1 00:00:00,700 --> 00:00:06,069 Why are some people able to accomplish so many great things in life while others don’t 2 00:00:06,069 --> 00:00:09,610 even have the energy to get up from their couch? 3 00:00:09,610 --> 00:00:13,530 The answer lies in self discipline. 4 00:00:13,530 --> 00:00:18,540 The good news is that usually if you lack self discipline, it is not about a character 5 00:00:18,540 --> 00:00:25,150 defect, but rather about not knowing enough about how to manage yourself. 6 00:00:25,150 --> 00:00:29,680 There were many great thinkers who wrote about having self discipline and one of the greatest 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,510 was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. 8 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:41,300 Aristotle lived between 384–322 BC and is still considered one of the greatest philosophers 9 00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:44,510 in the entire history of the world. 10 00:00:44,510 --> 00:00:50,280 Aristotle was a student of another great philosopher, Plato. 11 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:55,780 Following the path opened by Plato, Aristotle was the founder of the Lyceum, the Peripatetic 12 00:00:55,780 --> 00:00:58,070 school of philosophy. 13 00:00:58,070 --> 00:01:05,440 Aristotle’s work in philosophy is of particular value, having heavily influenced Western civilization. 14 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:13,010 Some of his greatest books were: Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, 15 00:01:13,010 --> 00:01:16,329 On the Soul, and Poetics. 16 00:01:16,329 --> 00:01:21,530 Although he is mostly known as a philosopher, he was a true polymath and his knowledge and 17 00:01:21,530 --> 00:01:29,200 skills covered many domains, including; physics, biology, zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics, 18 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:36,490 aesthetics, poetry, theater, music, rhetoric, psychology, linguistics, economics, politics, 19 00:01:36,490 --> 00:01:39,740 meteorology, geology, and government. 20 00:01:39,740 --> 00:01:44,280 His list of accomplishments is simply enormous! 21 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:49,790 To achieve so many great things in life, Aristotle had to have a high degree of self discipline 22 00:01:49,790 --> 00:01:54,350 himself, but he was also able to teach it. 23 00:01:54,350 --> 00:01:59,500 Self discipline can be described as endurance in the face of tempting pleasures or endurance 24 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:03,679 in the face of challenging situations which makes you feel like you want to give in to 25 00:02:03,679 --> 00:02:06,849 your basic impulses or give up on your goals. 26 00:02:06,849 --> 00:02:12,850 To help you learn ways to improve and manage your self discipline, today we’re bringing 27 00:02:12,850 --> 00:02:21,180 you 5 relevant teachings from the philosophy of Aristotle: 28 00:02:21,180 --> 00:02:24,019 Believe you have free will 29 00:02:24,019 --> 00:02:32,870 To quote Aristotle: “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” 30 00:02:32,870 --> 00:02:40,950 For Aristotle, a human being is defined by his capacity to decide what actions to take, 31 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:46,370 in other words, a human being has free will by definition. 32 00:02:46,370 --> 00:02:52,090 When we decide on doing something or not, we base the decision on our personal experiences 33 00:02:52,090 --> 00:02:58,069 and beliefs; for example, you catch your close colleague doing something shady. 34 00:02:58,069 --> 00:03:03,010 You now have to choose between reporting him or not, and you will do so depending on how 35 00:03:03,010 --> 00:03:07,420 much you value integrity versus your friendship. 36 00:03:07,420 --> 00:03:12,769 This will of course be different in each situation and there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer 37 00:03:12,769 --> 00:03:14,290 to this problem. 38 00:03:14,290 --> 00:03:19,810 However, with consideration and practice, the quality of our decisions can be improved 39 00:03:19,810 --> 00:03:26,349 in time and indeed, the better decisions we take, the better our life will be. 40 00:03:26,349 --> 00:03:32,379 Our capacity to make the right decisions can be increased if we gather more knowledge about 41 00:03:32,379 --> 00:03:38,230 the subject at hand, and our free will can be enhanced by adopting the right habits, 42 00:03:38,230 --> 00:03:40,859 in line with our goals and our moral values. 43 00:03:40,859 --> 00:03:47,269 For Aristotle, moral responsibility is impossible if we don’t have free will or if we are 44 00:03:47,269 --> 00:03:49,760 lacking sufficient knowledge. 45 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:55,001 As long as we have free will and are able to choose between action A or action B, we 46 00:03:55,001 --> 00:03:58,629 are morally responsible for that decision. 47 00:03:58,629 --> 00:04:03,319 We can all try to become more aware of that power to decide between the possible actions 48 00:04:03,319 --> 00:04:07,540 to take in life and start making better decisions. 49 00:04:07,540 --> 00:04:14,389 According to a 2017 paper published in Frontiers in Psychology, a lack of belief in free will 50 00:04:14,389 --> 00:04:16,970 tends to make us more immoral. 51 00:04:16,970 --> 00:04:23,660 Aristotle believed that the purpose of human beings is to achieve eudaimonia, a life lived 52 00:04:23,660 --> 00:04:24,660 virtuously. 53 00:04:24,660 --> 00:04:29,970 Thus, if we want to be moral human beings, it is imperative to believe that we have the 54 00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:33,760 capacity to determine our own actions. 55 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:38,630 Once we have the conviction that we truly have the power to determine our own actions, 56 00:04:38,630 --> 00:04:42,630 we can try working on making better decisions. 57 00:04:42,630 --> 00:04:48,200 The best way to improve the quality of our decisions is to work on our character, to 58 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,640 become more moral. 59 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:55,950 Before making any decision, we need to check if the thing we intend to do is moral or not, 60 00:04:55,950 --> 00:04:59,330 if it is the right thing to do. 61 00:04:59,330 --> 00:05:04,110 We should not rush in with our first impulse, which is why having solid self discipline 62 00:05:04,110 --> 00:05:06,110 is very important. 63 00:05:06,110 --> 00:05:11,820 Thus, self discipline starts with the belief that we truly have free will, and with our 64 00:05:11,820 --> 00:05:17,640 willingness to work on making better and more moralistic decisions, and the ability to resist 65 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:22,290 temptations that can derail us from our plans. 66 00:05:22,290 --> 00:05:27,060 After we have chosen a certain course of action which we believe is the right thing to do, 67 00:05:27,060 --> 00:05:32,110 we should be capable of resisting any temptations which can get in the way. 68 00:05:32,110 --> 00:05:37,560 If we are not able to resist the temptations, we show that we don’t have enough self discipline 69 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,160 to go through with our plans. 70 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:45,590 Aristotle invited his readers to become conscious of the fact that if they can decide to do 71 00:05:45,590 --> 00:05:50,290 something, they can also have the power not to do that thing. 72 00:05:50,290 --> 00:05:56,280 When we understand that it is in our power to say yes or no to something, when somebody 73 00:05:56,280 --> 00:06:02,080 interrupts us in our plans, it is easier to avoid those interruptions or distractions. 74 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:08,160 As long as we believe we have this free will, there is no excuse for the failure to discipline 75 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,560 ourselves or direct our actions. 76 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:16,990 One way to increase our awareness of our own free will is to avoid activities that make 77 00:06:16,990 --> 00:06:22,560 you feel less in control of your life, for example to limit the time you spend on social 78 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:28,080 media, which is a real distraction and constantly makes you feel like you need to measure-up 79 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,830 to an impossible standard. 80 00:06:30,830 --> 00:06:35,020 Another thing can be to limit the number of people who can disturb you with unimportant 81 00:06:35,020 --> 00:06:39,680 requests like the colleague at work who comes to chat with you all the time, even when you 82 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,950 both have more important things to do. 83 00:06:41,950 --> 00:06:46,830 You need to start saying no more often, to protect your time. 84 00:06:46,830 --> 00:06:50,950 Taking control of your attention and of your time by saying no to people or events who 85 00:06:50,950 --> 00:06:55,810 disturb you would help you to become more aware of the power that you have to control 86 00:06:55,810 --> 00:07:03,560 your life, to decide how you spend your time and energy. 87 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,730 Strengthen your moral principles 88 00:07:06,730 --> 00:07:14,080 Aristotle says: “Freedom is obedience to self-formulated rules.” 89 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:19,590 Self discipline is not only useful when you pursue a goal, but also when you try to adopt 90 00:07:19,590 --> 00:07:23,970 certain moral behaviors and respect your life principles. 91 00:07:23,970 --> 00:07:29,210 According to Aristotle, a moral behavior is the behavior which allows individuals to hold 92 00:07:29,210 --> 00:07:35,940 themselves in a stable equilibrium of the soul, in order to choose the action knowingly. 93 00:07:35,940 --> 00:07:38,870 Aristotle said that we are the sum of all of our actions. 94 00:07:38,870 --> 00:07:44,810 It is not enough to think moral thoughts and have the right mentality, you need to also 95 00:07:44,810 --> 00:07:50,920 act according to those moral thoughts, to embody in real life the right moral principles 96 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:53,620 that you intend to follow. 97 00:07:53,620 --> 00:07:58,540 Aristotle believed that only when we have self discipline would we be able to behave 98 00:07:58,540 --> 00:08:04,380 in the way we intend to behave, to follow our own rules of conduct. 99 00:08:04,380 --> 00:08:09,410 If you give in to any temptation that may come into your life, you will fail to live 100 00:08:09,410 --> 00:08:14,870 a virtuous life, which is a fulfilling life according to Aristotle. 101 00:08:14,870 --> 00:08:20,570 You will thus become a slave to your emotions, your environment, and to the people around 102 00:08:20,570 --> 00:08:24,590 you who come to you with all these requests. 103 00:08:24,590 --> 00:08:29,590 The most vulnerable people who cannot resist temptations and cannot follow their own moral 104 00:08:29,590 --> 00:08:36,390 principles in life are those who guide themselves in life only by seeking pleasure, those who 105 00:08:36,390 --> 00:08:41,260 can’t say no to the requests of others or those who follow only their self interest 106 00:08:41,260 --> 00:08:45,990 and grab any opportunity which comes their way, not considering the effects of their 107 00:08:45,990 --> 00:08:48,830 actions on other people. 108 00:08:48,830 --> 00:08:55,060 Those people would never be free, they will be slaves to pleasure, to other people or 109 00:08:55,060 --> 00:08:57,500 to money and fame. 110 00:08:57,500 --> 00:09:02,090 While most of us have good intentions and we know in general what constitutes good and 111 00:09:02,090 --> 00:09:08,610 bad behavior, we often lack a solid set of moral rules and a method to help us to follow 112 00:09:08,610 --> 00:09:10,080 them in real life. 113 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:15,400 To free yourself and develop your self control, you need to consider deeply what those moral 114 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,400 rules you want to adopt in life would be. 115 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:22,330 You may discover that you would prefer to advance in your career without stepping on 116 00:09:22,330 --> 00:09:27,560 other people, that you don’t want to lie, that you want to be a reliable person. 117 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:34,370 Then, you need to remember these principles every day and, before any major decision, 118 00:09:34,370 --> 00:09:37,860 make sure you follow your own moral guidelines. 119 00:09:37,860 --> 00:09:41,700 Following your own rules is a prerequisite of having self discipline. 120 00:09:41,700 --> 00:09:46,690 If you cannot follow your own moral code, it means you have no self discipline and you 121 00:09:46,690 --> 00:09:52,180 will have no freedom. 122 00:09:52,180 --> 00:09:54,690 Overcome your desires 123 00:09:54,690 --> 00:10:01,340 Aristotle tells us “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than he who conquers 124 00:10:01,340 --> 00:10:07,240 his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.” 125 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:12,070 Many philosophers in the past emphasized the idea that the biggest victory is to conquer 126 00:10:12,070 --> 00:10:13,770 yourself. 127 00:10:13,770 --> 00:10:19,430 Even the most rational people among us sometimes give in to their irrational impulses, acting 128 00:10:19,430 --> 00:10:23,130 on their initial impulses and desires. 129 00:10:23,130 --> 00:10:30,390 It is impossible to always be completely unbiased, and this shapes our behavior over time. 130 00:10:30,390 --> 00:10:35,060 Being one of the greatest philosophers in history, Aristotle gave us a lot of insight 131 00:10:35,060 --> 00:10:36,410 into human nature. 132 00:10:36,410 --> 00:10:41,779 At one point in his life, he was the tutor of Alexander The Great, the famous conqueror 133 00:10:41,779 --> 00:10:46,990 who built one of the greatest empires in the world, stretching from Greece to northwestern 134 00:10:46,990 --> 00:10:48,420 India. 135 00:10:48,420 --> 00:10:53,240 He taught Alexander the Great how to be in control of his desires. 136 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:58,030 While many of men and kings at that time were attracted towards the typical extravagances 137 00:10:58,030 --> 00:11:05,660 - food, sex, gaining wealth, etc., Alexander could control his low level impulses and focus 138 00:11:05,660 --> 00:11:13,370 on his main goals: To extend the empire and make a name for himself in history. 139 00:11:13,370 --> 00:11:18,730 Aristotle considered that we are moved to action only when we have a desire to get or 140 00:11:18,730 --> 00:11:20,340 achieve something. 141 00:11:20,340 --> 00:11:26,310 However, while the impulse for an action may come from desire, for human beings desire 142 00:11:26,310 --> 00:11:29,190 is not the only motive we act on. 143 00:11:29,190 --> 00:11:34,060 People are usually convinced that the action they want to take is good by nature. 144 00:11:34,060 --> 00:11:39,360 So how can we reconcile this fact with Aristotle’s seemingly opposing view? 145 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,540 Let’s look at donating to charity. 146 00:11:42,540 --> 00:11:48,430 At face-value, we do not appear to get anything from this transaction, hence the term donation, 147 00:11:48,430 --> 00:11:53,440 however knowing we helped others in need, our brain rewards us for our altruism with 148 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:58,880 a cocktail of feel-good chemicals that are of immense benefit to our mental wellbeing. 149 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:05,070 Thus, even the most altruistic action still has desire and self interest at its core. 150 00:12:05,070 --> 00:12:11,330 For Aristotle, desire and reason work together before we decide to engage in a particular 151 00:12:11,330 --> 00:12:12,660 action. 152 00:12:12,660 --> 00:12:17,550 The more reason and moral judgment are involved in the decision process, the more moral and 153 00:12:17,550 --> 00:12:20,700 effective our decision would be. 154 00:12:20,700 --> 00:12:25,160 When we do something against the “right rule”, or in other words, against ethical 155 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:31,650 principles, we commit “akrasia”, which is a term used by Aristotle to define such 156 00:12:31,650 --> 00:12:37,050 situations, and Aristotle considered we should avoid akrasia, as it is something that affects 157 00:12:37,050 --> 00:12:41,200 our goal to achieve eudaimonia, a fulfilling life. 158 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:47,020 Our biggest enemies are not outside, they are inside us. 159 00:12:47,020 --> 00:12:52,190 When the enemy is outside, it is easier to defeat it, but our uncontrolled desires might 160 00:12:52,190 --> 00:12:54,940 be impossible to face. 161 00:12:54,940 --> 00:13:00,220 When we fulfill one desire, another desire comes up, in an infinite loop. 162 00:13:00,220 --> 00:13:05,380 When we care only about our basic materialistic needs, about the basic physical pleasures 163 00:13:05,380 --> 00:13:12,420 like comfort, food, money and sex, we will never be fulfilled, we will always want more 164 00:13:12,420 --> 00:13:16,890 and we will ignore the ethical principles that should guide our life. 165 00:13:16,890 --> 00:13:21,620 For example, when all you care about is money, you would fight heavily for a promotion at 166 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:26,310 work, betraying your colleagues and using lies to impress your boss. 167 00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:31,640 Or, if you have a goal to become an expert in your field, but you value comfort and personal 168 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:37,490 time too much, you will fail to spend the time to gain more expertise in your field. 169 00:13:37,490 --> 00:13:42,529 Instead of studying an online class, you will just start binge watching TV when you come 170 00:13:42,529 --> 00:13:44,940 home after a hard day of work. 171 00:13:44,940 --> 00:13:50,460 To have a fulfilling life, with integrity, peace of mind and the achievement of worthy 172 00:13:50,460 --> 00:13:54,940 goals, you need to learn to control your desires. 173 00:13:54,940 --> 00:14:00,560 You can do that by involving more reason and moral judgment in your daily life decisions, 174 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:05,000 making sure the actions you take are inspired by moral values. 175 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,529 If you succeed in doing that, you will be highly respected by your peers and you will 176 00:14:09,529 --> 00:14:14,530 be viewed as a person with a high level of self discipline. 177 00:14:14,530 --> 00:14:19,390 Be temperate in your reactions 178 00:14:19,390 --> 00:14:25,000 In the words of Aristotle: “We praise a man who feels angry on the right grounds and 179 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:30,550 against the right persons and also in the right manner at the right moment and for the 180 00:14:30,550 --> 00:14:33,890 right length of time.” 181 00:14:33,890 --> 00:14:38,279 To control our reactions takes a lot of self discipline. 182 00:14:38,279 --> 00:14:43,210 According to Aristotle, the best way to keep our reactions in control is to try to become 183 00:14:43,210 --> 00:14:44,380 more temperate. 184 00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:49,490 Thus, regarding the way we respond to the external world, temperance is the key to having 185 00:14:49,490 --> 00:14:51,590 more self discipline. 186 00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:55,200 Aristotle proposed following the mean between the extremes. 187 00:14:55,200 --> 00:15:01,779 For example, courage is the mean between fear and arrogance or extreme confidence. 188 00:15:01,779 --> 00:15:06,330 In the same way, when we feel a lot of anger towards something which is unjust, we need 189 00:15:06,330 --> 00:15:11,820 to be careful and measure our anger appropriately for that particular situation. 190 00:15:11,820 --> 00:15:16,140 If someone stole your lunch from the office refrigerator, you probably would not respond 191 00:15:16,140 --> 00:15:22,140 with violence, but rather would just scold that person a bit. 192 00:15:22,140 --> 00:15:29,420 Aristotle divided the people into four temperament categories: the temperate - sôphrôn - who 193 00:15:29,420 --> 00:15:36,149 act correctly, in a temperate manner, without any remorse or struggle, the restrained -enkratês 194 00:15:36,149 --> 00:15:41,070 - who acts correctly, in a temperate manner, but struggle with taking the right decision 195 00:15:41,070 --> 00:15:47,920 as the right actions come after an inner fight within itself, the unrestrained or akratês 196 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:53,940 - who judge the situation correctly, but fails to act correctly, letting their passions overcome 197 00:15:53,940 --> 00:16:01,650 their judgments and the intemperate - akolastos - who fail to judge or act correctly, in a 198 00:16:01,650 --> 00:16:04,110 temperate manner. 199 00:16:04,110 --> 00:16:09,310 The ideal case is to be temperate and we should strive to reach this stage. 200 00:16:09,310 --> 00:16:13,580 There are times when a restrained person would appear to be temperate, but there will be 201 00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:17,230 situations when they will not react in the correct way. 202 00:16:17,230 --> 00:16:23,120 They may be virtuous in some areas, but they will fail in others, because they didn’t 203 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,070 train enough to be able to apply moral judgment to all areas of their lives. 204 00:16:28,070 --> 00:16:33,390 Meanwhile, the temperate person succeeds in aligning what their soul desires with what 205 00:16:33,390 --> 00:16:35,190 is morally right. 206 00:16:35,190 --> 00:16:40,110 However, if we are at the restrained level, then it is not that difficult to jump from 207 00:16:40,110 --> 00:16:42,680 being restrained to being temperate. 208 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,560 It’s just a case of adopting the right habits. 209 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:51,480 By doing the right actions repeatedly, we would automate those actions, and therefore 210 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,960 would not need to struggle so much with our impulses to behave otherwise. 211 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:59,410 In time, we normalize those good actions. 212 00:16:59,410 --> 00:17:05,249 A temperate person is the real virtuous person, as for them, their passions or desires no 213 00:17:05,249 --> 00:17:09,850 longer conflict with their reasoning faculties. 214 00:17:09,850 --> 00:17:15,650 In contrast to restrained and temperate people, the unrestrained and intemperate people are 215 00:17:15,650 --> 00:17:21,129 not capable of acting in a correct and temperate manner, letting their desires overtake them. 216 00:17:21,129 --> 00:17:26,850 As far as Aristotle was concerned, while the unrestrained feel regret after acting badly 217 00:17:26,850 --> 00:17:31,919 and are able to change their character through self discipline, the intemperate person is 218 00:17:31,919 --> 00:17:32,919 incurable. 219 00:17:32,919 --> 00:17:37,059 They feel an immense amount of pain when they cannot fulfill their desires. 220 00:17:37,059 --> 00:17:42,799 For example, an intemperate people might desire an entire chocolate cake and suffer if they 221 00:17:42,799 --> 00:17:48,049 don’t get it, while temperate people might desire just a slice of cake and even then, 222 00:17:48,049 --> 00:17:51,220 would not suffer if they could not have it. 223 00:17:51,220 --> 00:17:55,850 Thus, temperate people are less prone to give in to desire, as they experience a lesser 224 00:17:55,850 --> 00:18:00,440 degree of discomfort when they don’t have their desires fulfilled. 225 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:06,249 The key to self discipline regarding the way we react both to pleasure and pain is temperance, 226 00:18:06,249 --> 00:18:11,429 which can be achieved if we train our minds to apply more reasoning to daily life, by 227 00:18:11,429 --> 00:18:16,989 adopting the right habits and by adopting a more indifferent attitude towards pleasure 228 00:18:16,989 --> 00:18:19,490 and pain. 229 00:18:19,490 --> 00:18:24,950 Practice self discipline daily 230 00:18:24,950 --> 00:18:31,769 Aristotle teaches us: “We become just by the practice of just actions, self-controlled 231 00:18:31,769 --> 00:18:38,580 by exercising self-control, and courageous by performing acts of courage.” 232 00:18:38,580 --> 00:18:44,950 As mentioned earlier, the path from a restrained to a temperate person is found by practicing 233 00:18:44,950 --> 00:18:48,549 the right habits, in accordance with moral judgment. 234 00:18:48,549 --> 00:18:55,090 A habit is by definition an action that we do regularly, in a near-automatic, subconscious 235 00:18:55,090 --> 00:18:56,090 manner. 236 00:18:56,090 --> 00:19:01,929 For Aristotle, a habit is an acquired disposition to perform a certain type of action. 237 00:19:01,929 --> 00:19:05,440 He classified habits into three categories: 238 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,860 theoretical habits which are related to learning; behavioral habits which are about controlling 239 00:19:10,860 --> 00:19:16,559 a certain action in spite of emotions ; and technical habits that are related to developing 240 00:19:16,559 --> 00:19:20,249 new skills to perform certain actions 241 00:19:20,249 --> 00:19:25,659 One important theory in the philosophy of Aristotle is that none of our moral virtues 242 00:19:25,659 --> 00:19:30,350 come naturally, that we need to work on them by adopting certain habits. 243 00:19:30,350 --> 00:19:35,260 For example, to become a moral person, we need theoretical habits to acquire the proper 244 00:19:35,260 --> 00:19:40,850 knowledge, including what good and bad means, and what is and is not moral. 245 00:19:40,850 --> 00:19:46,619 We need behavioral habits to control how we react - the more temperate, the better - and 246 00:19:46,619 --> 00:19:51,610 we need technical habits to develop the right skills to give our contribution to society 247 00:19:51,610 --> 00:19:53,659 and to provide to our families. 248 00:19:53,659 --> 00:20:00,450 For Aristotle, a good life works by living a life of automatic routines, which means 249 00:20:00,450 --> 00:20:05,659 practicing the right routines, thus minimizing the effort required to think about what to 250 00:20:05,659 --> 00:20:11,919 do next at each stage, the net result of which is a happy, eudaimonic life. 251 00:20:11,919 --> 00:20:17,369 If we want to achieve excellence in any field, we need to think what habits to develop, what 252 00:20:17,369 --> 00:20:21,609 would be the theoretical, behavioral and technical habits. 253 00:20:21,609 --> 00:20:25,659 For example, if you want to lose weight, you need to develop the habit of learning the 254 00:20:25,659 --> 00:20:31,179 best way to lose weight, reading relevant materials regarding what food regime to adopt, 255 00:20:31,179 --> 00:20:35,279 what exercises are the most efficient in reducing weight, etc. 256 00:20:35,279 --> 00:20:40,659 Then, you need to develop the habit to control your behavior, to say no when your friends 257 00:20:40,659 --> 00:20:44,679 or family urge you to take a piece of a delicious looking birthday cake. 258 00:20:44,679 --> 00:20:50,340 Or developing the technical habit of exercise, you need to know what kind of specific movements 259 00:20:50,340 --> 00:20:53,389 to perform at each workout session. 260 00:20:53,389 --> 00:20:58,360 People who follow certain daily habits will eventually become more self disciplined as 261 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,669 they will be able to avoid distractions and they will have more control over their own 262 00:21:02,669 --> 00:21:05,669 life and of the direction they are going. 263 00:21:05,669 --> 00:21:11,330 Performing the right habits daily can transform you into a more self-disciplined person, helping 264 00:21:11,330 --> 00:21:17,419 you become more fulfilled in life and able to achieve your most ambitious and worthy 265 00:21:17,419 --> 00:21:19,649 goals. 266 00:21:19,649 --> 00:21:23,669 If you enjoyed this video, please make sure to check out our full philosophies for life 267 00:21:23,669 --> 00:21:29,159 playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical 268 00:21:29,159 --> 00:21:31,710 wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. 269 00:21:31,710 --> 00:21:34,360 Thanks so much for watching.