通往平静之路是真相The Path to Peace Is Truth
Naval：对平静的追寻，本质上就是对真相的追寻。试着看清：通过发现真相来理解事物，比依靠练习更有优势。
当你发现真相，坏习惯就会自行消失
比如说，我想戒烟。我可以尝试各种方法，但它们总是痛苦而艰难。往往会有那么一个时刻，我以一种新的眼光看待自己，让这个习惯自行消失。比如我被诊断出肺癌，明白自己时日无多；或者我看到一位朋友因为类似的坏习惯而栽了跟头。当我把某件事看得足够清楚、真正理解了它，坏习惯就会自行瓦解。
更进一步说，我可能会看到自己身上某个不喜欢的侧面。也许我先在朋友身上看到它，然后就再也无法视而不见，以至于我们再也做不成朋友。
自我提升不过是包装过的自我对抗
看见并理解事物，能带来练习和技巧无法达成的改变。当你循着某种技巧行事时，你与想要达成的目标之间总有一道鸿沟。总伴随着重复、挣扎和对抗。
如果我们想要平静，就必须放下自我对抗。我们甚至要放下自我提升，因为自我提升不过是包装过的自我对抗。相反，我们应该借助天然的好奇心去更好地理解事物。通过理解，我们会自然而然地提升自己。
一旦我们真正理解了不健康食物对身体的影响——当我们看到自己身上多余的体重，或观察到吃太多糖后血糖的骤升骤降，或看清咖啡因如何让我们先亢奋再萎靡——我们就会自动改变，变得更好。
所以，通往平静的道路，就是真相。
Naval: The search for peace is really the search for truth. Try to see the advantage of understanding things by discovering the truth rather than by practice.
When you discover the truth, bad habits can disappear
Let’s say I’m trying to quit smoking. There are techniques I can try, but they’re always painful and difficult. Often, a moment will come when I see myself in a new way that allows the habit to disappear by itself. I get a diagnosis of lung cancer and understand I’m going to die, or I see a friend get in trouble with similar bad habits. When I see something clearly enough and understand it, the bad habit can dissolve by itself.
More broadly, I may see some facet of myself that I don’t like. Maybe I see it in a friend and then can’t unsee it to the point that we can no longer be friends.
Self-improvement is just a dressed up form of self-conflict
Seeing and understanding things leads to changes that practice and technique cannot achieve. When you’re following a technique, there’s always a gap between you and the thing you’re trying to achieve. There’s always repetition, struggle and conflict.
If we want peace, we have to give up on self-conflict. We even have to give up on self-improvement, because self-improvement is just a dressed up form of self-conflict. Instead, we need to use our natural curiosity to understand things better. Through understanding, we will naturally improve ourselves.
Once we truly understand the effects of unhealthy food on our bodies—when we see the extra weight we’re carrying, or we track the glucose spike and crash after eating too much sugar, or we see how caffeine hops us up and then crashes us—we automatically change for the better.
So, the path towards peace is truth.