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Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and
also one of the most influential thinkers

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in the history of Western philosophy.

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His philosophy is called transcendental idealism,
stating that the things we see in the world

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are only appearances, that the true nature
of things are not knowable to us, but we can

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come closer to their true essence through
our capacity of reasoning.

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He believed that reason is the true source
of morality.

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Kant contributed immensely to the fields of
epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics.

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He was also an advocate of the idea of global
peace, and believed that it can be achieved

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by universal democracy and international cooperation.

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He perceived time in an unusual way in respect
to how he organized his life.

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He was born in the 18th century and was raised
in a religious family.

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His education was very strict and disciplinary.

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As a result, his life was characterized by
an exceptional discipline.

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Kant was a man of stable routine, following
every day the same schedule which led to extraordinary

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results.

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He wrote important books and essays like:
“Critique of Pure Reason”, “Metaphysics

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of Morals”, “Critique of Judgment”,
“Critique of Practical Reason”, “Answering

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the Question: What is Enlightenment?”, and
“Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch”,

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all of them still relevant today, and, in
spite of his strict schedule, he had a rich

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social life.

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It seems that his method of managing his time
had great results, he was very productive

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to the end of his long life, and with that
in mind we bring you 7 lessons on time management

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we can learn from the philosophy of Immanuel
Kant.

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1.

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Organize yourself
Kant says: “Science is organized knowledge.

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Wisdom is organized life.”

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Immanuel Kant was a very unusual human being.

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He got up every day at 5:00 A.M., having a
domestic helper in charge of making sure he

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never gets up even half an hour late.

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After getting up, Kant would drink one or
two cups of weak tea, smoking a pipe of tobacco

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and meditating on his life.

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Then, his lectures began at 7:00, and they
would last until 11:00.

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With the lectures finished, he worked again
on his writings until lunch.

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After lunch, he went out for a walk, then
he spent his afternoons with his good friend

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Green.

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Afterwards, he went home and spent some time
working and reading, before going to sleep

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again, around 11 P.M.

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Kant claimed that a life without a daily routine
or structure will drain you mentally, physically,

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and emotionally and, therefore, you need to
organize your life in the best possible way

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for you.

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The best way to start organizing your life
is to think about your long-term goals and

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set some routines which can help you achieve
those goals.

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Thus it's very important to organize your
life according to your long-term goals because

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in this way you can prioritize your activities
and allocate more time to those activities

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that really matter for you in the long run.

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Good time management would help you concentrate
on the important things and achieve your long-term

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goals.

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Kant’s goals were to write books that can
transform humanity and that is why he spent

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his days mostly writing, reading and teaching,
as well as getting inputs from like-minded

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people of great intellect.

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If you do not set up at least some routines,
life will just happen to you and you will

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end up working for other people’s goals
in life.

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Routines can really help you achieve your
goals and, for that, you need a significant

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amount of patience.

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The greatest awards are given to people who
are persistent in their journey and don’t

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give up.

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For example, if you set yourself a goal to
be a famous violinist in a big orchestra,

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you should choose a job that allows you to
spend time developing your musical skills,

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like being a violin teacher, as well as daily
practice, spending time studying the masters

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- seeing them in concert if at all possible,
and networking with fellow musicians in groups

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online as well as in the bar at concerts and
industry events like conferences.

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All of these may help you get better gigs
as a musician or at the very least will help

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you improve, and keep improving.

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In general, spending time practising your
craft and networking will help you achieve

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the required skills for your dream job as
well as find the right connections to get

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it.

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As the old saying goes, luck is what happens
when preparation meets opportunity.

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2.

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Follow through
Kant tells us: “Man must be disciplined,

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for he is by nature raw and wild.”

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Kant not only organized his life into sets
of routines, but he also followed through.

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Being raised in a strict and very religious
family, with fixed rules for everything, since

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he was a child he learned what it meant to
have discipline and to do what you intend

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to do.

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His actions in life followed a severe schedule,
it was said that neighbours would set their

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clocks by his daily walks.

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He was a man of iron discipline.

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After recognizing your most important goals
and priorities, you need to show up every

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day and follow through with your plans.

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It is said that half of success in life is
showing up, meaning doing what you intend

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to do after deciding on your goals.

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Although we may never reach his level of discipline,
we can all try to incorporate a little bit

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of Kantian discipline into our own lives - especially
in our professional ones.

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For example, if you are working remotely,
online, like me you may find it very difficult

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to be disciplined.

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It is sometimes harder to create and follow
a daily schedule when you do not have a boss

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to tell you what you have to do.

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In this case, you need to fight your urge
to procrastinate, and learn how to motivate

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yourself to make progress in your work.

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To put it more simply; you need to parent
yourself.

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Imagine that you are a rider on an elephant,
the elephant being your raw and wild nature,

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who does not like to follow routines.

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It is lazy and rebellious.

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You need to learn to be gentle and tough at
the same time, to be in control.

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You have to motivate your elephant to carry
you to your desired goal.

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The best motivation technique is to reward
your elephant every time he does what you

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requested of him.

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For a more realistic example, when it comes
to scheduling your workload in your job to

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maximise motivation and minimize procrastination,
you can divide your day into different tasks

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- from the most difficult, important task
at hand to the least important, most trivial,

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and start with your most important difficult
task.

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If you start with completing your most important
difficult task, a task that you will most

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likely procrastinate on, you go about your
day knowing you’ve done it and the rest

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of your day will feel a lot easier in comparison.

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Your “elephant” will be motivated to work
at the beginning of the day because he will

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think of what a relaxing evening he can have
at the end of it.

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Furthermore, as we learned from our imaginary
elephant before, you should reward yourself

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after finishing each task - it can be reading
a chapter of your favourite book, watching

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an episode of your favourite TV series, eating
a cookie, going for a walk and so on.

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In time, you will notice that it gets easier
and easier to follow the routines and you

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will start to feel more energetic and eager
to continue working.

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3.

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Follow universal principles in your daily
activities

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To quote Kant: “So act that your principle
of action might safely be made a law for the

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whole world.”

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Kant believed that we, as rational beings,
have the power of will, to choose our actions

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according to our life principles and our principles
can be deduced through reasoning.

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Instead of following our instincts, our emotions
like animals do, we should use our ability

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as human beings to reason, to decide on what
is good to do and what is not, to find our

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life principles and then, based on these principles,
we can exercise our will to do the right action.

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For that, we need to formulate our imperatives
- the commands of reason which we should follow

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in daily life.

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Kant also advises that we should act such
that our principles of action can be a law

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for the whole world.

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In other words, the more universal our principles
which guide our lives, the more rational decisions

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we will make and the better our lives will
be.

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Regarding time management: If we want to apply
this Kantian advice, we need to manage our

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time in such a way that our style of time
management can be used as a law for the entire

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world.

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For example, through reasoning, we can reach
the conclusion that doing daily exercise and

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eating a lot of fruits and vegetables is very
good for our health, similarly through reasoning

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we can fight our impulses that make us procrastinate,
that make us watch a cat video on youtube

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instead of finishing the report.

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In our modern world, we spend a lot of unproductive
time at work.

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Some studies showed that an average employee
is productive only 2 hours and 53 minutes

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per day.

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The rest of the time they are preparing, discussing
or feeling anxious about their work, not actually

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doing anything.

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Add to that time wasted in meetings, chatting
with colleagues and on social media.

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So next time you have an urge to waste your
time doing something you are not supposed

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to do, use your reasoning skills and ask yourself
- Is this necessary?

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What is the maxim of my action?

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What if everyone followed this rule?

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For example, if you are planning to scroll
through social media instead of working on

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a report that's due today, then you must follow
the rule that everybody should be entitled

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to do the same - in this case scrolling through
their social media instead of working.

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Then you need to reflect if that would lead
to a better society…

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Obviously, this reasoning will lead you to
contradictions in this case.

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Moral actions cannot bring about moral contradictions.

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In this model, if you are trying to steal
something from a shop, the owner of the shop

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would have the right to steal something from
you too.

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Therefore, stealing is not universalizable.

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You are not allowed to make an exception for
yourself in the Kantian world.

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Similarly if you decide to waste your time
instead of work, then you should accept the

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fact that everyone is allowed to waste their
time.

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If the entire company that you work for or
own can just ‘choose not to work’, it

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will eventually go bankrupt.

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Realizing that this is not what you want,
you need to change your attitude and put more

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effort into your work instead of focusing
on distractions that will only give you short-term

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gratification.

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It is important to follow a set of universal
laws in everything you do, like doing your

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best in your work, because in theory if everybody
applied these laws, the world would be a better

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place.

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4.

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Schedule time for developing your skills
Kant teaches us: “We are not rich by what

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we possess but by what we can do without.”

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Kant lived a rather predictable life, he was
not that much interested in acquiring possessions.

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What he was interested in, was designing a
perfect way of life to accomplish his goals

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in the realm of philosophy and that is why
he had such a strict schedule every day.

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He understood that people sometimes fight
very hard to acquire wealth, higher social

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status, a promotion and so on.

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But all these accomplishments can vanish one
day, one business decision can lead to a catastrophe,

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one email can destroy your entire reputation,
your boss can fire you tomorrow, and so on.

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As such, it is not wise to build houses of
cards, but instead to keep developing your

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skills, to keep learning about your field,
keeping yourself informed about the news in

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the industry.

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Instead of working hard on sucking up to your
boss and highlighting your colleagues’ mistakes,

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just to put yourself in a better light, you
should work hard on learning more about the

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tools, processes and software you will have
to use, about the customers you will need

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to approach and so on.

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Keep yourself away from the pursuit of promotions,
bigger salaries, and bigger social status,

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and stay focused on your craft.

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Invest an hour a day, every day after work
to learn more about your field, to develop

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a skill you do not have in order to improve
yourself.

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Putting more time in your calendar for upgrading
yourself can enhance your career a great deal

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in the long run.

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5.

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Make time for the small things
In the words of Kant: “Look closely.

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The beautiful may be small.”

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In spite of his rigid way of living and of
his cold, rational way of conducting philosophy,

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Kant understood the importance of the small
things in life, like talking to friends, walking

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in the park, and enjoying social activities,
and he made room for all of those in his life.

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He also had a great interest in the world
of aesthetics, even claiming that our ability

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to reason is the reason we can appreciate
all the beauty of this world.

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Kant believed there are similarities between
moral judgement and aesthetic judgement - that

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the physical and the moral universe can be
unified.

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The more we know how to appreciate the beauty
of a forest for example, the more we will

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be inclined to make the moral decision to
take care of the forest, and in this way our

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actions will benefit the environment and,
thus, the local community.

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The admiration for beautiful things inspires
a feeling of awe, accompanied sometimes by

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a desire to take care of those things and
to treasure them.

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It is important to allocate time to appreciate
the beauty that surrounds us; a sunrise or

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sunset, the flowers and trees, the distant
landscape, even the architecture - there is

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a world of beauty in most cities if we just
spent more time looking up, above the shops!

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If not every day, then we should try and do
this at least a few hours a week.

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Take time to visit a museum or gallery.

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Contemplating a piece of art or a beautiful
corner of nature soothes our souls and brings

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out the desire in us to be kinder and more
appreciative for having the opportunity to

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live on this magnificent planet.

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6.

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Make time for your other duties
As we learn from Kant: “An action, to have

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moral worth, must be done from duty.”

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Nowadays we often admire people who are genuinely
good and do good things because they feel

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like doing them.

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However, Kant would say that this is not enough.

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For him, an action is only morally good if
the motivating forces behind the decision

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to make that action are also good.

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It is not enough to be good at heart and kind
to people, you need to have a solid rational

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reason for doing what you are doing.

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For example, in the case of a waiter at a
restaurant, they should not be kind to their

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customers just because they feel that way.

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They should be kind because it is their duty
to be kind with their customers.

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If they only do what they feel like doing,
imagine how they would behave with the customers

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when they have a bad day.

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Only doing good things when you feel like
doing them is effectively immoral in Kant’s

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view.

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We need to act following a set of principles
of conduct not only in our work life, but

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also in our personal life.

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We all have to play different roles in life;
an employee, a spouse, a friend, or parent.

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Therefore, there are many different types
of duties, and to keep everything in balance

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we need to find time to meet our duties.

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Not fulfilling our duties in one area of life
can affect the others as well.

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For example, most of us understand how important
it is to be in contact with our parents or

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other relatives, to call them, ask them how
they are, if they need something and so on.

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But if you get carried away by your work,
you are too stressed to call them, or you

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just plain forget, it means you only do things
when you feel like doing them, and this is

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not moral.

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If you truly reasoned through the importance
of being in contact with your parents, you

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would call them no matter how you feel at
that moment.

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Not managing such duties correctly can lead
to guilt and regret down the road, particularly

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once your parents are gone.

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No matter how important one area of your life
is - in this example your work - you need

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to find time to fulfill your duties in other
areas as well, like family in this case.

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7.

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Make time for moral self-development
In our final quote from Kant for this video,

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he says: “Without man and his potential
for moral progress, the whole of reality would

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be a mere wilderness, a thing in vain, and
have no final purpose.”

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Kant was one of the most influential philosophers
in the age of Enlightenment, also called the

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Age of Reason, and in his work the concept
of being a moral human being played an important

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role.

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He considered that there are 3 main questions
we should all ask ourselves: What can I know?

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What should I do?

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What can I hope for?

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He argued that human beings should always
try to make progress in the realm of morality,

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that universal peace is possible through collaboration
and understanding of each other, that the

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life of any human being is sacred, that animals
must be respected.

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Nowadays, due to globalization, finding a
common ground for morality across so many

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different countries and cultures is a particularly
challenging task.

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What is considered good in one country can
be seen as bad or even offensive in another.

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For example, when it comes to approaches to
problem solving, the way people contradict

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and debate with each other to find the best
solution in typical Western cultures, versus

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the more traditional, hierarchical structure
of many countries in South East Asia.

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Both methods are valid, but can clash when
brought together.

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The only way in which progress can be done
in this regard is through continuous dialogue

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and honest, open communication.

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Finding common ground is difficult, but it
is always worth it.

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Facing other cultures or other people with
very different personalities can raise new

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questions in us and they can force us to update
our moral code, which makes room for more

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appreciation of different ideologies.

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To evolve in a moral sense, we need to be
receptive to other cultures, to communicate

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and debate with other people in order to reach
the best solution.

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To evolve on a moral level, we need to get
informed, perhaps spend some time each week

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- an hour or two at least - to learn about
other cultures through reading articles and

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watching documentaries, or meeting with a
friend from another culture, asking them essential

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questions to help you understand the way they
see the world.

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You could also watch debates on YouTube, philosophical
discussions on morality and the like.

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By learning and debating, you will reach a
new understanding of what is moral and what

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is not, helping you to truly know yourself
and shape the principles you should follow

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for a truly happier life.

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If you enjoyed this video, please make sure
to check out our full philosophies for life

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playlist and for more videos to help you find
success and happiness using ancient philosophical

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00:20:42,690 --> 00:20:45,440
wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe.

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Thanks so much for watching.