Living Totality: The Mindset Upgrade to Living a Life of Totality

By Asaf 'Ace' Mengelgrein

Why is Living Totality important? It solves peoples' challenges in moving onward and upward in life. If you are here now reading this, then something brought you here. Nothing is by chance. Just because you cannot see all the moving parts does not mean they do not exist and are moving in your favor. You know this to be true, you just have to ask deep within yourself and let your inner voice speak. Call it intuition if you like, and know that your intuition will never purposefully deceive you.

How does Living Totality achieve this mindset upgrade? By teaching a new way of thinking, acting, and reacting. It is a revision of mindset to experience life in a different light, a light that has always been there, only blocked out by the curtains that conceal the light. You already know that greatness is all around you, it has simply been obscured by all the noise created by you and the programming instilled within you. Enough is enough, no?

How does Living Totality work? By inspiring your motivation with the knowledge to take positive action in your life. Never walk behind an empty cart because nothing will fall from it. This book is a wealth of knowledge that serves as fuel to drive you onward and upward in your life. Contained herein are stories, facts and knowledge that have been passed on over a many millennia. Nothing is new, it is just repackaged in new ways that are relevant and engaging today.

What makes this book different? You are the difference! Great wisdom has been around since the dawn of mankind. Living Totality is a level-headed approach to becoming the best version of yourself. The door to greatness will be presented and you have to decide to go through it. Awareness has been delivered, now it is time for action, provided you are ready to be accountable. So then, ready to level up?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218185367

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Asaf ’Ace’ Mengelgrein

All rights reserved. This book or any original portion thereof may

not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the

express written permission of the publisher except for the use of

brief quotations in a book review.

Printed by BookBaby, in the United States of America.

First printing, 2023.

TheTreeInTheForest LLC

3389 Sheridan St. 264

Hollywood, FL 33021

www.acethespeaker.com

ISBN: 979-8-2181853-6-7

Acknowledgements

To those who believed in me, thank you.

Caryn, Rich, Rosa, Sunny, Frankie, Joseph, Goddess, Iliana, Shai,

Liam, Andi, Ivan, Madeleine, and all those who gave me

that proverbial pat on the back.

You kept me going and I will be forever grateful to you.

March 6, 2023

LIVING TOTALITY

THE MINDSET UPGRADE TO LIVING A LIFE OF TOTALITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) INTRODUCTION

a) WHY YOU ARE HERE & HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS GUIDE

b) WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT ANYTHING I HAVE TO SAY?

c) WHAT IS LIVING TOTALITY?

d) THE LAW OF 10 GREAT JOKES

2) AWARENESS

a) GENESIS 1-3 - LET THERE BE LIGHT

b) THE KEYCHAIN STORY

c) FINDING THE LIGHT, AND THEN SHARING IT

d) THE TOP 5 REGRETS OF THE DYING

e) BIOHACKING

f) THE CONSCIOUS VS. SUBCONSCIOUS MIND

g) MAN-MADE BELIEFS

h) THE POWER OF WORDS

i) FRAMING EXPERIENCES

j) ENVIRONMENTS MATTER

k) WILL POWER

l) DEEP WORK

m) FALSE IDOLS

3) ACTION

a) PAIN VS. PLEASURE

b) THE STONECUTTER

c) THE COMPOUNDING RULE

d) 6-DAY NET POSITIVE RULE

e) PASSION VS. PURPOSE

f) TAKERS VS. GIVERS

g) REMOVE THE CLUTTER

h) ARE YOU PRIMED?

i) START WITH THE OUTCOME

j) GOALS VS. PROCESSES

k) ENDING ON A HIGH NOTE

l) HABITS

m) JOIN AN ORGANIZATION

n) READ BOOKS

o) FAILING FORWARD

p) THE POWER OF SURRENDER

4) ACCOUNTABILITY

a) THE BUCKS STARTS WITH YOU

b) LEARN TO SAY NO

c) FACE YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR

d) THE FUNDAMENTAL ERROR

e) BALANCING BALANCE

f) THE CIRCLE YOU KEEP

g) THE TINY MAJORITY

h) JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS

i) SLEEP ON

j) THE PERFECT BACKSTORY

k) DIVINITY AND THE TWO J’S.

l) DEATH BY A SAFETY NET

5) EXTRAS

a) EXTRAS+

b) POWERFUL PASSAGES

c) GUIDELINES TO EVERYDAY LIVING

d) I AM STATEMENTS

e) RECOMMENDED READING.

f) NEWSLETTERS

i) Conditional Love

ii) Baby Steps, But Take Them

iii) Eye On The Prize

iv) Happy New Year

v) Man-Made Beliefs

vi) Pay to Play

vii) Quitting vs. Pivoting

viii) Shiny Object Syndrome

ix) The Attention Economy

x) Evergreen Wisdom

g) SPIRITUAL FITNESS

h) MONK-MODE

i) 6-PHASE MEDITATION

j) LIFE PLANNER

k) LIFE BOOK

INTRODUCTION

If you are going to be successful, you’re going to have to become a lifelong student.

– Ryan Blair

WHY YOU ARE HERE & HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS GUIDE

You are here because you are actively working to better yourself, isn’t it? Maybe this is the beginning of your journey into personal growth & development… Exciting times! I am feeling your energy now as I am typing this. Or perhaps you have been working on yourself for some time and are inquiring to see if there is anything worth learning here. Well, I certainly hope so! For whatever reason you are here, let me first begin by saying thank you. Thank you for the time and attention you are giving this. Not only do I feel of value knowing I can help you, but more importantly, thank you for giving this to YOU! You deserve this; and deserve is not a word I often use. But seriously, you do. Because it is not selfish to want to become better. I’d argue that it is intrinsic to humanity’s purpose here on Earth. Why after all would you be here? To what end? Just to survive, or prosper?

The late Kabbalist Rav Berg spoke of how your soul is here, in this body, this life, to make a correction. Think about that for a moment… To make a correction. What are you trying to fix? Whether you believe in past lives or not, it is not a stretch of the imagination to believe that you are here for more than just consumption, but instead production. And to do that you must grow. You must learn how to become more by taking action in your life that drives you toward ascension. And, you must remain accountable throughout this process. Sound good so far? Still with me? Okay, because I’ll be checking in with you… I’m your accountability partner as you navigate your way through this. Ready? YES / NO

Thanks to a couple close relationships in my life, I found my way to writing this book, or guide, with the intent of making it short(ish), instructional, and easy to digest. The first place to begin, if you haven’t already, is the table of contents. Before reading any book, peruse its contents page to get a high-altitude view of the lay of the land. Another tip is that this guide is not required to be read straight through. You can jump around to read points of interest. But I do recommend that you get through the introduction first, as it lays the foundation on which everything else will be built. Also, think of this guide as cyclical, meaning there is no beginning or end, instead a loop. Life is patterns that repeat and change over time. Sometimes you can influence these changes and at other times they are outside of your control, but always will you need to manage in the new environments these changes create.

Imagine if there was an app you could download to do this? Would you use it? Or better yet, what if there was a mindset upgrade you could download to experience your life in a new and improved way? Sounds like a promising thing, would you agree?

Is it so much to ask? Do you not you download software updates on your phone often? Who has old tech? Most consumers want the latest of everything. So, I ask you when was the last time you upgraded your mindset to the next best thing? Exactly! This Living Totality guide is a blueprint to a better living success mindset. It is a tool, and like any tool, requires training and skill development to use to its fullest potential, i.e. output. It is not medical advice (the Western kind), it is rather knowledge that has been passed on with mankind since its beginnings. Living Totality is my interpretation of these golden rules that promote the highest level of being.

This guide has three sections, not including the introduction and extras. The three sections are the core tenets of Living Totality. They are Awareness, Action & Accountability. Each of the subsections, or chapters, are lessons, points to consider and stories to connect with. Included in these pages are some fillable sections and I encourage your participation in them. This guide is interactive and benefits your journey by documenting data points that help reference where you are, where you have been, and where you are going, accountability in short. I do recommend you take action and do these simple exercises. Are you ready to make this happen? YES / NO

WHO AM I AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT ANYTHING I HAVE TO SAY?

My background is not required reading, you can skip to the next section. But if you would like to know it, I’d be honored to share with you a little about myself. It is wise to consider the source when someone is sharing information with you. Afterall, taking plumbing advice from an electrician is not ideal. Learning of people’s backgrounds helps us validate the knowledge being passed on. And since there are so many jack of all trades, it’s reassuring to know you’re engaging with an expert. What makes me an expert? It is said that if you read five books in any one subject, you become an expert in that field. If that is true, I am a seasoned expert having read far more, many pertaining to personal growth & development. I have also been teaching Living Totality since 2017, have spoken at a variety of events and organizations, primarily focusing on self-betterment. As a veteran Toastmaster, I continue to mentor students with their communication skills, carrying forward the lessons passed by the leaders of yesteryear. Speaking, and personal growth & development is above all, my passion. It truly is. I wasn’t born into this; I was reborn into this. Let us jump in.

I was first born in 1975 to my parents, and in 2015 I was born to myself. That was the point where I stopped living my life to the expectations of others, more on that later. I was at the lowest point in my life and had two choices, to end it or start it. I chose the latter. But going back to the beginning, I was born in Israel, starting life there. My parents were from opposite regions and cultures, and to this day I find it odd how they lasted this long; they are still together. My father was an only child born in Uzbekistan when his parents were captured by the Russians when fleeing the Nazis from Poland. They were prisoners at a work camp for nearly seven years, until liberated at the end of the war. Just imagine the trauma my grandmother must have endured. After liberation they decided to immigrate to Israel during the time that Israel gained its statehood. My mother’s side of the family was a large one, seven children. They lived in Morocco and too immigrated to Israel right after the war. There was a lot of propaganda at the time aimed at Jewish people, for obvious reasons, and so they left everything and made their way to the Promised Land.

My parent’s upbringing was tough as you might imagine. This hardened them as it did so many of that time and place. It is no wonder why I was held to such a high standard and was limited in my expression of self growing up. But growing up I did, in L.A., from the age of six when we moved there, that is my parents, brother and I. Growing up in L.A. was like a typical 80’s movie. We lived in the San Fernando valley, just over the hill where tinsel town Hollywood sits. We even lived in Encino, a trendy and more upscale part of the valley, where celebrities lived and people thought very highly of themselves. I never liked L.A. much and moved after graduating high school. My family relocated to Las Vegas and I attended UNLV, majoring in biology because that is what Jewish mothers expect of their children. My brother was pushed into law. Side note, neither he nor I became the doctor or lawyer.

After graduating, my parents moved back to Israel and my brother was living in London. I had barely squeaked out my biology degree because by year three, it became clear that I was never going to become a doctor. It simply was not me. At one point, at the end of my third year,