… he had an

interesting encounter.

Manson saw the rise and fall of Ken

Wilber. He was an adamant student.
He loved Wilber’s insights.

But one day, out of nowhere, Ken

“turned” on his audience and
disappeared.

Mark’s summary of Wilber’s

momentary downfall was this:

No matter how conscious the human

being, they are still human.

Ken is now back in action after some

time off and is making appearances
on some more niche podcasts.

While Ken did disappear out of

nowhere and made some
questionable remarks, there is still a
lot we can learn from him. Especially
when we don’t jump to conclusions.
His disappearance is rather refreshing,
as the modern spirituality industry is
just as bad as the modern fitness
industry.

Hidden flaws that don’t give the full

picture.

Similar to how Alan Watts is a library of

anxiety-soothing knowledge, he was a
victim of alcoholism. Which does not
contradict his philosophy. In fact, it
shines light on the deceptive nature of
the spirituality industry.

Watts is one of the few that was true

to himself.

I recommend reading Ken’s work to

get the full picture, but I want to
introduce you to what he calls a
“holon.”

A holon is the unit of everything.

A holon is both a part and a whole.

Like how an atom is a whole in itself,

but also a part of a molecule, and so
on up until you reach the whole of the
cosmos.

Holons span in infinite directions, like

how wood is a part of a chair, but also
a part of a tree, house, and table.

Holons are the building blocks of

creative problem-solving.

Alan Watts has called these “units of

thought.”

Leo Gura has called these “figments of

consciousness.”

A snapshot of infinity. A limit that our

mind creates. One of the infinite
distinctions that enable our mind to
assign meaning to the world around
us.

The hidden material that joins holons

together is relationship.

As Watts said, “existence is

relationship, and you are smack in the
middle of it.”

They are not just physical, they are

everything.

This is a powerful realization.

Thoughts, ideas, and emotions are

holons.

Struggle is a whole in itself, but also a

part of fulfillment.

Holons are best understood through

philosophical contemplation. Pick
something random, like an object in
front of you, and follow it down a
rabbit hole of discovery through
questioning.

Seriously, pick an object and ask a

series of what, how, why, where, and
when questions.

Do not limit yourself to the physical

world here, or even direct connections.

If I were to choose “honey” as my

holon to dissect, my mind can follow it
to:

The process of making honey

The bees associated with

pollination

The beekeepers and if they are

making a living wage

Whether any harm is being done to

the bees

The manufacturing and distribution

process of honey

How the honey impacts human

health when consumed

And onward to infinity

Even the words in that sentence are

parts in the whole of the sentence. The
sentence a part of the whole of this
letter. The letter the part of the whole
of my content. And so on.

You are a whole that includes your

interests. Interests are parts in the
whole of a niche. Niches are a part in
the whole of a market. Markets are a
part in the whole of social media.

If you struggle in any domain of life, it’s

because your perspective doesn’t
include the aspects that would make
it whole. This is why multi-perspectival
understanding via open-mindedness
and questioning is important.

Modern
Enslavement –
Society As A
Pyramid Scheme

Notice how holons are hierarchical.

They transcend and include one

another.

Like how humans transcend and

include – or integrate – animals. With
that transcendence, spirit emerged.
The connection of minds through the
intangible.

Everything is structured as a hierarchy,

and there are two types.

The first are dominator hierarchies,

which is what gives the word
“hierarchy” a bad reputation. These
consist of a pyramid scheme-esque
structure.

The second are natural hierarchies or

“actualization hierarchies,” which is
“an order of increasing wholeness,
such as: particles to atoms to cells to
organisms, or letters to words to
sentences to paragraphs. The whole
on one level becomes a part of the
whole of the next.”

You can see the wisdom in how

humans replicate this structure in
society. But from a big picture, society
would fall under the definition of a
dominator hierarchy.

Societal entities like public schools,

government, corporate jobs, and even
religious institutions are structured in
this way.

Less people with more power at the

top.

More people with less power at the

bottom.

In a true pyramid scheme, there are

investors at the bottom that enable
the unfair power distribution.

You “climb” the ladder through hard

work, but rarely will you reach the top.
If there are 1000 people at the bottom
and 10 at the top, there is only room
for so many people to get to the top,
obviously.

But, money isn’t the biggest problem

here.

The people at the bottom of societal

pyramid schemes are not investing
money, they’re investing attention.

Since humans survive on a

conceptual level, and if someone
enslaves your attention, you will
identify with that hierarchy.

Like how people identify with their job

title. When people challenge it, they
get offended, and willingly rivet their
attention to stay enslaved.

Power in our modern world comes

from attention.

Those that hold power at the top of

any pyramid require more collective
psychic energy to maintain their
power.

As we’ve discussed before, the human

mind craves order.

When we can focus all of our attention

on the tasks we enjoy pursuing, life
becomes enjoyable.

And with increasing anxiety,

uncertainty, and overwhelm due to the
downfall of traditional values – people
flock to the “safe and secure” path
toward becoming a cog in the societal
machine (or scheme, if you will).

We’ve replaced religious values with

capitalistic values to maintain our
sanity, which I am indifferent about. I
am not pushing ideology here, nor do I
believe “returning to tradition” is the
answer. We are supposed to
transcend and include, or evolve, not
regress.

This is the definition of modern

enslavement.

It’s not physical, it’s mental.

And, it’s the default state of most

people unless they are made aware of
it, which is what I’m trying to do here.

Political campaigns, corporate work,

and religious ideology are upheld with
mass attention to survive the ideas
that form a collective ego.

Social conditioning from the day you

are born narrows your mind to see the
world the same as everyone else.

By the time you exit the school system,

you are just as mechanical as an
animal. Acting out of survival. The
difference is that you are trying to
uphold what other people told you is
important.

It becomes automatic to invest our

attention in an extrinsic hierarchy of
goals. A dominator hierarchy that
forms a collective ego – through
attachment of individual identity –
that works to conceptually survive.

The collective societal vision for your

future is to get good grades, maybe
get a high paying job, watch TV to
“ease your mind,” and maybe retire
happily at 65. Both with the
unconscious seeking of status,
survival, and approval.

With the habit of investing attention in

external status games, this process
goes on to encourage us to waste our
money on fancy cars, mansions, and
other material items without
consulting our own values, wants, and
needs – because our self is not a
product of our own conscious
creation.

You escape this enslavement by

creating your own actualization
hierarchy to invest your attention in.
One that orders your mind so you can
enjoy life, create a conscious identity,
and impact the world through your
passionate work. Reproduction
through spirit.

You can opt for doing nothing, but you

won’t escape your need to survive.
Doing nothing about your life is exactly
how you become a modern slave.

The Focus
Formula – How
To Take Control
Of Your Life

If you don’t know what you want, you

will be told what you want, and you will
believe it.

Unless you have dissolved your ego

and plan to live as a monk in the
eternal present moment, you need a
purpose.

It is not feasible for someone with

worldly responsibilities to “live in the
present” for the entirety of their lives.
The present is a tool. A gift. A haven
that you can resort to when you don’t
need to take immediate action.

Anything that is not the present

moment is a mental construction for
understanding reality.

Since “success” is determined by a

hierarchy of goals that orders your
mind and directs behavior, you must
create your own.

Let’s create the structure to focus our

lives:

Purpose – Your North Star

At the peak of your actualization
hierarchy is your purpose.

For the sake of simplicity, your purpose

will be synonymous with your vision,
life’s work, and any other big goal in
your life.

This is crucial. It is the most important

step in taking control of your life
because it is the whole that contains
all parts. Without it, everything else we
will talk about will fall apart.

But, when it comes to purpose, there

are a few traps to be aware of:

You don’t have one purpose for your

life.

They come in stages, from shallow to

deep.

Like how your purpose as a teen might

be to get back at your ex by becoming
obsessed with the gym.

But, you eventually transcend that

purpose and adopt one around
health, longevity, and enjoyment.

There are no wrong actions.

(Don’t object that statement. Question

it. “Wrong” is determined by your
narrow worldview and lack of
perspective.)

Follow your desires, self-reflect, raise

your consciousness and make better
decisions next time.

Don’t let the picture of perfection (that

even spiritual teachers lie about)
make you think you can’t take one
“wrong” step.

My “worst” actions led to the best

points in my life, but only because I
was conscious of their ramifications
and changed my behavior
accordingly.

It won’t be crystal clear the first time

around.

Treat this as a Minimum Viable

Purpose that you will refine with
experience (you need experience to
make you aware of opportunities).

If you need help with this, try creating

an anti-vision.

Observe the masses, realize what kind

of life you don’t want to live, and move
in the opposite direction.

I talk about this more in this quick

video.

Your purpose will fade.

Life unfolds in chapters, like a book.

Each chapter has a purpose that the
words lead to.

You will feel lost heading into new

chapters of your life, this is normal.

Did anyone say that you aren’t

supposed to feel lost? Or did you tell
yourself that? “Lost” is something that
exists. It’s silly to think that the infinite
nature of life shouldn’t apply to you.

This is where self-reflection becomes

crucial.

As you go about life, you will miss

almost everything unless you reflect
on your actions. That is, what went
right and what went wrong, from your
perspective.

When you understand both, they are

hints at your next purpose.

Like puzzle pieces. When they connect,

you feel the pull to go all in. This will
not happen if you are constantly
distracting yourself.

How do we create a meaningful

purpose?

Through questioning.

If you don’t know what you want, it’s

because you haven’t asked the right
questions.

Quality questions dictate your quality

of life, because the quality of your
understanding is dependent on the
quality of answers you receive.

You will not receive the answers to

these questions immediately.

You ask yourself a question > move

forward in life > and reflect on your
experience for answers.

Use these questions as attention

anchors. With these questions made
known, your mind will gravitate toward
noticing answers as time goes on:

What do I really want out of life?

What is important to me?

What is the highest version of

myself?

What does my ideal day look like?

What do I have to accomplish in

order to get there?

Does that solve a problem in the

world, and what product or service
aligns with both?

What is the next phase of my

purpose?

Write. These. Down.

Process – The Pursuit Of

Mastery

What is the process that will allow you

to achieve that goal?

Every goal that you have – by nature –

is accompanied by a subsequent
hierarchy of goals descending down
to a small, behavior-related goal, like
writing the first word of an article.

Your process, system, or strategy for

achieving your purpose is how you