🤔 Morning thoughts (October 21 - 27)
Every Sunday I share a quote and a reflection on it for each day of the week.
Themes of the week: Resilience, Self-reflection, Ambition, Discipline, Humility, Adaptability, Mindfulness
Sunday - October 27, 2024
“[The ideal individual] bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of his circumstances, like a skillful general who marshals his limited forces with all the strategy of war… He is his own best friend, and takes delight in privacy, whereas the man of no virtue or ability is his own worst enemy, and is afraid of solitude.”
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Take the high ground and accept what happens with the knowledge that if you’ve prepared, you have everything you need to strategically handle it. It starts from your self talk.
Saturday - October 26, 2024
"Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a feather bed.”
Terence McKenna, Unfolding the Stone
Dare to be audacious and ambitious. Open up to the work, earn your opportunities, and be humble enough to know you can’t chase all of them. But the ones you do, will lead you to your best self. Greatness comes from giving yourself to the work.
Friday - October 25, 2024
"It’s helpful to be wrong or confused. Being wrong makes you try a different approach. Feeling confused makes you clarify or question your assumptions. It’s intellectual humility."
Derek Sivers, Useful Not True
Questioning your assumptions doesn’t mean crushing your ego. It means creating space for the positive, creative side of your ego to give life to something better. Egolessness is not fulfillment. Humility should be selfish because you want to improve yourself through it first.
Thursday - October 24, 2024
“Elegant paths often seem roundabout at first, but they put systems to work for us, instead of against us. They require intent and discipline, and reward us with resilience and efficiency.”
Seth Godin, This is strategy
Just because your path seems convoluted at first doesn’t mean it’s not good for you. Especially if it forces you to become stronger. Use friction as a signpost.
Wednesday- October 23, 2024
"The bigger the storm, the more inclined we are to revert to our survival habits, and the more important positive rituals become."
Jim Loehr, The Power of Full Engagement
What matters is how you react in your worst moments. Consistent preparation brings consistent energy.
Tuesday - October 22, 2024
“What does your conscience say? – ‘You shall become the person you are’.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science
You are constantly changing. It’s up to you to either evolve or regress. Your conscience will guide you if you listen.
Monday - October 21, 2024
“There are only a few who control themselves and their affairs by a guiding purpose; the rest do not proceed; they are merely swept along, like objects afloat in a river.”
Seneca, Letters from a Stoic
What stops many from intentionally guiding their own life is the friction and the current swaying them along. It’s constant. But they don’t see how being deliberate can slow time down and allow you to take control.