Joe’s first instruction for engaging with teachings: “Don’t trust anything we say. Don’t trust a word of it. Make sure that it’s yours.” The approach is experimental — design experiments to test whether something works for you. “If what they said is true, then this should work” or “let me experiment what it’s like to be with generosity by being generous every day.”
This is paired with a second essential instruction: enjoy the process. “If you don’t enjoy the process of transformation, you’re going to stop doing the process of transformation.” Just like working out — if you don’t enjoy it, you’ll quit. The job is to figure out how to do the work in a way that feeds and fulfills you, or it becomes a burden.
Together, these two principles — experimentation and enjoyment — create a self-sustaining practice. You’re not taking anything on faith, you’re testing it. And you’re not grinding through it with willpower, you’re finding the version that actually nourishes you.
Related Concepts
- Experiments separate identity from behavior
- Transformation is experiments not epiphany
- Enjoyment is the orientation for transformation
- Passive consumption of wisdom never transforms you
- Seeing through limiting beliefs is realization, not behavior control