Being Stoic

 

• Change what you can and forget the rest : There are so many things that are out of our control. Trying to gain control over them is only going to make us miserable. Focus on only the things that are in our control and let the rest be. It will all work out in the end!
• Be grateful at all times : Seneca wrote to his friend Lucilius, “In all things we should try to make ourselves be as grateful as possible.” No matter what happens in our life, there is always plenty to be grateful for. Make it a point to write down things that you are grateful for everyday, no matter how minute they seem.
• Nothing can break you :Epictetus said, “You can bind up my leg, but not even Zeus has the power to break my freedom of choice.” The human spirit knows no bounds. No matter what life throws at you, you have it within you to fight it and emerge the victor. Throughout history we have seen countless times how people overcame brutality and became successful.
• Go within yourself : “Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging.” Marcus Aurelius. Everything is inside us. Instead of looking outside and walking the path of someone else, look within and forge you own path.
• Be Kind always :Marcus Aurelius has said “For what can even the most malicious person do if you keep showing kindness and, if given the chance, you gently point out where they went wrong—right as they are trying to harm you?” Being unkind and cruel as the masks that people wear hiding their own inner conflicts and pain. Anger is way to dissipate pain. Instead of taking it out on someone else, go within and work on it.
• Be aware of your Mortality : It is important for one to know their mortality. The fact that they will not live forever. Sounds grim but in fact it is the most beautiful and liberating thought since it will force you to take action now! “Don’t behave as if you are destined to live forever. What’s fated hangs over you.” Marcus Aurelius.
• Proactively do good deeds : Marcus Aurelius has written, “Often injustice lies in what you aren’t doing, not only in what you are doing.”. We humans believe that as long as we are not doing evil, we are considered to be a good human. Doing good is equally important and often is more worse than the other. Don’t be a bystander, come forward and do good. The world needs it!
• Seize the day : Seneca has said “As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must seize what flees.”. We should make use of our little time on earth by taking it one day at a time and making sure we accomplish what we set out to accomplish on that particular day!
• Don’t set out to accomplish everything at the same time : We have a huge list of goals that we would like to accomplish but often times we put way too much on our plate at once which leads to burn out and overwhelm. “Don’t set your heart on so many things,” says Epictetus. There is nothing wrong in wanting things. Just remember that you can have it all just not at the same time!
• Always be prepared : Life is the ultimate endurance sport. It will throw curve balls at you at the most unexpected times. It would be wise to train and prepare mentally, physically and spiritually for whatever life throws at you. Most people go through life unprepared and when life knocks them down they shatter like a deck of cards. “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, because an artful life requires being prepared to meet and withstand sudden and unexpected attacks.” Marcus Aurelius
• Be empathetic and selfless : The stoics teach us to share the happiness and sadness that comes with the success and failures of others. Seneca said “rejoice in all their successes and be moved by their every failure.”
• Be humble in victory and gracious in defeat : Marcus Aurelius said it well, “Receive without pride, let go without attachment.” The longer you celebrate your victory, the more permission you give defeat to make you cry. Be grateful when you win and remember that it is not the end of the world when you lose.
• Believe in yourself : Through the inner reflection and introspection the stoics ultimately inspire us to believe in ourselves. Once you find your path, trust that it is the right path and keep walking on it. Along the way you will get distracted by opinions and doubts, keep believing and walking the path.
• Obstacle is the way : Throughout our journey walking our path we will come across several obstacles. It might seem like the end of the road but true success comes from breaking them down and building a road through them. The stoics teach us to use the obstacles as stepping stones to success. Marcus Aurelius has said rightly, “Our actions may be impeded, but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Wealth and happiness

 We’re not among the super wealthy but certainly comfortable.

1. Worry. I went through a business bankruptcy when young that left me scarred and scared. In some ways, I’ve never gotten over it completely and still occasionally worry. We have enough wealth to live our life style for the rest of our lives. But when our investments are crashing I still sometimes get uneasy. I’m just glad we have plenty of margin.

2. Impressing. When I was young, occasionally, I’d try to impress a wealthy older friend with how much we had. And in comparison we had little. I remember they were never impressed or even noticed. Now I’m them and have no desire to impress others. And probably don’t notice the ones trying to impress me.

3. Work. I worked hard to build businesses and investments. Long hours which created stress and exhaustion. I dreamed of building our wealth until I could retire and relax. Now I could retire. But I enjoy running my business, helping others and still building wealth. So I still work but at a more comfortable pace and enjoy it.

4. Happiness. When I was young I dreamed I’d be happy if I had more wealth. So I sort of put off happiness. Then, along the way, I realized that was foolish. I was wasting my whole life waiting to find happiness. So I learned to be happy in the journey not just the destination. And I’m glad because, honestly, I’m happy now but not happier.

5. Contentment. When I was young I dreamed of being able to buy whatever I wanted. And occasionally bought more than we needed or really could afford. Now I can afford all that we need and most of what we want. Yet, I learned to be content along the way which helped us build wealth. And now I’m content not spending all of it.

Wealth is surprising. You dream it will solve all your problems. And then, hopefully while young, realize you had that power all along.

You can be happy and wealthy but only as you learn to be happy before being wealthy.

Life is Simple

At the core, life is extremely simple.

If you want to be happy then do what makes you happy.

If you want to be rich then do what makes you money.

And if you don’t do anything then you don’t get anything.

You either love someone or you don’t, either worked hard enough to achieve success or you didn’t and you are either proud of who you have become or you’re not.

That’s the “secret” to life and it’s all very simple.

The worst part about this is, that you know that this is true.

You know that if you just did the things you’ve been avoiding, the hard things, the uncomfortable ones, that your life would likely be far better!

You know that better than anyone, but keep avoiding it because you “missed too much” or “failed too often”; which is ultimately nothing more than pretty excuses.

The truth is you just want to avoid the discomfort of the action.

Something is keeping you from it, be it fear, discomfort or something else.

There is some story that you tell yourself that you believe that keeps you from doing that task.

You are not good enough, not smart enough, not disciplined enough. Life has been unkind to you, your parents prevent you from doing it or your situation does not allow for it.

You can make thousands of excuses and give even more reasons to why life is not that simple, but, in the end, it still is.

For if you just sat down and worked out, if you just worked harder or smarter, your life would be better. Period.

Now, if you do not know how to do it, then spend time figuring it out!

If you do not know what to do, then sit down and work on that.

But in the end it is all about doing the things you know you should.

That’s all it takes.

Stop making things so difficult for yourself, stop telling yourself the reasons that you cannot do it and find the reasons why you can do it or how you can.

Stop looking for ways out and find ways into the action.

Do more of what makes you happy and less of what makes you sad.

Do the things that progress your life and avoid the things that slow that progress down.

Surround yourself with people that make you feel amazing and drop the ones that don’t.

And get the things done that you know you need to to make your life better.

Life, at its core, is very simple. Don’t make it so complicated.

Happy life truths

 

1. Beware of silent dogs and still waters
2. A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor
3. Never shake someone’s hand while sitting down
4. Dress to impress
5. If you can genuinely smile, you can get a job almost anywhere
6. Always return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas
7. Thank a police officer, veteran, working military, etc
8. Always be appreciative for what you have
9. If you have access to clean drinking water, you are richer than the majority of the rest of the world
10. Learn to keep a secret
11. Get a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life
12. Set your standards high
13. Don’t hang around people with no goals, ambitions, or passions, or you will soon turn out just like them
14. You are who you associate with
15. You marry that girl and you marry her whole family too
16. Learn to be confident yet humble at the same time
17. Call and check up often on your loved ones
18. Not a second of time is guaranteed
19. Compliment her
20. Send her sweet texts
21. Do not speak to a fool, for they will despise your wisest advice
22. Never take the last beer
23. Never stop dating

Brutal truths in life

1. All truth initially hurts as everybody wants to toy with a lie before they become serious. This explains why there’s so much failure in the earlier stages of life.
2. If you want to succeed quickly, solve human problems that hurt the most. The problem is that most people waste time trying to solve problems that do not exist.
3. Do you know when you started failing? You started failing when you started listening to people who were frequently using the word “impossible” in their vocabulary.
4. Don’t judge people by their color. The human brain is not limited by the color of the skin.
5. Life is unpredictable, painfully illogical, and subtly absurd. Why is it shocking that some of the greatest achievements in history have been accomplished by people who had been dismissed by the cleverest of people?
6. Achieving anything through unethical means seems to push it away from you and appears to pull along with it all that you have gained ethically.
7. Trial and error doesn’t apply to all things in life. For example, putting your head on the tarmac of a busy road will definitely get you killed by a speeding car. The same thing will happen when you go to bed with the wrong person.
8. Some things do not require an example for you to do them. If nobody has ever done it, perhaps everybody else is also waiting to see who will go first. And that might be you.
9. Most people do not fail in life because they started something and failed. They failed because they never started anything in the first place.
10. You can easily tell if a person loves you by their deeds. However, this can often be misleading since there’s no way of knowing if a person intends to kill you.
11. Forgive your enemies but never forget that they’re still your enemies. A leopard can’t change its spots even if it wanted to.
12. Logic is the simplicity of understanding and explaining things, but can never completely explain more sophisticated things. That’s when you must rely on your instincts and hunches by keenly listening to your heart.
13. When people are envious of you this is a clear indication that you are more successful than they are. However, you should be more concerned when there seems to be no one who is envious of you. The amount of envy corresponds to the amount of success you have.
14. Don’t be deceived or quickly get excited when people say they love you. People who truly love you should be ready to fight for you.
15. Follow the road not traveled and you’ll discover one of two things—either there is treasure people aren’t aware of, or there is a good reason why the road is not traveled.
16. Don’t kid yourself that you’re going to get rich or successful without putting in some hard work, sacrifice and dedicated focus. After all, who will be proud of you?
17. Success is both painful and costly. Most people want the success minus the pain and the cost. The result? Failure.
18. Four things should be treasured—a friend who loves you unconditionally, a neighbor who will wake up in the middle of the night to respond to your distress, a friend who is always there when you need them, and a dog that will die trying to protect you.
19. Three things should never be forgotten—your mother who brought you into the world and was there for you until you became an adult, your father who gave her the seed and toiled hard to make sure you didn’t die of hunger, and the total stranger who told you nothing but the truth.

2 B

 Be Positive

 

Positivity is contagious.

 

Everyone loves a genuine smile, a strong positive vibe, and passion with each word you speak.

 

This just creates instant “like”

 

If you’re just meeting with someone, never say something negative about yourself.

 

Don’t share your insecurities.

 

Be positive.

 

It signals “strength” to the other person, and is important.

 

The fact is…

 

Most people are surrounded by negativity, and just love the chance to be in the presence of someone who can see the positive in everything.

 

The same “relaxation” hacks can also be used as positivity hacks..

 

Personally, a daily gratitude journal has helped me become a happier and more positive person.

 

Every night before you go to sleep, list all the things you’re grateful for.

 

Here’s my gratitude this morning:

 

Grateful for coffee..

Grateful for the sun..

Grateful I get to write and impact you with these emails..

Grateful for a supportive woman…

Grateful for my good health

 

and etc.

 

Be Confident

 

Confidence breeds….. everything.

 

If you don’t believe in yourself or your value, nobody else will.

 

Confidence is built by focusing on yourself, not others.

 

You are the center of your universe.

 

Your attention should be on you (not in a narcissistic way)

 

If you don’t like something about yourself, change it.

 

You can change almost everything in your life.

 

Stop creating excuses, and remember:

 

You are the most powerful person in the universe.