Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • - The story you're about to hear

  • is going to change everything in your life.

  • It will change the way you think,

  • the way you work, the way you relax, how you socialize.

  • It will change every single aspect to your existence

  • here on Earth.

  • This is David, and David was a very nice young man

  • who followed a very traditional path in his life.

  • He did well in school, he went to college,

  • he got a traditionally good job,

  • and he met a very nice girl.

  • David was the type of guy who always did

  • what he was supposed to do.

  • But one day, something awful happened to David

  • that would change the course of his life forever.

  • After his 30th birthday, David went

  • to the doctor's office to get his annual blood test done.

  • A few days later, David received the phone call

  • from his doctor saying that they found an irregularity

  • in his blood and that he needed to get an MRI scan done

  • as soon as possible.

  • The next day, David went in to get it done.

  • He was sitting in the medical room,

  • waiting for the doctor to come in to tell him his results.

  • The longer he waited, the faster his heart began to beat

  • and he could literally feel and see the sweat droplets

  • crawling down his face inch by inch.

  • Every minute that went by felt like an eternity.

  • The door opens, David sees the doctor,

  • and he immediately could tell that something was off

  • just based on his empty expression.

  • "Hello, David," the doctor said.

  • "Hi," David says.

  • "David, there's no easy way to say this.

  • "We have found a cancerous tumor in the back of your brain.

  • "Fortunately, it's not too big,

  • "and if we get it out as soon as possible,

  • "we don't think there will be any further complications.

  • "However, it is a very dangerous procedure."

  • With shock and fear in his voice,

  • David says, "What kind of risks?"

  • "Well, the tumor is very close to your brain stem,

  • "so if we make a wrong move,

  • "you could experience long-term brain damage,

  • "which would impair many different things,

  • "like the way you speak, the way you think, your memory.

  • "You may even forget the people who you love in your life.

  • "But if we don't do this procedure,

  • "you will likely die in the upcoming years."

  • Tears began falling down David's face.

  • "I know this is hard, but I can book you in

  • "for a surgery one week from today

  • "with one of the best neurosurgeons in the entire country.

  • "Do you want me to book it?" the doctor said.

  • "I guess so," David said.

  • "Good luck.

  • "My prayers are with you," the doctor said.

  • The following days would prove to be the most confusing days

  • of his life.

  • This situation made David reflect

  • on all the major choices that he had made in his life,

  • like going to school, choosing his career,

  • his girlfriend, even the city he lived in.

  • He literally thought of everything,

  • and the only feeling that he really felt

  • was this weird, dull emptiness

  • that he couldn't even really put into words.

  • The days leading up to the surgery,

  • David completely isolated himself

  • because whenever he saw someone that he loved,

  • he was just reminded of the fact that he may forget them.

  • It was now time for the surgery.

  • David laid there on the white medical bed

  • in the operating room, waiting to be put to sleep.

  • The idea that these doctors

  • were going to cut his head open and then go into his brain

  • with their little tools to remove a lump of tissue

  • that was slowly killing him was both unbelievable

  • and terrifying to him.

  • The doctor came in, looked right into David's eyes,

  • and said, "It's time.

  • "When I put this mask on your face,

  • "it will release a gas that will put you to sleep.

  • "Start counting backwards from 10 starting now."

  • "10, nine, eight, seven."

  • David had fallen asleep for potentially the last time

  • in his life.

  • While David was asleep, he began to dream.

  • Random memories came fluttering back to him,

  • some good, some bad, but even in his dreams,

  • that confused, empty feeling still haunted him.

  • Within his dream state, David suddenly found himself appear

  • in a totally black room with just him and a mirror.

  • He walked over to the mirror and he began

  • to stare at himself.

  • "Hello," his reflection said.

  • "Hello?" David said, in shock.

  • "Don't be scared.

  • "This is just a dream.

  • "Plus, I'm not actually you," the image said.

  • "Right, this is just a dream," David thought to himself.

  • "Well, you certainly look like me and you sound like me.

  • "If you're not me, then who are you?" David said.

  • "I'm who you think you are," the image said.

  • "I'm who you think you are?

  • "What does that even mean?" David said.

  • "I'm the person who you think you are," the image said.

  • "You just said the same thing twice," David said.

  • "Sorry, I'll be more clear.

  • "I'm the accumulation of all the voices

  • "that you have internalized from other people,

  • "like your parents, your friends, and society,

  • "who all wants you to conform to what their idea

  • "of who you should be.

  • "To put it simply, I'm the person the world

  • "has told you to be, and unfortunately,

  • "it looks like you have listened to them."

  • David looked down for a moment, still feeling confused.

  • "I'm the person who the world has told you to be,"

  • David thought to himself.

  • "So you're saying I'm fake?" David said.

  • "Well, I'm the one who is truly fake.

  • "The real you is still inside you,

  • "and it will always remain in you until the day you die.

  • "But yes, in this moment, you think you are me,

  • "but you aren't."

  • "Okay, so if I think I'm you, who is a fake person,

  • "but I'm not actually you, then who am I?"

  • "That is a great question.

  • "You should probably figure that out

  • "before you actually die for real.

  • "Oh, did you hear that?

  • "Looks like our time is up.

  • "I sure hope you stop listening to everyone

  • "so you could finally start living your own life."

  • David wakes up.

  • The surgery was a success.

  • He is now physically healthy.

  • When David got home from the hospital,

  • he just sat in his room, trying to absorb everything

  • that had just happened.

  • He was confused, happy, angry, all mixed

  • into an emotional cocktail.

  • As he was feeling all of this,

  • he once again saw his reflection in the mirror in his room.

  • He began to stare at himself very intensely,

  • just like he had in his dream.

  • But this time, nobody spoke to him.

  • Then suddenly, David began to feel very, very emotional.

  • But this time, it wasn't that empty or confused feeling

  • that he had experienced before the surgery,

  • but rather, it was this powerful feeling of loss

  • and sadness, because for the first time

  • in his entire life, he realized that he had no idea

  • who he really was or what he wanted out of his life.

  • He felt like a lost human being.

  • And this is how most people live their whole lives.

  • They pick a career that they don't really like.

  • They choose a partner that their friends

  • or their family will tell them is a good one.

  • And they will choose a value system

  • that social media or society tells them is a virtuous one.

  • Most people live a life that is not their own.

  • They are being fake without even being aware of it.

  • World-famous psychologist Donald Winnicott,

  • calls this fake person the False Self.

  • And being infected with the False Self

  • is the reason why so many people wake up

  • at the age of 80 filled with regret,

  • because they've realized that the life they

  • have just lived wasn't actually the life

  • that they wanted.

  • If every single person on Earth got rid

  • of their False Self and truly understood themselves,

  • they would know exactly the type of career

  • they would want to have, or the type of spouse

  • or partner they would want to be with.

  • They would know every single thing

  • that they needed in order to be 100% happy.

  • But most people will be infected with the False Self Disease

  • until the day they die.

  • And the only cure for this disease

  • is that you have to stop listening to other people

  • who tell you how you should live your life.

  • And then, once you do that, you have to become self-aware

  • in order to figure out what type of life you want to live.

  • It's better to live half a lifetime

  • being the person who you truly are

  • than to live 100 lifetimes pretending

  • to be someone who you aren't.

  • If you want to get some motivation

  • to learn who you truly are, then click the screen now

  • and watch my motivational story.

  • I promise that you'll love it.

  • Thanks for watching, and I'll see you soon.

  • (light music)

- The story you're about to hear

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it