The first step to becoming a master of meaning is to fully recognize that none of your beliefs and meanings are absolutely true

The first step to becoming a master of meaning is to fully recognize that none of your beliefs and meanings are absolutely true. Sure, I might have meanings that I believe very strongly in (like the theories I am sharing with you in this book), but I also accept the fact that my human brain is fallible and that I can very well be completely wrong in many of the things I believe.   Are you willing to try on the ''no truth'' frame of mind for a couple of days? If you don't like it, you can always come back and pick up your old truths again.   When you have this frame of mind, you no longer have any reason to try to convince others that your beliefs are true. 

''Seeing is not believing; believing is seeing. You see things not as they are, but as you are.'' Eric Butterworth  

Most people are completely unaware of the rules they have in the different areas of their life. Even the people who are somewhat aware of their rules usually make two mistakes:   

1. They choose criteria that aren't measurable. Let's say one of your criteria of being rich is ''When I have enough money so that I can live my ideal lifestyle without having to work''.   With a criteria like that, you are setting yourself up for failure because your idea of the ideal lifestyle is going to change over time.

2.The second mistake people make is that their criteria is so far from where they currently are, it is going to take a lot of hard work and time to get to the point of fulfilling them.   Sure, it is great to have big goals, but if your happiness or sense of wealth is dependent on a really big goal, you are cheating yourself from feeling those emotions during the journey towards reaching your goal. 

The Mind-Made Prison: Radical Self Help and Personal Transformation by Mateo Tabatabai