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on with how to improve your life from the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius.
Marcus Aurelius says “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be.
Be one.”
Marcus Aurelius is one of the greatest philosophers of ancient times.
He ruled over Rome from 161 to 180 AD.
famously being known as “the last of the five good emperors”.
He carried out his duties with greatness and honour, despite facing difficult military
conflicts during his reign, with the Parthian Empire, the kingdom of Armenia, and the Germanic
tribes.
On top of this, between 165 and 166 he also had to deal with the Antonine plague which
killed from five to as many as ten million people in his empire!
Despite his extremely busy lifestyle, he took the time to reflect on the most existential
questions of life, becoming one of the most appreciated philosophers of ancient Rome.
During his time, he constructed a series of autobiographical writings known as the Meditations,
which he wrote for his own guidance and self-improvement.
“Meditations” is considered also one of the greatest works of philosophy ever written
and it is one of the fundamental books of the philosophy of Stoicism.
The main core of stoic philosophy is the necessity of making deliberate choices and being in
control of our emotions in order to live well and lead a virtuous life.
By practising stoicism and following the teachings of Marcus Aurelius, one can better face the
difficulties of daily life, no matter how trivial or complex they may be.
Our character is based on our behaviour and our behaviour is based on our daily habits,
which is why in this video we bring you 7 ways you can improve your life following the
daily habits of Marcus Aurelius.
Be grateful for waking up Marcus Aurelius says “When you arise in
the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think,
to enjoy, to love.”
Showing gratitude for the things we already have helps us want less, and makes us appreciate
them more.
Marcus Aurelius, practised gratitude on a daily basis, despite spending most of his
life on a battlefield.
His book “Meditations” starts with a list of all the people he was thankful for.
He expressed his gratitude more towards people who shaped him and moulded him as a person,
and not towards his fame, wealth or successes.
Despite being the emperor of the Roman Empire, for him, people were more important than possessions
or fame.
Marcus Aurelius considered that we need only three things in life: certainty of judgement
in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude
of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.
Therefore, an attitude of gratitude is essential to living a balanced life.
We in the modern world spend way too much of our time focusing on our problems in pursuit
of our materialistic desires and do not realise how showing appreciation can transform a person's
life.
A life devoid of gratitude is frequently unhappy and unfulfilling.
On the other hand the benefits of practising gratitude are nearly endless.
People who regularly practise gratitude by taking time to notice and reflect upon the
things they're thankful for experience more positive emotions, feel more alive, sleep
better, and express more compassion and kindness.
If the first thing you do after waking up is say thank you for everything and everyone
you have, you'll discover that you're genuinely happier with where you are and what you already
have in life, and this realisation will help you approach your day and people with ease.
You can start this practice by writing down 3-5 things you are thankful for every day.
Even if you lose everything, your job, your house, your spouse, you can still find reasons
to be grateful.
Hopefully, you still have your health, or you have expert professional skills.
Perhaps you have close friends or family members who care about you, or perhaps you can simply
be grateful for the fact that you are still alive and you can see the sun shining for
another day.
Also remember, no situation is permanent, no matter how tragic.
“This too shall pass” is what Aurelius says.
And when it does pass, we can be only grateful that it wasn’t worse than it was.
2. Make time for journaling In the words of Marcus aurelius “The recognition
that I needed to train and discipline my character.
Not to be sidetracked by my interest in rhetoric.
Not to write treatises on abstract questions, or deliver moralising little sermons, or compose
imaginary descriptions of The Simple Life or The Man Who Lives Only for Others.
To steer clear of oratory, poetry and belles lettres.
Not to dress up just to stroll around the house, or things like that.
To write straightforwardly.”
At dawn, Marcus Aurelius would spend a few minutes with a blank page, writing down his
thoughts, clearing his mind, reminding himself of what was truly important.
Through journaling, he would spend his mornings capturing his thoughts and emotions, whether
at war or at peace.
Our modern day life is stressful.
There are so many distractions and so much noise around and it can often be pretty difficult
to keep calm.
Our human mind loves these distractions, but the practice of journaling helps us in clearing
our mind and allows us to breathe.
You can start by writing down your feelings, your dreams, your worries and the things you
are thankful for.
Doing this will help you see yourself from a better perspective.
You can write about ambitions, your goals and all the roadblocks that come along the
way.
This way you will know exactly how to proceed and how to deal with those obstacles.
You can also write about what you have achieved so far.
When you write about the milestones you have achieved, you can easily track your progress
and boost your morale.
In stoicism the art of journaling is more than just keeping a diary.
This daily practice is philosophy.
It is how you prepare for the day ahead in the morning and reflect on the day that has
passed in the evening.
Hence it is recommended to also write about your own experiences, what you have learnt
from your teachers and mentors.
When you write about the lessons you have learnt and the qualities others have that
you admire, you provide yourself with a toolkit to realign with the person you want to be.
You can start this practice by putting aside 10 minutes in the morning and writing in whatever
form works for you.
You can write notes on paper, in a dedicated book, store them on an app on your phone,
or pull up an empty document on your computer and record your thoughts there.
It is the process that counts.
The more we write, the more you encourage imagination, enhance appreciation, and the
more your philosophy ingrains itself in your character.
3.
Prepare for the worst According to Marcus Aurelius “When you wake
up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful,
arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.”
Marcus Aurelius faced many difficulties in life and he understood very well how practical
stoic advice is when preparing for worst case scenarios.
As a part of his morning routine, Marcus spent some time visualising the negative people
and negative circumstances that could get in his way.
This way he mentally prepared himself in order to be ready to handle anyone or anything,
no matter how difficult it may be.
His technique was to anticipate the worst so that we can adequately prepare ourselves
for the challenges that lie ahead - otherwise known as “negative visualisation”.
The idea here is not to have a pessimistic approach but to stay prepared for the misfortune
that can befall us at any moment.
If you have an employment contract which expires soon, for example, you have to plan for the
worst: In this case, that the employer would not extend your employment and that you have
to find more work elsewhere.
Don’t wear rose-tinted spectacles, having absolute faith that the boss really appreciates
you and that they will recommend you for a permanent position.
This might happen, but as you can’t know for certain, you need to apply to new jobs
before your contract ends to have a plan B.
You can practice negative visualisation every morning by keeping your expectations upfront
and by being far more honest with yourself.
Ask yourself - What could go wrong?
How would you handle such scenarios?
Can you overcome or plan for them?
When you prepare for the worst in the morning, you are in a better place to deal with disaster,
should it arise during the day.
With negative visualisation and preparing oneself for the worst-case scenarios before
they happen, you can reduce both fear and anxiety of the unknown.
4.
Focus on the task at hand Marcus Aurelius teaches us to…
“Concentrate every minute like a Roman - like a man - on doing what's in front of you with
precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.
And on freeing yourself from all other distractions.”
It is said that Marcus would tackle his most difficult tasks first.
He did not procrastinate, nor neglect hard work or avoid his more unpleasant duties.
He had a job to do and he never complained about it.
He also teaches us to treat our time like a wartime general because it is our most valuable
and equitable resource.
We need to take control of our time and start distributing it correctly.
Once you decide on your task and have a clear strategy, you must then ignore the distractions.
The distractions in our modern world are never ending - even if you try to remove all distractions,
like turning off the tv, silencing your phone and focusing on what you need to get done,
to your brain, the allure of finding an excuse to do something easier is still strong.
This is because our brain craves short-term pleasure, which is why it’s often hard to
start work as there is no expectation of an immediate reward.
Sometimes, that reward is years away.
However if you wrap up your work with the expectancy of an immediate reward, you give
yourself a good reason to concentrate on your work.
For example, if you avoid or delay your work and spend a lot of your time checking social
media feeds, you can make a deal that you’re not allowed to log in to your social media
account again until a certain amount of work is done.
This way you can stay focused on your task on what needs to get done.
When you spend your days focusing on what needs to be done, it becomes easier to stay
on task and get things accomplished.
The more focused you are, the more successful, energetic and content you will be.
5.
Master your mind To quote Marcus Aurelius “You have power
over your mind - not outside events.
Realise this, and you will find strength.”
Our mind is one of our greatest assets in life, it is the instrument with which we think,
we analyse reality and make decisions.
But our mind can also be our greatest enemy.
According to Aurelius, it all depends on our perception, on how we choose to look at things
that determines if we use our minds wisely or in a destructive way.
Following the wisdom of Aurelius, we too can increase our capacity to focus on what we
can control if we do the following things:
1) Stop blaming external circumstances for your failure
As an emperor, Marcus Aurelius always took full responsibility for what was happening
in his empire and always meditated at the end of the day on what his mistakes were,
and what he could do better next time.
Similarly we should also stop playing the victim and blaming external circumstances
for our failures.
For example, do not react harshly when your boss criticises you in front of others because
of the way you did a task.
It was your responsibility to do that task in the right way and you should take responsibility
for your mistakes.
Do not blame the lack of time or the lack of resources for not performing that task
well, but rather apologise and inform them on how you can improve next time.
2) Not allow others to negatively affect you Marcus Aurelius emphasised focusing our mind
on the present moment, on solving the problem at hand rather than getting lost in the details,
and getting affected by the people or circumstances.
For each problem we face, we need to break the problem into its components, analyse them
and find a solution.
Don’t concentrate on whose fault it was, do not waste your energy in reacting to people,
your capacity to control others or circumstances is limited.
For example, if someone close to you upsets you, admit that this is a thing you don’t
have control over.
You can try to figure out if there was something you did that triggered this reaction; if there
wasn’t, just acknowledge the fact and make peace with it, there is nothing you can do
about it.
And finally…
3) Take control over how you perceive reality Marcus Aurelius firmly believed that our soul
takes the colour of our thoughts and we should guard those thoughts strongly; thus, if your
thoughts are pure, the happier you will be and the more courageous you will feel in tackling
the problems that appear.
Your peace of mind depends on how you control how your mind sees things.
If you suffered a spinal injury that results in you needing a wheelchair, for example.
In Aurelius’ view, the best approach for your mental health is to stop complaining
about how unfortunate you are, and rather focus on the positives; perhaps you can be
now a role model for other people, you can participate in sports and prove that there
is nothing that can stop you, or perhaps you can focus on a hobby that you would have never
considered, like painting, music or writing.
Obstacles and hardships present themselves each day.
They are indeed a part of life.
There will be moments of turbulence in our lives, and many of them will be unexpected,
happening at the most inopportune times.
These moments can strengthen or weaken us, and that all depends on how we respond to
it.We may complain about obstacles, call them unfair, never face them and stay negative.
Or we can choose to train ourselves, to see it as an opportunity to grow and develop virtues.
It is all about how you see things that determine your well being and peace of mind.
If we can master the mind, we can understand the world, we can be more able to do what
is right, speak the truth, accept what is happening, and live more in the present.
Mastering the mind is vital to living well.
6.
Review your day According to Marcus Aurelius, “Nothing has
such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all
that comes under thy observation in life.”
Stoicism is a very practical philosophy, it’s about self-improvement and the best way to
improve is through personal review.
Marcus Aurelius wrote his meditations with the purpose of reviewing his own daily choices
and thoughts to achieve personal clarity.
He kept a constant eye on his daily actions.
If you want to be the best version of yourself, you must be aware of your actions.
This is why daily reflection routines are crucial in Stoicism.
If you don’t know where you went wrong, how are you supposed to improve as a person?
How can you be your best?
Setting aside 5-10 mins every evening to review your daily progress is an important step in
leading a Stoic lifestyle.
You can sit down with your journal and ask yourselves questions like: What did I do well?
What could have I done better?
Did I behave according to my principles?
Did I treat people in a friendly and considerate manner?
What could have I done to be the best version of myself?
Also make sure you are kind and forgiving to yourself if you did something where you
acted in some way you disapprove of or did something you were not supposed to.
It's completely ok to struggle and experience setbacks as long as you are aware and try
your best.
7.
Meditate on your death In our final quote from Marcus Aurelius for
this video, he says “Let each thing you would do, say or intend be like that of a
dying person.”
Despite being the emperor, Marcus Aurelius realised that no matter how great the things
we accomplish or who we are, we all have the same destiny: death.
He frequently reminded himself of his own mortality and this made him adopt a more humble
attitude towards life.
It is said that at night, he would tuck his children into bed and kiss them, and say quietly
to himself, “Don’t rush this.
This might be the last time you do this.
It’s not guaranteed that either of you will make it through the night.”
There is a phrase within the stoic philosophy called Memento Mori, which means remember
that you will die.
It is a reminder that your death is inevitable, your time is limited.
No matter where you are born, how rich you are, or what you do during your life, there
will come a day where you will not wake up to enjoy life once more.
The Stoics made it routine to keep the prospect of death in mind and you too can practice
this every evening.
The point of this reminder that you will die is not to promote fear but quite the opposite;
to make you approach to your daily life fearlessly and make you feel confident about doing the
things that really matter.
You can start this exercise by spending 5-10 mins every evening imagining that you are
on your deathbed and only have a week to live.
Ask yourself - ‘are the things I’m spending my time on worth it?’
Asking such a question will make you realise that perhaps you are not spending enough time
with your family or that you would rather be doing something else like pursuing your
dream of being a musician, for example, than your current job that you do not actually
enjoy.
The key purpose of this exercise is to make you realise 3 things - to spend quality time
with the people you love and respect, to make your priorities clear and to not spend your
time doing something you hate.
Your life will be merely other people’s memories in a few years when you’re gone.
Therefore, it is much better to really concentrate your focus on the people you really care about,
give your best contributions to this world through your work.
Daily reflecting on your death will help you navigate through your priorities in life and
help you be the person you want to be.
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