Find all my publications on my website: https://protesilaos.com/ * * * I climbed the mountain and sat at its top, all while talking philosophy. This video is about an hour long. These are the main themes: * Story about me when I was younger, which illustrates how I had the appearance of discipline without a solid grasp of the "why" * Continuation of that story, delving into my bad habit with alcohol consumption. The gist is that I overestimated my ability by believing in my own narrative of how disciplined I was---a mistake. * How can we have self-restraint without a good understanding of our self and of our limits? * Discussion on the introspection---the search for the "why"---that made me understand the reason I was behaving in that bad way (where alcohol was the facilitator and enabler of certain experiences). * Tie it all together in an exposition about not talking big and not overestimating our abilities. * Comment on three more stories that further explain these and related ideas. * In short: be patient, take it slow, do not assume that you are special, do not talk big, have a sense of purpose that is consistent with your actuality, put yourself to the test in order to learn who you are (what you can and cannot do). Related videos: * Forgiveness and hubris: https://protesilaos.com/books/2022-10-25-forgiveness-hubris/ * On self-improvement: https://protesilaos.com/books/2022-10-21-self-improvement/ * Loss, entitlement, and presence: https://protesilaos.com/books/2022-10-17-loss-entitlement-presence/