Thinking Smarter Now

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My podcast is about understanding how to achieve, thrive, and stay alive in a world that often puts obstacles in your path. Let me save you some time. Think smart now rather than later.

Chris Burke

  • Nov 21, 2020 LATEST EPISODE
  • monthly NEW EPISODES
  • 8m AVG DURATION
  • 10 EPISODES


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Latest episodes from Thinking Smarter Now

What it means to die before you actually die so you can live

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2020 6:34


Too often our happiness is contingent on something in the future. We must remember that happiness is the journey, not the destination. When you are dying you are stripped of all that you are not and exit this earth a spirit. So why not strip yourself of all you are not now, and start living today? The real self within everyone is attractive while phoniness is universally disliked and detested. That is why everyone loves a baby; there is no phoniness, hypocrisy, or superficiality. Children are always happy because they have no concept of time so by default they are in the present moment, which is much too interesting than any distractions. As we grow older we carry emotional baggage and our identity is formed by our past. We can retrain and program our minds by thinking about what we do want and not what we don't want. Our nervous system does not know the difference between what's real and what's imagined so create yourself a great life. We find in the extreme opposite of babies, the elderly, are also uninhibited and true to themselves not caring about the judgement of others. Why not skip the learning curve?Strip yourself of all you are not, be true to yourself, imagine and create an amazing life. Act with certainty and without fear of judgment, and die before you die.

How chronic stress triggers your fight or flight response, can kill you and how you can stay alive!

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2020 12:07


One day I had an epiphany. I clearly saw the blueprint to happiness in my mind and quickly wrote it down on a scrap of paper. It seemed so simple, yet it took me my whole life to think of it. I had been dealing with chronic stress for many years, not realizing my body was perceiving this stress as an external threat triggering my fight or flight response. I didn't know why at the time, I felt anxious, angry, depressed, lonely, and acting impulsively; lacking self-control. I learned how practicing breathing techniques , staying active, eating healthy, and doing things I enjoy like nature walks were key to normalizing my heart rate and making these debilitating symptoms manageable.

The hidden force and where you will find happiness

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2020 2:28


There is a hidden force, a voice, that lives within you. Do not silence it any longer. Listen to this voice and live your truth.

Create a sense of urgency and put your back against the wall

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2020 7:57


Too often we get distracted and lose sight of our goals. Do not have a false sense of how much time you have in the future. There is no tomorrow there is only now. Use death as motivation to make every day count. Fight like your back is against the wall and the only direction to go is forward. The strategies I discuss in this video have been used throughout history by conquerers and military generals to lead their men to victory. You can't have success without failure. The journey is more rewarding than reaching the actual goal. Believe in yourself and never stop pushing forward. #chrisburke #depressed #pain #happiness #universe #anger #resistance #negativenature #spiritualgrowth #impulsive #reactions #fightorflight #chronicstress #meditation #adversity #suffering #senseofurgency #time #deathgroundstrategy #thejourney #goals #definitepurpose #willpower #sober #realchrisburke

How actions create opportunities

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2020 10:21


In my early twenties I was lost and stuck in a loop of drinking and going to work. After six years I decided to take a vacation from myself, so I went to Cancun, Mexico. I didn't party while I was there; instead I stayed sober and read a book my brother gave me, called How To Close Every Sale by Joe Girard. After the first few pages I knew I found my passion and what I wanted to do! When I came back to NY, I worked for a marketing software company making phone sales and was very successful putting what I read into practice. My mother always wanted me to go to college but I never felt I had a reason until now. I researched business schools in NY and set my sights on Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. I now had a definite goal and knew I had to eliminate drinking if I was going to achieve it. I wanted my goal of going to Baruch much more than drinking so just like that, I was sober. Getting into Baruch is very difficult especially not having done well in high school. I decided to take my core classes at Lehman College, in the Bronx, until I could build my grades up and have a shot at getting accepted into Baruch. I was tutored everyday and worked hard to get straight A's. I applied to Baruch College and anxiously awaited their response. The letter finally arrived congratulating me on my acceptance. Once at Baruch I decided to quit my full-time job and concentrate on my studies, however I still worked for various companies doing telephone sales. While at Baruch, I met a fellow student who I had twin girls with after we graduated. They are now 10 years old. My children's mother suggested I might be good in finance, so I gave it a shot and excelled. Unfortunately, we did not work out as a couple. While at this top finance firm one of my colleagues suggested I use a dating app with which he had found success. I did so, and one of the first women I messaged is now my wife. So you see if I hadn't gone to Cancun and discovered my passion, I would never have gotten sober, gone to college, had children, met my wife and would not be making videos to pay it forward. I have been wanting to make these videos for a long time and the current pandemic has given me the opportunity to have the time to do so. I've read hundreds of books and thousands of articles on sales, different religions, self-improvement and anything that will help me understand how our brain works and how we can make it work for us. If they motivate you that's great, but what I truly want is to help you think correctly. Life is going to throw its' punches at you and it's important your reactions are strategic and calculated. If you find this helpful please like and subscribe to my channel.

Pleasure vs Joy and a different approach to practicing gratitude

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2020 7:59


Pleasure gives us short-term distractions like social media, alcohol, or narcotics to suppress unpleasant feelings. Joy is long term fulfillment by realizing our inner potential. Hercules had a choice to make at the fork in the road. The easy life of vice or the more difficult life of virtue requiring courage and honor. Happiness is in the journey, not the destination. Entertainment like alcohol, intimacy, or junk food are only bad when used in excess. The smart person exercises moderation and obtains consistent happiness by achieving his fundamental goal in life. Socrates says we can find greater pleasure in self-control than any external fleeting pleasure. The paradox is the emotion of fear and anger cause us greater harm than what upsets us. Further, self-control will do you greater good than all external things. Study yourself and observe when you are in a high risk situation. Observe your problems or coping mechanisms, but detach yourself. This will remove emotion, forcing you into the present moment and weakening the urge. Replace bad habits with good ones. Rid yourself of bad habits by repeatedly picturing the bad effects of this habit. Also, picture of positive consequence of not having this bad habit. Finally, people have a desire for gain and a fear of loss and the fear of loss is stronger. With that in mind, another way to practice gratitude is by picturing the the loss of the things and people we love. It will also remind us that these things and people we love aren't under our control and they may be gone at any time.

85% of your success is determined by...?? PLUS 7 ways to implement!

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2020 10:10


85% of your success is determined by your ability to effectively communicate, be likable, and charming. More than a formal education emotional intelligence determines your success. The best way to be more likable is to be more charming. The key to charm is to raise peoples self-esteem.A trial attorneys number one job is to get the jury to like his client. In this video I will reveal and discuss the seven ways for you to be more charming improving the quality of your relationships and your ability to persuade and influence.

Practicing the power of acceptance

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2020 10:28


When we stop resisting what is already true we can ditch our emotional baggage and lead a happier life. The more stress we have the more baggage we carry leading to less happiness. Acceptance does not mean what happened to you is fair it simply stops you from reliving the event perpetuating your grief, anxiety, and depression which is essentially stealing your existence from you. The first step to addiction recovery is for the addict to admit or accept they have a problem and only then can they start the healing process. When we accept what happens to us we are able to move on and get back to living. Studies have shown people who suffer from depression, trauma, or lost everything to drug addiction were able to make a transformation through suffering once they accepted their predicaments including all the bad things they had done and could not change. I myself had to accept my mother's health issues in order to function day to day and I chose to focus on all the good memories we made instead of her current condition. Practicing the power of acceptance is not easy and will not happen over night which is why we never stop practicing.

Dealing with anger, resistance, and changing your negative nature

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2020 12:37


Too often we identify with our thoughts of anger and react in that manner. When we learn how to resist these impulsive reactions we change our negative nature and experience a higher spiritual frequency that can be labeled as God, light, the Universe or what ever name you give to a higher spiritual power. When we no longer identify with our mind we are one step closer to being free.

How to acquire the success personality

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2020 7:16


You must have a clear-cut goal to keep you on track and to strive for so the Universe knows what to deliver. We are built to solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve. Most of the failures in human relations are due to misunderstanding. Sometimes people just understand or interpret a situation different than us. A goal is pointless without the courage to act. Only by actions can goals, desires, and beliefs be translated into realities. Successful people don’t condemn, judge, or criticize instead they make others feel important and consider their feelings, viewpoints, desires and needs. Get into the habit of remembering past successes and forgetting failures. We destroy our self-confidence by remembering past failures and forgetting all about past successes. We must practice accepting ourselves just the way we are, with all our faults, weaknesses, shortcomings, strengths and assets. Self-acceptance is easier when we realize our negatives belong to us, they are not us.

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