Living According to Nature – A Stoic Investigation into Human Nature

Stoic philosophy is one of the humbler philosophies, where the overall tenet is to grit your teeth and just get on with it. This philosophy is, of course, much more complicated than that, but a lot of the teachings, hard as they are to put into practice, are easy to grasp. We might even see the logic in adopting many of these ascetic practices.

One major area that is confusing for me, as I’m sure it is for many of the stoic followers, is the subject of man living according to his nature. The principle sounds good, but what is this human nature that we should live in accordance with?

It might be the case that my research skills are wanting, but I haven’t found too much literature concerning human nature, let alone how to live according to it.

For this, I have had to rely on other philosophers and thinkers who are more liberal with their findings on the subject matter compared to the stoics.

I have found five ideas on what constitutes human nature, and that might be useful for a practicing stoic. This is certainly a humble beginning, but a beginning none the less

1. Man as a condemned being

The story of the fall is one of the oldest in man kind

If there is an intersection between the various philosophies, and religions, it is that man is a condemned being. I have found that all philosophies and religion have this basic understanding in common. That it is the nature of man, given the environment that he finds himself, to suffer.

Some philosophers go as far as to suggest that suffering is built into life and is virtually inescapable, while goes a step further to suggest that the human nature, in itself, guarantees that man must suffer despite outside conditions, good or bad.

The Buddha also came to the grand conclusion, after many years of wondering and suffering, that life, indeed, is suffering.

To accept man as condemned from birth, pessimistic as it may seem at first, is actually a great relief if looked at from the right perspective. When we suffer, we tend to imagine that we are singled out by the cosmos as the unwitting, unwilling, and undeserving target of this suffering.

Understanding that troubles are inescapable helps us to shed at least part of the burden. To understand and to fully accept that it is in the nature of man to endure hardship softens the blow a little when trouble eventually knocks at the door.

Given this understanding, we can prepare our self for the ‘evil day’ with equanimity and even a little resignation knowing that what we endure is inevitable.

Coming from this perspective, it is much easier to practice the stoic virtues of patience, equanimity, temperance, and even courage. We build these virtues specifically because it demanded by our nature to endure the world, and not because it makes us good in some abstract sense.

We become as a soldier who prepares for battle, not because killing is good, but that he has a duty to discharge when conflict is brought upon his doorstep by the evil forces.

2. Man as an irrational being

Philosopher Albert Camus suggests that the fate of man isn’t much unlike that of Sisyphus, but that we must imagine Sisyphus happy. 

Many of us conceive of the world as an existing objective reality, and that might very well be the case. The issue of whether or not an objective world exists is an entirely different post. For our purposes, it would be right to understand, or at least attempt to understand, how we see the world.

Rather than view an externalized objective world, some, for example, would argue that we see our interpretation of the world rather than the world as it exists out there.

It is hardly a stretch to suggest that our senses are not capable of processing every single detail of the world without. Given that we have to function, preferably successfully in the world, it makes sense that we would only take in the most ‘crucial’ information and use this as a basis of interpreting the world. From this interpretation we can then draw conclusions on how to act in the world.

This view is important because we could very easily be drawing the wrong conclusion about the world around us, and by extension, acting under the wrong premise, and therefore getting wrong results.

Like a student who uses the wrong formula to solve a mathematical equation, it doesn’t matter how long this student works on the problem. The answer will always be incorrect given that they are applying the wrong formula to the correct question.

Whether or not there is a wrong or right way to interpret the world, once again, is a whole other discussion on relativism. At the very least, it would be useful to have a few different interpretations handy in any given situation, and from there decide which one best suits the scenario.

This, I believe to be the very foundation of philosophical study. Rather than rely on random or socialized interpretations of the world around us, we alternatively rely on well thought out, tried, tested, and even personal interpretation of events and the world around us.

Given this perspective, the words of Marcus Aurelius ring even truer ‘Decide that you have not been injured and you will not have been injured’.

In short, you could say that many of the troubles we experience, or the lack of forward progress, is as a result of the wrong interpretation of the world around us, rather than something intrinsically faulty with the objective world.

To take this a step further, some would even argue that the objective world is impartial, and that it is our interpretation of events that is reality as we experience it subjectively.

3. Man as a finite being

Memento mori 

Probably one of the biggest human motivators is the fear of death. While for the stoic contemplating death is part of his acetic activities, for most people, any thought of death, be it one’s own or another’s, is deemed morbid or even as an invitation for bad luck.

The question of our mortality also makes a strong case for hedonism or nihilism. Carrying the awareness with us that we eventually turn to ash, it is then difficult to justify spending our life toiling. Why not simply enjoy all the pleasures we can get our hands on if eventually everything ends?

For the stoic, the idea that we are mortal being emphasizes the importance of practicing virtue and living according to nature. The fact that our time here is short is all the more reason why we shouldn’t waste it on frivolous things, but rather aim high towards the ideal being and work our way through to accomplishing that ideal.

4. Man as a flourishing being

A tree will dig its roots as deep as it can, grow as high as it can, and bear as many fruits as it is capable. Man, endowed with the gift of free will, has the choice to flourish up to his highest capabilities, to stagnate, or worse still, degenerate.

The law of atrophy works on man. There is no such thing as staying the same. A thing must either grow or die. Man, however, can refuse to follow his nature and put a limit on his growth.

What growth for a human being looks like can often seem like an abstract concept. The best definition of human growth that I can think of is to continually become a worthy contender in life and its many challenges.

Growth in stoic philosophy means to develop our virtues including courage, patience, equanimity, temperance, and fortitude.

5. Man as a divine being

“The highest art is always the most religious, and the greatest artist is always a devout person.”- Abraham Lincoln 

Here we will have to rely on the idealists.

I don’t believe that man as a divine being is necessarily tied to the idea of religion. For those who aren’t keen on religious imagery, another way to put this is man as a co-active agent together with the source of creation, whatever that might be.

I, personally, prefer the religious imagery as it is far less cumbersome than the previous statement, and breathes life to such an abstract idea as the divinity of man.

Nietzsche, for example, believes man to be closer to a god than a worm. I am of the opinion that the world we live in currently is anti-human in that it doesn’t recognize the divinity of man.

We are constantly bombarded by messages of how everything that is wrong with our life can be attributed to someone else. We have been infantilized by the government, where the average person feels a sense of despair and helplessness in directing the course of his/her life.

I would say that out of these ideas explored so far, man as a divine being is the most encouraging. This says to me that I can rely on my own efforts for salvation; that I do not have to wait until the world is transformed into nothing but saints, or until the government can get its act together.

That, as other divine beings, I am capable of goodness, joy, wisdom, strength, empathy, and all of the other qualities that we project on to the deity.

Most of all, the suggestion that I might be part divine says to me that it is entirely within the realm of possibility that I might, just as God did, create my world, and rest assured that it is good.

The best case that I have heard for man as a divine being, and maybe even greater than the gods, is that while the gods are naturally endowed with strength, man has to earn it, and therefore is greater than the gods.

I, as an animal endowed with a piece of the divine, may hope, even in the darkest night, that I have the capacity to create heaven on earth. This suggestion alone might be what I need to appreciate this difficult and absurd place that we call the world.

5 Lies That Mass Media Insists We Swallow

I believe that the movies, news, games and other mass media shape our life more than we would like to admit. It is said that once a lie is told often enough, it becomes the truth. I have noticed that in my own personal life, cutting out excess media has transformed the way I look at life in subtle and big ways.

It is easy to shape your life as if you were a main character in a sitcom. Subconsciously we think that mass media has the answer to life’s questions making it easy confuse fiction with fact. The world is a lot different than is portrayed on our screens and here are 5 overt lies that are repeated often as far as far as I can tell (in no particular order).

#1: There is Only One Kind of Romantic Love

The love portrayed in movies and the media is what the ancient Greeks would refer to as Eros. It is the kind of love that consumes you with a helpless feeling of not being able to live without this person. This kind of love is often described by the phrases;

“I can’t live without you”

“He/she is the one”

“I can’t find Mr. Right”

Truth is there are actually several types of love. Pragma, another kind of love may be based on shared core values, attractive character, shared interests, mutual benefit, companionship and commitment.

Feelings fade and there will always be someone else more attractive, spontaneous, and more beautiful than your current partner. This obsession with feelings in relation to romantic relationships is what causes people to jump endlessly from one relationship to another.

If there is one definitive thing we can say about emotions, it is that they are fleeting. Basing a serious life decision such as who to invest the best years of your life going only with your emotions is just another way of saying you are investing yourself on a whim.

Having strong feelings for your partner is all well and good but you should have more than the feeling of love or attraction to justify your relationship if it is to survive for the long-term.

#2: Broken Families Are Ok

This one is a difficult one to tread without ruffling feathers but there is nothing Ok about a broken home. The literature, especially regarding children in broken families is clear. There are no absolutes in life and this is one of those cases. There are certain relationships or families that are dysfunctional beyond saving. Things like abuse, infidelity, disrespect, neglect and such come to mind and in these cases there is no choice rather than to tear everything down.

My point is the media portrays broken families as perfectly normal where the divorced parties make it work and everything runs like clockwork. The truth is much darker. Divorces are expensive, competition between spouses is rife, pitting the children against each other and the parents and many other painful and difficult situations.

This point ties into the first one. Relationships based on whimsical feelings of love cannot outlast the challenges of the real world. I think there should be more emphasis on salvaging relationships where possible and reasonable rather than making it fine and dandy to separate families.

I can’t remember the last sitcom I watched with a strong father figure, a competent mother and well adjusted children. Dysfunctional families aren’t just ‘normal’ but also funny.

#3: It is Ok to Be Broken

Human beings are complex creatures and things happen that are out of our control. Depression, bi-polar, narcissism, alcoholism, addiction and other psychological disorders are an unfortunate part of life. We don’t get a say in what challenges we are going to face but we do get a say in how we are going to handle them.

I would argue that mass media glamorize these disorders. The lesson I perceive here is the world and everyone in it should bend to the afflicted person’s behavior regardless of how atrocious. It is the only way to show support.

Our brokenness doesn’t only affect us but also the people around us. Going through a difficult time doesn’t absolve you of the responsibility to be a decent human being. A diagnosis is not carte blanche for those around you to destroy their own lives or put their lives on hold to save you.

I think the emphasis here should be on getting the appropriate help and putting in the effort to get better rather than expecting the world to lower its standards on appropriate behavior to cater to the afflicted. There are of course exceptions here but the point I am trying to drive at is no one is obligated to trade their life for yours.

#4: Anything Goes

Without going in too much detail, some lifestyles are worse than others. It isn’t that certain people should be burned at the stake for their lifestyle choices but every individual is within his right to disassociate with people who he feels does not complement his lifestyle. Hard drinking, promiscuity and general recklessness in life is not something to aspire.

Everyone is free to live their life as they wish but I argue that others are also free to refuse to associate with people who’s lifestyle do not complement their own.

Other people’s ideas and behaviors rub off onto our own and there are definitely times when this is a bad thing. There is a difference between judging and discerning and I think the latter is perfectly fine.

#5: Personal Values Are Old Fashioned

I think a great point to tie up this post is; decisive personal values are often portrayed in a negative light. It is usually the overbearing and religious person, the oppressed that doesn’t know any better and deserves our sympathy, ignorant person who should be held be the scruff of the neck and re-educated or some other form of dysfunctional person who appears to have personal values.

There is also the subtle idea that popular culture trumps personal values. If your values are different from those espoused by mass media then there is something wrong with you. We know enough from history to admit that what is institutionalized or what is considered popular opinion is rarely correct. I think it is naïve to think that mass media wants the best for us and is here to give us precisely what we need out of the goodness of its heart.

I do enjoy movies, series and other media and I am by no means against them. I only think that these should be consumed consciously. We shouldn’t assume that media is only here to entertain or inform. We must pay attention to subliminal messaging, agendas and influences even when we only want to be entertained.

 

Hard Truths about Life That Could Liberate You

I think one of the biggest signs of maturity is recognizing the difference between the world as we would like it to be and the world as it actually is. One way is to look at life like a spurring partner who will knock the wind out of you every so often but that’s only because he wants to see you do better.

There are a few hard truths that are difficult to swallow but will make life easier, even better once accepted.

#1: Life is suffering

This was a huge part of Buddha’s teaching which is hardly what we would expect from a transcendent revelation. Even The Christ, the bringer of the Good News, was betrayed, humiliated and crucified for his troubles.

Life is suffering and the quicker you accept this truth the easier you can get on with your life. The question isn’t how to escape suffering but rather how to transcend the suffering. You don’t get to choose whether or not you will have a hard time with this thing we call life. That issue was decided for you before the beginning of time.

I am inclined to agree with philosopher Albert Camus when he said;

“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.”

The challenge is to figure out what kind of life you would have to live to transcend suffering and to feel that your existence still means something regardless of the pain inflicted on you by life. To answer this question is to be liberated. The good news of the Buddha and The Christ is that it is possible to live life in such as way that transcends suffering.

#2: Life Isn’t Meant for Happiness

Our culture puts happiness at the highest of human pursuits and I don’t think it is by accident. The idea that we can possess happiness by parting with a little (or a lot) of money is what keeps out economy going. Happiness has also been cheapened to mean pleasure and amusement. To think that we are merely here to amuse ourselves is an insult to human intelligence.

Studies have already shown that happiness cannot be arrived at through conscious effort. It appears that happiness is reached by accident or occurs spontaneously like wild mushrooms. It is possible to cultivate a life that makes the spontaneous arrival of happiness as close to certain as the world allows but beyond that the pursuit of happiness is an illusion.

I think a more accurate way of seeing life is as a series of never ending complex and simple problems. Your job is to identify and solve these problems and this is where happiness and meaning is to be had. You life gets easier as you get better at solving your problems.

#3: Life Isn’t Fair

In an ideal world life would be fair but it isn’t and it never will be. The sooner you accept this the better you can loosen the grip of moral indignation.

That boss that is making your life miserable will most likely live a long, prosperous and happy life. We don’t know why life is the way it is. I like to think that it is because I have no capacity to understand what life truly is like. Maybe to a god life is perfectly just.

We know barely anything about how our minds work or what’s really going on in the oceans yet we believe we can make absolute judgments about the nature of reality.

All I know is life isn’t fair. The why isn’t important; it is what it is.

#4: You’re not as good as you think you Are

We live in a tricky time. It is more important today to look good than to be good. We act as if being good is better than common sense or truth itself. We are more concerned about not offending than we are about expressing ourselves as free agents.

Speak the truth and do what you think is right. The moment that you are put in a position where you have to defend your character is the moment that you know the conversation has degenerated beyond saving.

Words like misogynist, racist, ignorant, intolerant and biased are used as weapons to destroy unpopular opinion.

There is also this ridiculous prevailing attitude that the entire world has to agree on every single issue. A group of people have crowned themselves the gatekeepers of morality, goodness and truth and anyone who dissents is sub-human and is to be treated as such.

Make the quest for truth the guiding principle in your life and don’t bow to pressure to conform to the popular opinion. At best you are correct or at worse you are an idiot. Either way; do not allow yourself to be bullied into a different position if you have determined as a free thinking agent that you are right.

On the other hand, always be willing to have your mind changed as soon as a more correct or truthful opinion presents itself. Changing your mind about some serious issue or opinion is actually a sign of growth rather than a weakness of character.

#5: The Truth is rarely pretty

The biggest surprise about the truth is how different it is from what we imagine.  Fact is indeed stranger than fiction. We put truth on a pedestal as the all divine, all transcendent and all powerful something that soothes our weary souls. This may be correct but pretty, convenient, palatable or beautiful are hardly words that anyone could use to describe the truth.

Truth is a hard, brutal and coarse thing that doesn’t care about our feelings or our ideals or our wishes of what the truth should be. Once we see the truth we are immediately put in a position to accept it or reject. Neither position affects the truth in the slightest. You had better believe that the truth is as solid and unshakable as Everest.

You should only go after the truth if you have the stomach for it and are ready to submit.

5 Lessons from Some of History’s Most Bad Ass Quotes

Every few years there comes a long a man or woman who spews wisdom and shows a total lack of regard for danger. It is said that the brave only die but once but the coward dies many deaths. Life can be difficult and nothing short of a strong character will see you through.

Many of the bad-ass quotes have been dropped during violent times, like this one from when the Mongols were pursuing their agenda for world domination with devilish single-mindedness.

“I am the punishment of God…If you had not committed great sins; God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.”- Genghis Khan

Still, there are many quotes that we can learn lessons from and apply to our day-to-day life.

On Equanimity

“Now, now my good man, this is no time to be making enemies.”– (Voltaire on his death bed in response to a priest asking him to renounce the devil and all his works.)

Life is unpredictable and uncertain and the quicker one accepts this idea the easier life gets. Unfortunately, bad things happen. The world is fraught with danger and misfortune that positive thinking and a good attitude will not be enough to see you through.

Equanimity is the ability to keep a cool head even when there is no rational reason to be calm. No one has better charge of his emotions like Voltaire in this quote. It is hard to imagine a more difficult, uncertain and perilous time than when one comes face to face with his mortality.

Voltaire keeps his cool when it mattered most and even adding some humour for good measure. The lesson here is to keep calm in times of uncertainty.

On Confidence

“When I was a child my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll be the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”- Pablo Picasso

There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance but I personally would err on the side of arrogance than live as a victim of circumstances.

I think that humility isn’t shrinking yourself but rather admitting that you do not know the full limits of your capacity. The truly arrogant are those who decide, even before they try, that some goal or other is not achievable.

Confidence will take you a long way in this life. To be truly competent you have to first see yourself as worthy of the task.

On Focus

“Don’t fear failure – Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.” – Bruce Lee

What you focus on expands. If your focus is on being mediocre or just doing enough so there is no risk of failing rest assured that life match your efforts. Failure isn’t as terrible as people make it out to be.

Life is challenging and more so when you aim high. Keep your focus on what’s important right now and take every step at its time. Failure is disappointing but it does not compare to carrying the knowledge that you are not all that you could be.

Who you could be is just as real as who you are currently. Your conscience is a far more ruthless judge than failure.

On Time Management

“I say, let no one rob me of a single day who isn’t going to make a full return on the loss.”– Seneca

It is easy to lose your time to people in this digital age we live in. We have phone calls/emails/IM’s/texts and all kinds of communications to deal with.

A good rule of thumb is to remember that your phone is there for your convenience. Unless you are involved in emergency response, those communications aren’t that urgent. Aside from your work/family obligations, which should still be kept within reason, your time is yours and you shouldn’t give it away frivolously. You wouldn’t give away your money or possessions to just anyone so time being your most precious resource should be protected accordingly.

The same applies to you. Opportunities abound to waste your own time so do each thing at its appropriate time. Disciplining your time is one of the greatest skills you can muster in this distracted age.

On Fortitude

“My centre is giving way; my right is in retreat, situation excellent. I attack.”- Ferdinand Forch

Finally, there are times when life comes crashing down and you can’t figure it out. Self pity isn’t going to help the situation. Defiance, like all character traits, has its time. There are moments when the best thing you can do is to push back and push hard.

Life will overwhelm you if you let it.  Keep your head high during difficult times and you will be in a better place to work your way out of the fire. Life works out. Always. It doesn’t always work out the way you hoped or planned but it always works out. Stay strong and don’t let life think that it can push you around.

What is your favourite bad-ass quote?

 

Why Having a Vision Board Might Be the Best Decision You Make This Year

If you are anticipating words like ‘law of attraction’, ‘manifesting’ and other words that fit under the category of Woo-Woo, I warn you that you will be sorely disappointed. Though I do believe in the power of intention, subconscious mind, attraction and all that Jazz, I like to tread the thin line between the metaphysical and the material (as in matter).

If you aren’t sure what exactly a vision board is, it is basically a picture collage of the things you want stuck on a white board, or as I do it, stuck with glue stick in a blank drawing book. I prefer the latter option since I like to keep a lot of things private, including my projections of the future.

I’ve made it a habit to peruse my picture book of desires every morning before work but if you want an actual board where you can see it often, that’s great too.

So why exactly do you need a vision board?

Make Your Goals Concrete

Creating a vision board is one step towards your goals the same way picking out tile colors is one step towards remodeling your house. Taking the time to think about the things that you want, printing out pictures and sticking them to your board is a physical task that shows some seriousness.

Its one thing to know that you should work harder, be more creative, and create a second source of income and so on but these aren’t compelling enough reasons to actually do these things. I find that going through my vision board every morning gives me concrete reasons to actually exert myself and try hard.

Giving your goals physical representation rather than have them rattling around in your mind give you a sense of responsibility. You don’t need to debate with yourself why you should wake up earlier or read that personal finance book or save perfectly good beer money. Creating a better life requires sacrifices and it is often difficult to justify these sacrifices when all you have is a vague idea of why you need to do the right thing.

It also goes without saying that you aren’t going to live your dream life if you don’t have a dream life to begin with. You aren’t going to magically stumble on your ideal life. A vision board is a great way to create a clear picture of what you actually want out of life.

Positively Influence Current Actions

Our actions stem from our thoughts of what we consider is good for us. Good doesn’t necessarily mean what is right in an objective sense but what is right in the context of the end you have in mind. If you want to have a good time, going out to get drunk with your best friend is a good thing. If you want to crush an early morning interview, going out with your best friend isn’t the appropriate thing to do given that you also want to have a good time in the moment.

If you are shortsighted, so shall your actions be. Your vision board if taken seriously might be just what you need to determine appropriate action in the present. Willpower is finite and it is difficult to deny yourself what would be good for you in the moment unless you have some future objective that hinges on your acting contrary to your most immediate desire.

Most people aren’t disciplined because that’s who they are, but rather because their larger objectives require them to behave in a certain way in the present.

Good for Perspective

A vision board can be overwhelming especially if you don’t have a step-by-step plan for getting all the things you want. Make it a habit to post everything you desire including the little things. If you can’t afford it now but intend to get it with your next paycheck, stick it.

Tick off every item you get from your board. Seeing the ticks accumulating is a deeply satisfying experience. You will notice that you get things that you didn’t think would happen until a much further date if at all.

It is easy to conclude that what hasn’t happened up until this point will never happen. Ticking off your desires is a good reminder that luck, chance, providence and other powers beyond your rational thought faculty are at play in the universe.

You might also discover that getting the things you want out of life isn’t that difficult after all.

Discipline Your Desires

We live in a materialistic world which isn’t bad in and of itself. Every day we are faced with evidence of the things that we lack. You see a nice Mercedes and you want one. A nice GTR swooshes by and that’s something else you don’t have. A pimp stick, 80 inch flat screen, yacht – there is no shortage of things that would be nice to have.

It is easy to overestimate just how much you don’t have if you have no idea what you actually want. Every nice thing you see will be another reminder of how you fall short of the glory of capitalism.

Once you have a vision board set up, try to confine your desires to these things. You can always add more things as you go along but the task itself is just difficult enough to make you reconsider whether that thing is really worth having. A good mental picture of your desires is insurance against the nasty habit of wanting everything. You can’t have everything but you can have plenty for a content, even happy life.

Bonus: Impulse Buying Becomes Sort of a Good Thing

It’s hard to be disciplined with money especially if you don’t have a lot of experience in this area. Impulse buying is almost always a bad thing but it doesn’t have to be. If you have a windfall or extra cash it is easy to spend it on two-for-the-price-of-one gold plated colanders that strain strobe-lit liquid of every color in the rainbow.

A vision board increases the chance that your impulse buys will be things that you actually want in the first place. You might also be surprised to find that thing you wanted is half price and you just happen to have the money. The point is, frivolous spending is almost a guarantee every so often so why not have the things you truly want?

Vision boards aren’t just for ‘those people’. A vision board is a great way to compress your life’s ambition in a way that is easy to understand. It is a great way to organize your plans and ambitions and give physical representation to your desires and goals.

Rap Music and Life: Teachings from the Unlikeliest of Sources

Beneath the thick veneer of ‘Gats’ ‘Paper chasing’ and ‘Ho’s’ there are great life lessons to learn from some of the best selling Rap and Hip-hop stars of our time. I love an insightful line be it from a self-help book, the bible or a rap song. I have compiled a few lyrics that have stuck with me over the months and years and which I find myself smiling at every once in a while.

On Optimism + Faith

“They like, ‘Savage, why you got a twelve car garage and you only got six cars?'” – Rockstar, Post Malone Featuring 21 Savage

On the surface, it may appear that 21 Savage made a made a miss-calculation on the number of garage spaces he needs Vis- a-vis the number of cars he owns.

I think he is more sensible than that.

He figures eventually he will own 12 cars so making a provision for 6 more is the sensible thing to do. This, I believe, is a perfect case of ‘If you can see it in your mind you can touch it with your hand.’

The lesson here is to always have a clear idea of what you want out of life and to act as if that thing you are reaching for is already a fact.

On Perspective in The Face of Adversity

“Had a couple seizures, call ’em minor setback…woke up in the hospital, where my checks at. Then I put eight chains where my neck’s at.” – I’m a Boss (Remix), Meek Mill Featuring Swizz Beats, DJ Khaled, Rick Ross

Now, I have never had a seizure let alone a couple of them but I don’t know if I would treat this scenario as a minor inconvenience. Rick Ross wakes up in hospital and gets right to the heart of the matter; large checks and gold chains.

In the ring of life, you have got to be able to take a big right and keep fighting.

The lesson here from Rozzay is a problem is only as big as you THINK it is.

Marcus Aurelius would approve.

On Priorities

“I don’t know what’s better, getting laid or getting paid; I just know when I’m getting one, the other’s getting away” – This Way, Dilated Peoples Featuring Kanye West and John Legend

I love how Kanye doesn’t moralize about which one of the two is better. It is slowly dawning on him that ultimately he will have to give up one for the other.

Such is life; you can’t have everything so you have to choose what is most important to you. It really doesn’t matter which path you take. All that matters is you accept the consequences without complaining.

On Hard Work + Dedication

“Now they always say, ‘Congratulations’. Worked so hard, forgot how to vacation. They ain’t never had the dedication.” – Congratulations, Post Malone Featuring Quavo

It’s easy to think that these artists spent their time shopping for Rolls Royces and taking trips on private jets and every once in a while find some quiet time to pen a club banger.

I think if these stars were being absolutely honest, the two words that would describe their lifestyle are hard work and dedication. Any man who forgets to take a vacation because he is so involved in his craft deserves the best the world has to offer.

The lesson here is not to get distracted by the ‘things’ and rather focus on putting in the work. The things will come of their own accord.

On Being a Person of Substance

“Man up, ’cause stand-up Ni***s don’t lean!'” – Rap Battle, Loaded Lux Vs Hollow Da Don

Rappers (and I am making a generalization here) glorify vice and it’s easy for young people to think that a good life is about money, weed, alcohol and women.

Lean features strongly in Rap culture and is a mixture of prescription cough syrup (with codeine and promethazine) and soda, usually sprite.

Hollow Da Don is a respected wordsmith and accomplished battle rapper and is known for his affinity towards lean and other not-so-legal substances. I love Lux’s word play when I can understand him, and I especially love this line about being a stand up guy

Anyway, the lesson here is to be a person of substance rather than that blindly following trends and popular culture.

Great lessons and perspectives can come from anywhere. What’s your favorite Rap verse?

 

 

 

 

 

How You Do the Little Things is How You Do the Big Things

“Practice yourself, for heaven’s sake in the little things, and then proceed to greater.” – Epictetus

We have the tendency as human beings to separate big tasks from small tasks; big events from small events forgetting that life happens all together. There isn’t a real, objective distinction between big and small. A task is only as important as the meaning you have attached to it.

A job interview, studying for a big test; these are grave matters to be approached with clenched teeth and a solemn air. Wiping down the table and cleaning your shoes are negligible tasks to get through without much thought.

What we don’t realize is that how we do the small things is how we do everything else including the big things. When you don’t apply yourself in the little ‘inconsequential’ activities, you find yourself struggling with the larger tasks that demand more of your attention and labor. Small tasks are where you set the foundation for how you approach life as a whole.

There are the three deadly sins I try to avoid as much as possible where it pertains to the little things.

The Sin of Omission

It is easy to neglect to do something since it’s not ‘my job’ especially when in a group setting. You notice a dripping tap or a glass sitting precariously at the edge of the table. It takes only a few seconds to tighten the tap or move the glass but you dismiss it because that’s someone else’s problem.

You send a terrible message to yourself that other people are in charge of what goes on around you. Ignore the small issues that aren’t exactly your responsibility and you will hardly volunteer to lead a meeting or to spearhead a project. Limiting your existence to only what is strictly your responsibility is hardly useful for personal growth. When you take responsibility even when you don’t have to; taking charge when you have to comes naturally.

The Sin of Procrastination

I have made it a habit to attend immediately to anything that takes less than 10 minutes to complete. It’s easy to procrastinate on the non-urgent tasks like returning a phone call or reading the article you bookmarked. Soon all these little things pile up until everything is urgent. You feel overwhelmed and wonder why you never seem to have enough time to do everything you set out to do.

On a deeper level, procrastination seeps into every other facet of your life when you put off the little things. You don’t write down a good idea that comes into your head the first time, then the second and by the third time your brain learns there’s no use coming up with great ideas; they won’t be acted on anyway.

Do what you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do it and you don’t have to go through the day in a mad rush.

The Sin of Half-Assing It

No one will grade you on how well you arrange your book shelf but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do your best job. Do everything (or most things) like it was the most important job in the world. I love cleaning my Vans especially the white part after trudging in the dust or mud. I take a toothbrush to the sole and clean it like I’m going to enter the shoes in a contest.

I love how the white part reflects the sun after a thorough cleaning and I feel proud having the cleanest shoes in the room. More importantly, I find that this diligence naturally follows me in any task that I approach. I don’t have to force or try too hard when it comes down to the more difficult tasks.

I can’t pretend that I do every little thing diligently and to the best of my ability; but I try to. I catch myself omitting, procrastinating or half-assing more often because I’m aware that the little things are just as important as the big things. With practice, I believe I can learn to handle every area of my life with natural diligence.

How do you do the small things?

What Do You Do Every Day to Make Your Life Better?

The life of a freelancer is anything but routine, but I have found it incredibly useful to have a few activities that I perform without fail at least five days in a week. These tasks have helped to keep me grounded and make sure that I get a sense of fulfillment from my day even on days when there isn’t much work to do. I feel that anyone would benefit from a few routine tasks regardless of the nature of your work.

Gratitude

This is the first thing I do immediately I draw my first conscious breath in the morning. I spend five minutes laying in the darkness and mentally ticking off a few things that I am grateful for. These are never ‘big’ things. I’m usually grateful for a good night’s sleep, somewhere safe and warm to lay my head, a new day, work to do, a partner, family and the little graces that are easy to take for granted.

I have found that thoughts tend to follow you around for the rest of the day so I think it wise to consciously choose my first thoughts of the day.

Journaling

I rarely miss a day of journaling Monday to Monday. I find that it’s a great exercise to stay current with what’s going on in my life.

There isn’t a ‘right’ way to journal but I have picked up a pattern over time. I begin with one thing that I am grateful for big or small. Gratitude forces me to acknowledge what’s good in my life regardless of what the prospects of the day look like.

I also mentioned two good things that happened the previous day. It might be something as little as a funny YouTube video I watched or something big such as a great client that I landed. Again, this forces me to acknowledge things that are going well in my life.

Next, I write a sentence about the outcome I would like to see for the day. It might be ticking off all the items on my to-do list or simply maintaining a positive attitude throughout the day. Having a good idea of what I would like to see happen during the day helps me stay focused on what I have identified as important.

I write down my goals for the next five years with timelines and specifics. The more I write down these goals, the more achievable they seem. I also find myself gravitating towards activities and thoughts that directly contribute to my achievement of these goals.

Finally, I write about what’s going through my mind and my emotional state at the time. I have become very self aware and I can tell what’s happening to me and why I might be feeling some way at any given moment. I end the day’s entry with a positive or uplifting quote from some inspired soul.

All this takes about 20 minutes.

Bible Reading

“Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” Proverbs 1:7

I wouldn’t call myself religious but I would be a fool to despise wisdom.  There is a lot of wisdom in the bible or any religious book for that matter. It’s hard to read the bible chronologically or random so I look up catholic readings for the day. This usually comes with a first reading, psalm, second reading and Gospel. I am yet to find a better way to read the bible than following daily readings; the different readings somehow all work together.

This takes about 10 minutes.

Brainstorming

I wasn’t so sure why I started doing this but it’s paid more dividends than I expected. The idea is to pick a topic (it really doesn’t matter which one) and write 10 ideas for it. Today’s was;

10 Ways I Can Improve My Day

Again, it really doesn’t matter what the topic is but the challenge is to come up with 10 ideas about the topic before you do anything else. This isn’t about coming up with good ideas but coming up with ideas. It doesn’t matter if the idea is ridiculous, impossible to implement or whatever; if it pops in your head write it down!

I’m able to do this in less than 10 minutes but it used to take a lot longer when I had just started. I have found that I automatically jump to finding solutions any time I am faced with a problem. I literally have no time to wallow or think about how the issue is getting in my way. This happens unconsciously and my problems have magically turned into puzzles that can be solved with a little time and brain power.

Morning Writing

I literally have to drag myself to my computer kicking and screaming to write. I learned that even the best writers in the world don’t really like to write. If you are going to get good at something, you have to work at it as often as you can.

I made it a habit to write at least 600 words every morning. I’m not talking about literary genius here; it’s mostly rambling that’s difficult to follow. The point isn’t what I’m writing about but rather I am writing.

I figure if you play around with words long enough you eventually get good at stringing them together. I have a helpful PDF file to get me inspired. It has a word for every day of the year and a short phrase to give you direction. This daily word prompt has been very helpful so I can just get down to writing without needing to figure out what to write about.

Listen to Lectures

I love listening to people who have deep thoughts on life. Some of the ones I like are Jim Rohn, Allan Watts, TD Jakes, Les Brown, Sadh Guru and Eric Thomas. I create time to listen to lectures for at least 30 minutes to an hour five days a week. I have learned so much from these great speakers and have challenged a lot of my long-held beliefs.

I actually prefer listening to people who challenge my sense of reality such as Allan Watts and Sadh Guru. It’s really helped to be more open-minded and to entertain thoughts and philosophies that conflict with my own without accepting blindly or dismissing without seriously considering what’s been said.

Mediate

This has been a difficult habit to adopt consistently but it’s gotten easier. The mind is always active and it can get in the way of a quiet life. Through meditation, I have learned that you can switch off the mind or at least turn it down for a while. It’s also helped me to stay calm under pressure and to take some time off to calm down before handling some imposing task.

I meditate for 15-30 minutes a day.

Read

I have made it a habit to read for at least one hour every day, five days a week. This is one of my more expensive habits because I go through about a book a week. It’s been worth it though.

I read on subjects that I am interested in or about areas in my life I feel I could do better. I read that 95% of the thoughts you have today you also had yesterday.

The point is we think about the same things over and over which isn’t very helpful if you’re trying to solve a problem. I find that reading adds to the mental fodder and I have a little bit of new information to churn every day. It’s helped me work things out from angles that I would never have thought of otherwise.

There is also a book about everything under the sun. If you are having problems with your finances, relationship, health; someone has figured out a way around it and written a book about it!

To Do List

Last, I end the day with a list of things I want to accomplish the next day in order of priority. It’s helpful to wake up knowing exactly what I need to do and when. I most recently started adding time-lines to the activities on the list otherwise I put them off for as long as I can.

This takes about 5 minutes

Conclusion

I didn’t realize how much I do in a day but all these activities take about 4 hours in total. I also spread them out throughout the day.  I have had to cut down on sleep, TV and going out on random nights but I think it’s worth it. There are also a few more things I’d like add; you might notice exercise is conspicuously missing from my list.

I have a good reason everything that I do which I think has helped to sustain these habits. Doing things because someone else says it’s good for you or because you think you should isn’t a good idea in my experience.

Honestly my life is better in so many ways because I have a personal routine beyond what I do for work or other obligations.

I think it’s useful to have a few good habits that you do every day that relate to your life and what you want. Good habits keep you grounded, focused and eliminate most of the background noise that gets in the way of a happy, quiet and fulfilled life.

What is your daily routine?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Do You Quantify Hard Work?

It’s pretty clear that you have to work hard for things you want in life but not too many people take the trouble to explain what hard work looks like exactly. I am yet to see a quiz that you can take in five minutes on your lunch break.

Your Hard Work Score is…

4.9/5

Awesome! Way to Go!! Your Future Looks Great!!!

Unfortunately, physical action or exertion isn’t always a good indicator of hard work.

Laying brick on top of brick to build a house is hard work.

How about drawing the blueprint? Checking if the bricks are level? Mixing concrete and sand? Taking time to assess the progress? Ordering wood and nails? Paying the laborers? Figuring out where the light switches and wall outlets go?

Are all these actions also part of the hard work you have to put in to build a house?

I suspect they are and I would go as far as to say that one task isn’t more important than the other.

Laying the bricks is just as important as placing an order for sand and concrete.

Besides the physical action that you take on a day to day, I believe that there are a few subtle indicators that you might be working harder than you think.

You Are Uncomfortable

Hard work and comfort hardly go together. If you are taking risks, putting yourself out there, waking up earlier than you’d like…you aren’t going to be comfortable. If you ever feel like you are in full control of your life, you might need to check that you aren’t stagnating.

Hard work is organized chaos and a lot of the time you cannot control the outcome. You begin to concentrate on what you can control (your actions) and let everything unfold as it will if only to maintain your sanity. Comfort implies that you have a guaranteed outcome which is rarely the case when you are working towards a big goal.

You Have New Experiences

Learning about your field and what it takes to win is part and parcel of working hard. Learning new information and adopting new perspectives that support and empower you towards your goals radically changes the way you experience life.

You meet new people, scrap off some of your old beliefs in favor of new ones, go to different places or simply spend your free time different from how you did in the past.

All these things completely change the way you interact with life and how you perceive it and this change becomes more pronounced as the years go by until you have a new ‘normal’.

You Have More/Bigger Responsibilities

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Cliché, yes, but also true. With more money, more free time, more knowledge, better relationships, more solid spiritual life, and enhanced perspectives comes bigger responsibility.

Just as a promotion at your job comes with more responsibility, a promotion in your life comes more responsibility. People rely on you more whether it is for something abstract such as advice or something tangible such as taking care of certain tasks. You impact goes beyond yourself and directly touches the lives of others.

You Have a More Positive Outlook

As you consistently work hard, hopefully you realize that you don’t need to know everything before you can take action. One of the constant reminders you encounter is once you start and maintain momentum, things seem to work themselves out. You adopt a kinder attitude towards life and don’t constantly feel assaulted by events and circumstances.

Coincidences or blind old luck happen in ways you couldn’t have drawn up if it was up to you. You feel an odd sense of calm even when the current situation isn’t exactly ideal. You have learned enough to know that these things somehow work themselves out; that you always somehow figure it out and that there is always a bigger picture that becomes clear in the not-so-distant future.

You Have Changed

The dreaded words;

“You have changed”

Change isn’t always bad. As long as you are happy with who you are no one should ever shame you for changing. Hard work requires focus. The irrelevant cannot withstand the glare of focus. You inevitably spend your physical, mental and emotional energy on the things you have identified as priority. Your vision consumes you and transforms you into a completely different person.

For you to get the things you don’t have right now it is inevitable that you will become a different person.

How hard are you working?

To Be Happy or To Be Content – Which is better?

I feel like humanity is in a mad rash for happiness. I won’t get into consumerism, which I feel has been covered extensively but it’s worth noting the many ways we delude ourselves. I think happiness, or the quest for it is the major driver of human action.

We might say we want a fulfilling career, financial independence or a great relationship. All these things are good but underlying all the ‘wants’ is the feeling of happiness. Truth be told, it’s a feeling that we are after, not the actual thing. If a genie could grant you a permanent state of happiness, I wonder with how much zeal you would pursue a great career or financial independence or anything that’s important to you in your life right now.

Not many people will tell you to chase contentment. There are all these quotes about being happy and living a happy life but not enough is said about contentment. Personally I think contentment is an ideal worth pursuing and one that is far more achievable than happiness.

Happiness, at least to me, feels like a destination or something to work towards. You are not happy today but if you play your cards right; you might be happy tomorrow. Happiness also seems to rely on something usually a goal, objective, achievement or some sort of ‘something’. I don’t think I have ever heard anyone become happy for no reason. The phrase I am familiar with;

‘Why are you so happy?’

‘I’m happy because…’

It also seems to me that happiness implies something else; it’s opposite sadness. What feeling do you have before you ‘arrive’ at happiness?

From where I sit happiness can hardly be described as a permanent state. It’s always fleeting, situational and dependent on some other object or pursuit. Unless you are a Buddhist sage who can reach ecstasy from contemplating a blade of grass (that’s how I imagine sages), happiness to me seems a lot like the hamster and the wheel.

Contentment Seems Nice…

I think the foundation for contentment is to be comfortable with what is. Contentment doesn’t necessarily imply the achievement of something or caused by something else. Contentment is simply being comfortable with everything that’s going one even when you don’t necessarily think its ideal. I think contentment is also a far more sustainable feeling. You only need to remind yourself (other times you may need to convince yourself) that everything is fine just the way it is.

If the situation requires changing, you are content taking the action rather than seeing the action as an undesirable means to an end.

Contentment shouldn’t be confused with lethargy or resignation though and I can appreciate that there is a thin line separating the two. It is possible to want better things for yourself and at the same time comfortable with what is. Contentment is also a foundation for happiness. As long as you are content, you always have solid ground to stand on and aren’t too concerned with feeling happy.

Contentment and gratitude are inseparable. Contentment implies not just acceptance of what’s going on at the moment, but gratitude for it. Once contentment becomes a prevailing attitude in your life, there is little in life that can upset your balance. The little annoyances come and go with little lasting impact in your state of being.

What are you searching for?