MONDAY & THURSDAY: FOCUS ON WHAT WE CAN CONTROL

A RADICAL REALIGNMENT OF YOUR VALUES AS YOU WORK TO DESIRE ONLY WHAT IS WITHIN YOUR COMPLETE CONTROL. REDIRECTING YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS WAY WILL FREE YOU FROM CHASING AFTER THINGS THAT DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR HAPPINESS.

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INSPIRATION

• "If you never get what you want, you will never be happy, and if you run into what you've been trying to avoid, you will lose whatever happiness you have." - Epictetus

• "The only possession the wise person has is virtue, and of this they can never be robbed. Of all else it is merely on loan." - Seneca

• "It is impossible that happiness, and yearning for what is not present, should ever be united." - Epictetus

• "People try to get away from it all - mountains, beach and country. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within." - Marcus Aurelius

• "Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions - not outside." - Marcus Aurelius

• "If we fall victim to a catastrophe, we can still take delight in the fact that it has not, because of our character, made us bitter." - Marcus Aurelius

• "Remember that our efforts are subject to circumstances, your weren't aiming to do the impossible. Aiming do to what then? To try. And you succeeded." - Marcus Aurelius

• "But if you suppose that only to your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you." - Epictetus

• "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." - von Moltke

• "If you are sad, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are happy, you are living in the present." - Lao Tzu

• "Emotions are self-imposed. All thoughts are accompanied by emotions." - J

• "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man." - Heraclitus

• "The art of progress is to preserve order amid change, and to preserve change amid order. Life refuses to be embalmed alive." - Alfred North

• "Stop creating Time." - Eckhart Tolle

• "Problems are mind-made and need time to survive. They cannot survive in the actuality of Now. Focus your attention on the Now and tell me what problem you have at this moment." -Eckhart Tolle

• "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn

• "In life, we can't always control the first arrow. The second arrow is our reaction to the first. The second arrow is optional." - Buddha

• "Do not ask what you want out of life. Ask what life wants from you." - David Brooks

• "When you are reactive you become dependent on the actions of others." - Mingyur Rinpoche

• "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." - AA Serenity Prayer

• "Your heart shouldn't be getting harder as you go." - Ryan Holiday

• "Problems are easier to solve at the beginning. Rivers are easiest to cross at their source." - Publilius Syrus

• "Thoughts are thinking are separate things. You can't control thoughts but you can control thinking about thoughts."

• "The word was acceptance. I'd heard the word so many times in meetings before, but this time I really thought about it. that I was an alcoholic, and, lo and behold, that an alcoholic can't drink successfully. Alcohol was not my solution; it was my problem."

• A man wants to walk across the land, but the earth is covered with thorns. He has two options - one is to pave his road, to tame all of nature into his compliance. The other is to make sandals. - Indian parable

TOOLS

• Categorizing Items: Learn to categorize things into these buckets: (1) Complete control, (2) Some control and (3) No control.

• Reflection of Character: Your character (living with virtue), not events, is under your complete control.

• Circle the present: Only allow yourself to think about the present and you have no power over future and past. Mark off its limits.

• It was Returned: When something is lost think that it simply was returned. 

• The Reserve Clause: Understand that you can't control external events. Commit to action but say "if nothing prevents it."

• Archer: As you aim for a just outcome, realize that what you control are your intentions and the actions that come from them.

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TUESDAY & FRIDAY: DELIBERATE ACTIONS & COURAGE

WHAT OUGHT OR OUGHT NOT TO BE DONE. TAKE DELIBERATE, REASONED ACTIONS THAT LEAD TO GOOD FLOW IN LIFE. DO NOT ACCEPT FIRST THOUGHTS AND CHOOSE ONLY HEALTHY THOUGHTS, OPINIONS AND DESIRES. WHAT OUGHT OR OUGHT NOT BE TOLERATED. MASTERY OVER FEARS. BE THE BEST IN EVERY SITUATION AND MAKE THE BEST OF EVERY SITUATION. ENDURANCE AND CONFIDENCE.

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INSPIRATION

• "Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore." - André Gide

• "We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out." - Teddy Roosevelt

• "At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: 'I have to go to work - as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for. Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?" - Marcus Aurelius

• "For every challenge, remember the resources you have within you to cope with it." - Epictetus

• "Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are." - Teddy Roosevelt

• "Learn to ask of all actions, 'Why are they doing that?' Starting with your own." - Marcus Aurelius

• "A virtuous individual is one who performs well the function for which humans were designed (reason)." - Zeno

• "Not, this is a misfortune but to bear this worthily is good fortune" - Marcus Aurelius

• "Don't panic before the picture of your entire life. Don't dwell on all the troubles you've faced or have yet to face. As yourself as each trouble comes: What is so unbearable or unmanageable in this?" - Marcus Aurelius

• "When you do a thing because you have determined that it ought to be done, never avoid being seen doing it, even if the opinion of the multitude is going to condemn you." - Epictetus

• "Excellence withers without adversity." - Seneca

• "Pursuing great work is often terrifying. Ego soothes that fear...tells us what we want to hear and when." - Ryan Holiday

• "Man is pushed by drives but pulled by values." - Viktor Frankl

• "When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitable triumph?" - Ryan Holiday

• "Action requires courage, not brashness - not brute force." - Ryan Holiday

• "Persist and resist." - Epictetus

• "Behind mountains are more mountains." - Haitan proverb

• "If you can see the river you are out of the river." - Yongey Rinpoche

• "The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." - Benjamin Disraeli

• "Don´t pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men." - JFK

• "I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well." - Theodore Roosevelt

• "The battle is in your mind." - Brandon Webb

• "Give yourself the power of choosing how to respond in a challenging situation, rather than just reacting from your unconscious desires and inclinations." - Daniel J. Siegel

• "If at the critical moment you don´t go all in, the odds of achieving the dreams go from low to zero." - Jim Collins

• "The cowards never started and the weak died along the way - that leaves us." - old saying about those who founded Oregon

• "For the only safe harbour in this life's tossing, troubled sea is to refuse to be bothered about what the future will bring and stand ready and confident , squaring the beast to take without skulking or flinching whatever fortune hurls at us." - Seneca

• "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved." - Helen Keller

• "Self-esteem is the reputation you have with yourself." - Nathaniel Branden

• "The fact that people don't like you is proof that you are living in freedom and in accordance to your principles." - Kishimi

• "Who is the one person in the world you have the greatest power over? Your future self. You hold that life in your hands, and what it will be depends on how you care for it." - Richard Hanson

• "The ones who pioneered these paths aren't our masters, but our guides." - Seneca

• "Remember that good would not have a taste without hunger; results are meaningless without effort, joy without sadness, convictions without uncertainty, and an ethical life isn't so when stripped of personal risks." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

• "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." - Carl Jung

• "The key is to dig the well before you are thirsty."

• "Intellectualizing about our problems is complex but easy, while doing something about them is simple but difficult." - Abraham Low

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TOOLS

• Internal Goals: For things we have some control on we should internalize the goals we form with respect to them.

• Resourcefulness: Is there a better way I could achieve the desired result?

• Deconstruction: When something overwhelms you try to strip away any personal and irrational feelings and describe it in its most basic physical components. Now think of the rational next step.

• Last Time Meditation: Imagine that this will be last time you do something. One day it will be true.

• Bracketing: Bracket the initial impression, separate it from everything else and look at the event clearly.

• Two Missions: Remember to live life, challenges and all, but with the ultimate goal of being happy.

• Life-is-a-Book: Your goal is to make sure that no matter when your editor publishes your "novel" it will stand as a complete work.

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WEDNESDAY & SUNDAY: POSITIVE THOUGHTS & INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS

RELATES TO YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE. THE  AIM IS TO SEEK HEALTHY, POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH EVERYONE YOU MEET, EVEN KNOWING OTHERS MAY NOT RECIPROCATE. CONCERNS YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE. LEARN TO SEPARATE YOUR INITIAL REACTIONS AND EMOTIONS FROM YOUR FINAL JUDGEMENTS ABOUT THE WORLD. YOU REFUSE TO WALK DOWN MENTAL PATHS THAT LEAD TO NEGATIVITY, INSTEAD EVALUATING YOUR THOUGHTS IN ORDER TO ALIGN WITH WISDOM. WHAT OUGHT OR OUGHT NOT BE DISTRIBUTED. MORALITY AND YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS. HONESTY, EQUITY, GOODWILL, KINDNESS AND FAIR-DEALING.

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INSPIRATION

• "Son, our minds are like movie screens. There is no reason except a stupid one for anybody to project on that screen anything that will worry him or dull that vital edge. After all, we are the absolute bosses of that whole theatre and show in our minds. We even write the script. So always write positive, dynamic scripts and show only the best movies for your." - Iceberg Slim

• "People feel disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them." - Epictetus

• "The people I will meet today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. But I have seen the beauty of good." -Marcus Aurelius

• "These two things must be cut away: fear of the future and the memory of past sufferings." - Seneca

• "True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. The greatest blessings of humankind are within us and within our reach." - Seneca

• "The best plan is to reject straightaway the first incentives to anger, to resist its very beginning: for once it begins to carry us away, it is hard to get back again into a healthy condition." - Seneca

• "The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing." - Marcus Aurelius

• "Getting mad is a reaction, being angry is a state of mind." - Daily Stoic

• "No plague has cost the human race more (anger)." - Seneca

• "He who is running a race ought to endeavor and strive to the utmost of his ability to come of victor; but it is utterly wrong for him to trip up his competitor" - Chrysippus

• "We are made for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth." - Marcus Aurelius

• "If you have been told that someone speaks ill of you, do not defend yourself: instead reply, 'if they knew the rest of my faults they wouldn't have mentioned only those." - Epictetus

• "The wise are self-sufficient. Nevertheless, they desire friends, neighbors and associates." - Seneca

• "Not give in to adversity, never trust prosperity and always take full note of Fortune's habit of behaving as she pleases." - Seneca

• "Satan - if he exists - probably realizes that a hell in which setbacks are possible is more hellish than on in which they aren´t" - William Irvine

• "The narcissistically inclined live in an 'unwalled city' with a fragile sense of self." - Epictetus

• "We often choose the ominous explanation over the simple one, to our detriment" - Pericles regarding the eclipse

• "Don´t mix up the destination with the vehicle you use to get there."

• "If you believe life comes down to a single hand, of course, you can easily lose. But if you see life as a series of hands, and if you play each hand the best you can, there´s a huge compounding effect." - Jim Collins

• "A fundamental aspect of Stoic psychology is that value exists only in our head. Things in and of themselves are not desirable." - Massimo Pigliucci

• "Don't share your troubles with other people. 80% will not care and the other 20% are kind of glad you've got them." - Ed Foreman

• "Remember what your grandmother said: 'You are the only one who's worried about how you look'." - Kishimi

• "Pessimists view bad events as pervasive, permanent and uncontrollable. Optimists view bad events as local, temporary and changeable." - Martin Seligman

• "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison." - Nelson Mandela

• "Stop comparing your insides with someone else's outside." [on social media envy]

• "Character is the main object of education. The purpose of this institution is to turn young men who were acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck." - J.F. Roxburgh

TOOLS

• Avoid Pessimistic Explanatory Styles: Personal Internal vs. External Circumstances ("I´m insecure" vs. "I grew up in poverty"), Permanent vs. Temporary ("I´m always failing" vs. "I was tired today") and Pervasive Specific vs. Universal ("All teachers are unfair" vs. "Prof Seligman is unfair.").

• The View from Above: Close your eyes and picture yourself from above. Understand that the world isn't focused on you. Find peace in the world and in your small part of it.

• "Your are just an appearance": Whenever an overwhelming thought or value judgment appears in your mind, pause and repeat this line.

• Circle yourself: Free yourself from outer influences so you can chose the best action for you.

• Retrospective negative visualization: Imagine never having had that which you just lost.

• This is Nothing to Me: Whenever anything takes up to much mental space or causing anxiety, think "this is nothing to me."

• Anger damage: Reflect that anger invariably lasts longer than the damage done to us.

• Negative Visualization: Periodically reflect on losing the companionship of those you love.

• Festival!: When you are with many you shouldn't call it a crowd, our trouble, but festival and company.

• It seemed so to them: Give the benefit of the doubt and think they are doing what they think is best.

• Emotional Conflict: "What personal or professional conflict are you trying to avoid?"

• Stoic Test: After a setback you have 5 seconds to declare it a Stoic test.

• Decatastrophizing: When you are stressed, don't exaggerate using vivid emotional words. Think instead objectively and switch from What if? to So What?

• 4-Behaviors of Optimism: (1) Look for the good. (2) Seek the valuable lesson in every difficulty. (3) Look for the solution. (4) Think and talk about your goals.

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SATURDAY: MODERATION

WHAT OUGHT OR OUGHT NOT TO BE CHOSEN. CONTROL OF YOUR DESIRES. IF YOU ONLY DESIRE VIRTUE, THEN YOU CAN BE REASONABLE IN WHAT YOU WANT AND GENEROUS WITH WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN. APPROPRIATENESS, MODESTY AND SELF-CONTROL.

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INSPIRATION

• "Simply put, the drive to relieve discomfort is the root cause of all our behavior. Even if we think we´re seeking pleasure, we´re actually driven by the desire to free ourselves from the pain of wanting." - Nir Eyal

• "If you have received an impression of any please, guard yourself and create a delay. Then think of the time you will enjoy the pleasure, and the time after, when you will repent and be disappointed with yourself." - Epictetus

• "Eat to live, don't live to eat." - Socrates

• "Would you like to have a great empire? Rule over yourself." - Publilius Syrus

• "The secret to his success was Magellan´s ability to endure hunger better than the other men." - Pigafetta

• "There are two types of pain you will go through in life: the pain of discipline and the pain of regret. Discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons." - Jim Rohn

• "Monkeys are caught because they can´t let go of the coconut." - Brandon Webb

• "Take what you want, said God, and pay for it"  - Spanish proverb

• "Dysfunctional belief: Happiness is having it all. Reframe: Happiness is letting go of what you don't need."

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TOOLS

• Other-self: Imagine having an internal competitor, other-self, that you are trying to beat. As yourself whether you really want this lowly creature, who has never accomplished anything worth of note, running your life.

• Banquet: Picture yourself in a party. How are you going to act? Are you going to grab everything knowing there isn't enough for everyone?

• Impermanence: If you accept things are only yours for a time, then you can be happy you had them while you did and not fall apart when they're gone. If you live as if things are permanent, in a world where that is never true, it will hurt to lose them.

• Deconstruction: "An expensive shoe is just animal skin made to protect your feet. Wine is just fermented grapes."

• Self-denial: Train your body and your mind by occasionally denying yourself comforts and desires.

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RANDOM QUOTES

"Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts."

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1. "The key to happiness is love. The second key is going thru life without pushing that love away."

2. Life is a series of problems we must solve. Don´t be scared by the world problem. There are great problems (i.e. Where should I go on vacation?). Get good and comfortable at solving problems. There is no better way than reading.

3. Frameworks help you summarize/communicate data efficiently and solve problems in an organized way. Lear more  about them and when to apply them.

4. Don´t compare yourself to anyone else. The objective is to be better than you were yesterday. Comfort is not what you seek. 

5. We are animals and have evolved in order to achieve basic needs: food, shelter, etc. Fear stops your cerebral cortex (reasoning) and activates the amygdala (primitive brain). Control fear when you do not need it. 

6. Nothing good comes from lying. Not even if there were good intentions behind it.

7. 1% improvements are better than sudden "miracle" ones that rarely exist. It is easier to go back after a sudden miracle one than to reverse many 1% ones. 

8. Consistency and hard work. There are no overnight successes even if it appears like that. 

9. Grit. Effort counts twice. Talent x effort = skill. Skill x effort = achievement. 

10. Change is difficult. Our brains are designed to be as efficient as possible and will try to make most actions into habits (cue -> craving -> -> action -> reward). Be careful which habits you create. Getting rid of others takes at least 3 months.

11. "Change is difficult at the beginning, messy in the middle and glorious at the end."

12. "It is okay to lose to opponent. Must not lose to fear."

13. Learn mindfulness. Be in the present. Thoughts are like sounds, we can´t control them but can be mindful of them.

14. Have a plan. Be flexible but disciplined.

15. Wake up early.

16. Exercise. Try it in the morning. Willpower is like a muscle, it gets tired throughout the day, 

17. Reflect if you feel frustrated. Many times it is a way for the universe to tell you that your actions are not aligned with who you should be.

18. Teamwork. 1 + 1 = 3

19. At work, don´t compromise processes for $. Processes helps you align people, replicate success and avoid repeating mistakes.

20. Be an autotelic self. Form goals, become immersed in your activities, pay attention and learn to enjoy the immediate experience. Set goals based on what YOU want, not biological evolution or societal norms.  

21. Think about problems, not of problems.

22. "Pick battles big enough to matter but small enough to win."

23. "Can you really be courageous without something to fear? Smart if there are no problems? Disciplined without temptations?"

24. "Satisfaction = what you have ÷ what you want. All of our evolutionary and biological imperatives focus us on increasing the numerator—our haves. But the more significant action is in the denominator—our wants."

25. "Anger. With its honey tip but poison root." - Buddha

26. "When fortune removes its [anger´s] adversary it turns its teeth on itself." - Seneca

27. "Want to have a good day? Simple. Good Day = Do Good Deeds." - Epictetus

28. "The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to his memory is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is very imprudent to walk through life without this shield, because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and the upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however the Fates may play, we march always in the ranks of honour." - Churchill on Chamberlain´s funeral.

29. "People with fixed mindsets are always looking to prove what they have (failures are setbacks). People with growth mindsets see failures as learning opportunities for growth." - Carol Dweck

30. "Treat catastrophic thoughts as if they were uttered by an external person whose mission is to make you feel miserable, and then marshaling evidence against the thoughts." - Martin Seligman

31. "Pessimists suffer twice. Once when they think about it and twice if the event happens." - Amos Tversky

32. "The obstacle on the path becomes the way." - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20

33. "All right! I can work that way, too!" - Terry Roosevelt on the possibility of being in a wheelchair.

34. "A classic sign of addictive behavior is when something not human  starts to supplant human relationships."

35. Things that destroy: money, power, pleasure and honor.

36. What we are looking for in the end are feelings. Things are means to an end, don't confuse one with the other. Feelings don't come from external things but within us.

37. "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin

38. "The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." - JFK

39. "Every man is a bridge, spanning the legacy he inherited and the legacy he passes on." - Terrence Real

40. "No amount of regret changes the past. No amount of anxiety changes the future. Any amount of gratitude changes the present." - Ann Voskamp.

41. "We make purchases similar to people in our social circles, wondering how they are affording it. We rarely consider the fact that they probably can't afford their lifestyle either. It's all backward." - Nate Dallas

42. Ben Franklin's key virtues: temperance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, chastity and humility.

43. 'Nothing stops us from doing that now. We are all here, we have plenty of wine and time enough to talk. We don't need to kill anybody to make that happen." - Cineas points out to Pyrrhus that his ambition to conquer the world makes no sense

44. 'The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.' - Samuel Johnson

45. AMOR VINCIT OMNIA