You Can Do Better Now | The Wake Up

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2:28Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast. Each day we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, illustrated with stories from history, current events, and literature to help you be better at what you do. And at the beginning of the week, we try to do a deeper dive, setting a kind of Stoic intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave you with, to journal about, whatever it is you happen to be doing. So let's get into it.

2:59You can do better now. The business failure, that blown meeting, the marriage that fell apart, those things that didn't go the way you wanted, it's frustrating and it's painful. It's hard to see anything good about it. Surely that's what Hemingway felt when, as we talked about recently, his entire literary output was lost in one unfortunate incident. Don't tell me this is good, he wrote to Ezra Pound. I ain't yet reached the mood. We can imagine. In fact, we know Marcus really felt similarly about the devastating moments in his own life. It's unfortunate that this happened, Marcus writes in one of the passages in Meditations.

3:38He was pitying himself. He was pissed off, but then he corrected himself. No, it's unfortunate, he said, and I've remained unharmed by it, not shattered by the present or frightened of the future. Could have happened to anyone, but not everyone would have remained unharmed by it. Hemingway eventually got in that mood. He started with a clean slate. He started writing again. Within weeks, he was back to fresh material, confident he was heading in a better direction. Later, he would even fictionalize the experience, putting to paper a character who had lost all his work. I could see it already, he has the man say, as you begin to see clearly over the water when a rainstorm lifts on the ocean as the wind carries it out to sea, that I could write a better novel.

4:24In real life, Hemingway was better for the experience he went through. So was the literary world, a fresh new style, a new voice that revolutionized publishing came from it. And the same can be true for us and our obstacles, our mistakes, our accidents. They might not seem good, but we can make them so. You know, funny enough, I'm actually working on that 10-year anniversary edition of The Obstacle is the Way, which won't come out until the fall. But if you haven't read the actual book, you should. I would love for you to read it. You can grab it at the painted porch. I'll sign your copy. We even have the leather-bound edition.

4:58And we have an obstacle is the way pendant that a lot of people wear that you might like. And there's, of course, the obstacle is the way challenge coin. I think the idea is that it's, we need the reminders. We've got to get to that mood, right? We've got to get to that place. It takes work. We know in retrospect, these things that challenge us change us, but it's so easy to forget that, to lose sight of all of that in the moments of despair and frustration. That's what Hemingway is doing. That's why I added the story now to the new edition of The Obstacles Away, which I hope to bring you soon.

5:29But in the meantime, check out the Obstacles of the Way book or grab the challenge coin. I'll link to both of those in today's show notes or just go to store.dailystoic.com.

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7:06the wake up each morning when you sit with the journal and think about stoicism you are following in the footsteps of epictetus marcus aurelius and all the other great stoics the stoics did not face each day on a whim, but instead with preparation and discipline. They spent real time thinking and anticipating what was to come over the course of a day, of a week, and of a year. Each morning activity, including journaling, including listening to this podcast, anything you do in the morning for the Stoic is designed to make you ready to face the day and as you work, and you can be ready for the day as well.

7:44Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning. What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion? What for tranquility? What am I? A mere body, an estate holder, a reputation? None of these things. What then? A rational being. What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions. How did I steer away from serenity? What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial and uncaring. What did I fail to do in all these things? That's from Epictetus' Discourses 4.6. On those mornings when you struggle with getting up, keep this thought in mind. I am awakening to the work of a human being. Why then am I annoyed that I was going to do what I am made for, for the very things for which I was put into this world?

8:27Was I made for this, to snuggle under the covers and keep warm? It's so pleasurable. What then were you made for pleasure, in short, to be coddled or to exert yourself. That's from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations 5.1. I think maybe the first passage, it really hit me in meditations. Anyway, this idea of owning the morning, starting the day off right is really so important. There's that expression, what is well begun is half done. And I think, I don't know when you're listening to this, obviously, I hope it's in the morning. Maybe it's on your commute. Maybe it's as you brushing your teeth or you've got it on a Sonos player or something, you're walking around your house.

9:05The point is how you start the day is really important for me, as I've said before, that my number one rule in the morning is I, as I don't, uh, I don't check my phone. I don't sleep with my phone in the room, sleep in, sleep with it in the kitchen plugged in. Uh, so, you know, when I go to bed like 10, uh, 11, and then when I wake up, you know, six or seven, um, that's a, that's a good chunk of time without the phone first and foremost. And then I, my wife usually gets up before our new routine is my wife wakes up before she goes upstairs, she works. I get up with the kids. I give them the snack, put on their jackets because it's been cold in Austin.

9:42And then we go, go for our walk out on the road by our house. We go for this walk, depending on how light or foggy it is, it might change the route. And so I don't want to get hit by a car, but we usually do about three miles. And then we come back, give them their breakfast. My wife is showering or on the Peloton or maybe she's cooked breakfast for them and whatever. I go back into the bedroom. I sit down with my journals, including the Daily Stoic Journal, which the passage I just read is from. And then I do my sort of thinking. So the Daily Stoic Journal is supposed to be, you do a morning reflection and evening reflection.

10:18Just because I've been busy lately, I typically I'll do the morning reflection. Sorry, I'll do the evening reflection in the morning. So I'll reflect on how I did with the thing I was thinking about yesterday. And then I sort of set my intention for the day as well. And so what I like about the journal is just the questions, right? So I'm reading this. I do these a little bit before, but so let's see what today's question was. I'm recording this on the, I guess today's the 23rd. So today's question was, if I relaxed my tight grip on life, what would happen? So I'm taking a minute. I'm just thinking about, you know, what am I trying to control too hard?

10:58What do I, what am I trying to force? What can I let go of? And then yesterday's was about what wisdom will I create? So I was sort of reflecting on what I'm learning, what I'm pushing myself on, what I'm thinking about. So it's just, you know, it's just a wonderful little part of the morning. And it's, it's been an integral part of my day. Epictetus is every day and night, keep thoughts like these at hand, write them, read them aloud, talk to yourself and others about them. That's what stoicism is, this sort of interplay, this engaging with the material and re-engaging it. Epictetus, I love all the questions he's asking himself.

11:32What am I lacking? What's disrupting my tranquility? What am I? Who am I? What's demanded of me? He's reminding himself to meditate on his actions. He's looking at how he steered away from serenity. What did he do wrong? Where did he fall short? Where did he fail? And so if you can start your morning with some of this reflection, it's really important. And I'm glad you're listening to this. But as we sort of wrapped up the year, it's not that one-way conversation. It's not the Stoics talking to you. It's not my writing talking to you. It's not the self-improvement books you're reading. It's not the podcast you're listening to.

12:07It should also be what are you putting out there? What are you asking yourself? What are you thinking about? That's how we improve. That's how we grow. And I think that's a great habit for the year. So if you're not journaling, you should. If you are journaling, I would push you to sort of ask yourself these questions. But then I'd also just make sure you have some of that time for that sort of stillness and reflection and contemplation in the morning. And make sure you're asking yourself questions in the morning. I think even the walk that I'm doing, I'm thinking about stuff. My mind is engaged.

12:40and that's what helps me kick off a great day. And as we said, what's well begun is half done. So let's get out there. I wish you a great morning, whatever time zone you're in. I hope 2021 is off to a good start for you and looking forward to connecting with you over the next 12 months and making this a great year.

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