Think About Your Future Self

 “The choicest days of hapless human life Fly first; disease and bitter old age follow, And toil, till harsh death rudely snatches all.” -Vergil

In the future we may:

• Become sickly...
• Have financial struggles...
• Become lonely...
• Experience loss...
• Have trouble with the law...
• Loose freedoms...
• ...

What we do today shapes our future. What we do today may bring us closer, or further away, from problems. Life is a gift and we need to take care of our “present” in order to minimize the potential problems of the future. “Life is like a play—it doesn’t matter how long it is, but how well it’s acted. It makes no difference when you stop. Stop whenever you choose, just make sure the ending is well done.” -Seneca

On Peace

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson “The most important thing for peace of mind is never to do wrong. Those who lack self-control lead disturbed and chaotic lives; their crimes are matched by their fears, and they never find peace.” -Seneca Peace also comes from living a virtuous life. It’s more difficult for a thief to find peace than someone who lived a virtuous life as he not only has internal troubles but external ones as well - every day comes with the torment of “getting caught”. Live virtuously... “A person suffers more than necessary when he suffers before it is necessary.” -Seneca Peace is learning to live in the moment. Looking into the past brings regrets while looking in the future, at what may or may not be, brings anxiety. Live in the moment... “We are all subject to the same terms: whoever is granted the privilege of birth is also destined to die. Time separates us, but death brings us together. The time between our first day and our last is uncertain and always changing: if measured by its troubles, it seems long even to a young person; if measured by its speed, it seems short even to an old person. Everything is unstable, unpredictable, and more changeable than the weather. All things are tossed about and change into their opposites at the whim of Fortune; in this chaotic world, the only certainty is death.” -Seneca In order to find peace in this life one must overcome their fear of death. To understand life’s unpredictability and finite nature is to understand peace. What begins also has an end whether this end is tomorrow or a thousands years from now. Death will come... “Every day and every hour remind us of how insignificant we are, and they keep showing us in new ways how much we forget our own frailty; then, as we make plans for eternity, they force us to glance back at Death.” -Seneca References:

• “Letters from a Stoic” by Lucious Seneca
• “Self-Reliance and other essays” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Frustration of Lifelong Students

“To win popular approval, you must use deceit and make yourself like the crowd; they won’t approve of you if they don’t see you as one of their own. However, what you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you. The approval of unworthy people can only be won by unworthy means.”
-Seneca

There comes a point in a lifelong student's life where he'll turn his back on popular media in favor of education. Time spent watching such things as sports is time that could be invested in diligent study. Through this, the student looses part of his ability to relate with those that are still connected to popular media.

Lifelong students have to submit themselves to some of the interest of the masses as not doing so negatively impact their ability to influence. A person is much more likely to open up to you if you share an interest with them.

This almost feels like we need to put on a face in order to be able to connect with other people.

“I find myself pondering how many people train their bodies and how few train their minds! Crowds flock to the games, which are mere entertainment, while the places where good and noble arts are taught are almost empty.”

-Seneca

Seneca eloquently identified this problem more than 2000 years ago and nothing changed since. At no other time in our history has knowledge been so widely available (Seneca's work is available for free on the IOS book app) yet it did very little to help bring knowledge forward as the majority prefer to entertain themselves to death rather than going through self-education.

"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, who's synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."
-Eric Fromm

Physical Health Not Guaranteed

I've taken a different approach to life than my entourage. I don't smoke/drink, I workout regularly, I read, I eat well... I know that, while life doesn't offer any guarantees, these habits decreases the chances of something going wrong with my body.

Doesn't it make sense that if you take care of your body it's more likely to function better? Common sense, however, isn't common to all. I know people that smoke because it helps them maintain a "healthy" weight. How does that work?

In the end, we're not going to make it out alive. It's not about living forever but having a good functioning body for as long as possible. All we can do is find ways to decrease the chances of having problems as there are no guarantees in life.

The Reader's Edge

“If you read a book a week, in a year you’ll have read 52 books. In ten years 520 books. You’ll be in the top 1% of your field. You’ll be more motivated, better educated; you’ll become the leader in your field.”

-Jim Rohn

If an employer has a choice to hire 1 out of 2 exact same people only one read 1 self-improvement book while the other didn't. Which person is most likely to be hired?

The value of a book is difficult to quantify however we instinctively know that the person who reads has "something" over non-readers. 

While reading can be an advantage, it means very little if there's no way to market it. Nobody knows which book you've read simply by looking at you. We've got to build ourselves a brand to better sell the idea that we're someone that spend a great deal of our time honing our skills. We need ways to stand out, communicate our ideas clearly, be bold.

"Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still."

-Chinese Proverb