📚 A&B #130

The Daily Stoic, 20 TED Talks, and more.

February 26, 2023

🙏 Support:

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👋 Hey everyone,

Here are a few popular posts you may have missed:

🤓 Course Update:

Thank you to everyone who responded to last week's email!

I also asked people about their biggest reading problems, here are the top responses:

  • How can I find time to read more books?

  • How should I prioritize what book to read next?

  • What's the best way to take notes while reading a book?

  • How can I reignite my love for reading?

  • How can I create a reading habit and stick to it?

  • How do I stay focused and avoid distractions while reading?

I'll make sure to cover all of these questions and more in the course.

(Once again, if you're interested in the course reply "A" to this email and I'll email you personally when it's available!)

📚 Book Summary:

This week's book is The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.

The Daily Stoic shares 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises that will help you become calmer, wiser, and live a better life. If you want to get into Stoicism or already a fan of it, this book is for you.

Here are 3 key lessons from the book:

📖

1) Never Complain, Never Explain

"Don't allow yourself to be heard any longer griping about public life, not even with your own ears!" –Marcus Aurelius

All of us have things we could complain about, even when things are going well.

Have you ever complained while on vacation or at a fancy dinner? Or maybe you love your job but there are one or two things that really annoy you.

But where does that thinking get you? Nowhere, other than a negative state of mind.

Benjamin Disraeli, a former British prime minister, had a motto of "Never complain, ever explain." He said this because, like Marcus Aurelius, he knew that it's so easy to complain about this or that, but voicing your complaints to yourself or others doesn't accomplish anything–except for spreading negativity.

So when you catch yourself complaining, ask yourself, "Can I change this?" If you can, take action. If not, accept it.

📖

2) You Choose The Outcome

"He was sent to prison. But the observation 'he has suffered evil,' is an addition coming from you." –Epictetus

A valuable Stoic principle to remember is that every event is objective. Meaning we get to decide whether it's good or bad for us.

For instance, a young Malcolm X went to prison for being a criminal. But he chose to make prison a good experience by spending his time reading and studying. He left prison as an educated and motivated man who would help make huge progress in civil rights.

Here's a more personal example: When I was 21 I got into a biking accident and broke my shoulder. This event by itself can be seen as "bad" but since I couldn't play sports I had a lot more free time and spent it building Alex & Books. So I would say my accident was actually a "good" thing (here's the in-depth story).

So remember, you get to choose the outcome of events.

📖

3) Everything Is Always Changing

"Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away. For substance is like a river's unending flow, its activities continually changing and causes infinitely shifting so that almost nothing at all stands still." –Marcus Aurelius

There's a famous metaphor by Heraclitus who said, "No man steps in the same river twice. Because the river has changed, and so has the man."

There are only two options when it comes to change: Be resentful that change is happening and try to stop it OR accept it and embrace it to better prepare for the future.

For example, a lot of people are worried about all of the changes that AI will bring. We already have AI that can do the work of designers, writers, drivers, and even doctors.

Instead of hoping lawmakers ban AI to prevent it from replacing people, the better option is to figure out how to use AI to maximize your productivity or maybe even how to start a new business using it.

Everything is always changing. Embrace it.

✅ Actionable Advice:

1) The next time you feel the urge to complain, ask yourself: "Can I change this?"

  • If so, take action.

  • If not, accept it.

2) Share a "negative" event that you turned into a "positive" one.

  • Respond to this email with a negative event that you were able to turn into a positive one and I'll share the best ones in next week's email.

3) A few quotes from the book worth reflecting on:

  • “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

  • “If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled—have you no shame in that?”

  • “We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.”

  • “It may take some hard work.But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do.”

  • “Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control.”

  • “Everything is change. Embrace that. Flow with it.”

  • “A degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet mean you’re walking. It’s a start, but hardly sufficient.”

  • “You don’t control the situation, but you control what you think about it.”

📖 Reading Lesson:

⭐️ Weekly Quote:

“There are two ways to be wealthy—to get everything you want or to want everything you have.”

–The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday

Thank you for your support everyone, I'll see you next Sunday!

Read on,

Alex W.

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