Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man on earth.
The Emperor of Rome and a Philosopher,
He shared his diary Meditations with us.
10 Stoic Lessons worth your time:
• Power Over Your Mind
Focus on what you can control.
Focus on your circle of influence.
The events that happen outside of this, should not concern you.
Lesson:
Watch Less News
‘You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.’
• Life is Beautiful
We spend so much time in our minds.
We don’t take time to watch the world around us.
Life, in every moment, is beautiful, and this is what we should focus on.
Lesson:
See the World Around You
‘Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.’
• Fix Your Thinking
We are what we think.
Our thinking is flawed.
We can fix our thinking.
When we fix our thinking we can fix our happiness.
Lesson:
Improve the Quality of Your Thoughts
‘The happines of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.’
• Test Information
We hear the news.
We read the headlines.
None of it is the true reality.
We cannot simply accept what we’re told.
We must do the work to ensure the information is real.
Lesson:
Do Your Homework
‘Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.’
• Be a Good Person
Don’t talk about it.
Don’t write about it.
Don’t debate it with others.
Be it.
Be a good person.
Do what a good person does.
Lesson:
Be It. Don’t Talk About It
‘Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.’
• Love Every Moment
To be alive.
Each and every day.
Is a privilege we should be thankful for.
Instead of focusing on the challenges in our lives, focus on our LIVES.
Lessons:
Celebrate Your Life
‘When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love…’
• Live Your Life
We all die.
Not all of us live.
The choice to live, to truly live, is ours.
Lesson:
When You Go Through Your Life, Choose to Live
‘It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.’
• Be Willing to Change
Don’t be stubborn.
Don’t think you have the answers.
Seek to understand what you don’t know.
Be willing to change your mind when you should.
Lesson:
You Don’t Know Everything And Can Change Your Mind
‘If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.’
• What is Your Fault
We aren’t faultless.
What we hate in others is often what we see in us.
What we admire in others is often what we wish we had.
Lesson:
Before Throwing Stones Ensure You Don’t Live in a Glasshouse
‘Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticise?’
• Believe in Yourself
Value your own opinion.
Value it more than that of others.
We should value and believe in ourselves, as we do those we admire.
Lesson:
Your Opinion Counts
‘I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.’
