Ancient Wisdom

Imagine your ideal self.

To the extent that there’s a gap between who you’re capable of being in any given moment and who are actually being in that moment, you will experience a level of discontent. Regret. Anxiety. Depression.

Deo volente.

One of my favorite gems from the Buddha is this wisdom: “Little by little one becomes evil, as a water pot is filled with water. Little by little one becomes good, as a water pot is filled with water.”

Continuing our theme of Sufi wisdom via the great 13th century Muslim poet Rumi, let’s talk about the ultimate jihad.

In our last +1, we talked about getting really good at recovering from our inevitable glitches.

In our last +1 we talked about Byron Katie’s idea that you can be in one of three businesses: someone else’s business, God’s business or YOUR business.

First: Welcome to our 100th +1. It’s a special milestone. Kinda excited about it. 😃

We’re hitting another exciting milestone in our +1 series today: #200.

In our last +1, we talked about a wise daughter-in-law who planted her seeds and reaped a bountiful harvest.

Here’s another interesting etymological distinction.

Continuing our “What does Aristotle have to say about Optimizing?” theme, let’s chat a little more about HOW Aristotle tells us we can achieve a eudaimonic sense of happiness via “virtuous activity of the soul.”

Do you know where the whole “go the second mile” concept comes from?

Once upon a time, an extraordinary teacher gave a little Sermon on the Mount.

Continuing our old-school theme, let’s move back a couple hundred years before Aristotle, and, according to Google maps, let’s go east about 4,355 miles from Greece to China and spend some time with the great Chinese philosopher Confucius.

In our last +1, we spent time trying to keep up with Confucius and his Optimizing intensity.

While we’re enjoying our time with Confucius, how about we ask him what his #1 tip is for Optimizing?

I hope you enjoyed our time with Confucius.

The other day as I was driving to the mountain for my sunrise Trail work, I passed an ambulance in front of a house and saw two paramedics draping a gurney. It was obvious they were getting the gurney ready and that, very shortly, someone would be on that gurney and then in the ambulance.

The other day I was waiting in line at our local grocery store. It’s kinda like a mini-Whole Foods. Note: There were no horses tethered in the parking lot. (Hah.)

With all this talk about sports heroes and scoring touchdowns and winning forever, I think it’s time to remind ourselves that sports simply provide the perfect (over-simplified) context for SPIRITUAL truths.

In our last +1, we spent some time hanging out with my friend Katherine Collins who is, I am quite sure, the only human on the planet who has run a multi-billion dollar mutual fund AND gone to Harvard Divinity School.

In our last couple +1s, we had some fun hanging out with Alexander the Great as we watched him bust out his sword and slice the Gordion Knot in half—fulfilling a legendary prophecy and giving us a metaphor that has endured for millennia.

In our last +1, we got some advice from Seneca. He encouraged us to remember that philosophy “tells all other occupations: ‘It’s not my intention to accept whatever time is leftover from you; you shall have, instead, what I reject.’ Give your whole mind to her.”

In our last +1, Seneca taught us how awesome it is to pursue the straight course to reach the destination where doing the right thing is the thing that gives us the most joy.

A few +1s ago, we posed the question: “How is this making me stronger?”

In our last +1, we got some great marriage advice from the Roman Socrates, Musonius Rufus.

As I was preparing for our Mastery Series Module on Hero-ology (aka: The Study of a Good Hero), I was having fun thinking about how to operationalize Joseph Campbell’s wisdom on the hero’s journey.

The other day I ran into my friend Michael on the Trail.

In our last +1, we talked about Jesus, Tolle and You and your House on the Rock.

Confucius is back for a little more wisdom.

Continuing our good times with Confucius, here’s one of the gems from his Analects that has tattooed itself on my brain since I read it a decade ago.

In our last +1, we spent some time with Edward Slingerland who helped us wrap our brains around the Chinese concepts of wu-wei and de.

We’ve all heard of the Golden Rule.

In our last +1, we took a quick trip through the purgatory of the idiot (lol) that is the crowded and busy world of incessant inputs straight to the school of genius which is found at 101 Solitude Lane.

In our last +1, we had fun reflecting on a new ritual Emerson and I are having fun with. It’s been super fun to reflect on ancient Stoic wisdom via Ryan Holiday’s modern medallions. (Thanks, Ryan!)

In our last +1, we talked about how to give advice Seneca-style. Recall that he didn’t do it from a soapbox. He did with the humility of a friend in the hospital bed next to you.

In our last couple +1s, we talked about a couple of ways to reframe life’s lemons into a little more Optimizade.

As we discussed not too long ago, I recently had an epic party with some Stoics.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been having fun hanging out with some Stoics—some modern guys and some ancient ones.

In our last +1, we talked about going deep to serve profoundly.

In our last +1, we hung out with a couple of Zenos—Emerson’s leopard gecko and the founder of Stoicism.

The other day we chatted about my recent staycation with my Stoic friends.

If you haven’t noticed, I can’t quite get enough of Stoic wisdom.

Today we’re going to revisit Ward Farnsworth’s great book The Practicing Stoic.

In our last +1, we talked about Abraham Maslow’s wisdom and the ancient etymology of the word clamor in the context of your capacities clamoring to be used (aka you doing what you’re here to do!).

Skipping the longer philosophical chat about the ethics of being a conqueror, Today we’re going to chat about Alexander the Great.

In our last +1, we talked about Musonius’s thoughts on theory vis-a-vis practice.

Byron Katie wrote a great book called Loving What Is.

In our last +1, we spent some time with Michelangelo—seeing our heroic potential within a block of marble. Then we got out our chisel and started chipping away at the habits that are getting in the way of the best version of ourselves showing up more and more consistently.

In our last +1, we talked about the idea that the siren you might hear today wails for YOU. Then I suggested you actually IMAGINE yourself being put on that gurney at the end of your life.

Viktor Frankl was a remarkable human being.

In our last +1, we reflected on the idea that little (and big) oopses provide us with opportunities to appreciate that we’re still alive as we practice gratitude that something much worse didn’t happen.

As you probably know by this point, I’m a big fan of Stoicism in general and of my favorite living Stoic philosopher Ryan Holiday in particular.

I recently interviewed Donald Robertson. Donald is one of the world’s leading thinkers on Stoicism. He wrote The Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

In our last couple +1s, we retraced my steps through the Heroic Stoic library of wisdom—going from Musonius Rufus’s Lectures and Sayings to Massimo Pigliucci imaginary dialogues with Epictetus’s in How to Be a Stoic.

In our last couple +1s, we had some fun at the hospital with our Stoic friends Seneca and Epictetus.

Continuing our good times with our Stoic friends, how about couple more gems from Seneca and Aurelius?

Not too long ago, we talked about the four cardinal virtues of ancient Stoicism then connected those virtues to the six core virtues of the modern positive psychology movement THEN distilled all those virtues into the four cardinal virtues of Heroic.

In our last +1, we left Zeno the leopard gecko in his terrarium and hung out with Zeno the founder of Stoicism.

Hercules.

In our last +1, we talked about the PM ritual Pythagoras came up with 2,500 years ago (!) that the Stoics liked to follow:

Have you ever had an experience that annoyed you? (Hah.)

In our last +1, we talked about the science of Memento Mori. And, for the courageous among us, we actually walked through the “death” scenario scientists use to create more gratitude in their test subjects.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been getting our riddles on with Ellen Langer.

In her great book Self-Compassion, Kristin Neff shares a little equation that can help us reduce our suffering.

One of the themes we come back to again and again is the basic idea of loving what is — whether that’s via Byron Katie’s wisdom or the Stoics or the Serenity Prayer.

Let’s continue our exploration of the science of gratitude for another moment (or three).

This morning I was out on the Trail enjoying (yet!) another stunningly beautiful Ojai morning.

Somehow we’re approaching Heroic +1 #1,000 and we have yet to discuss one of my favorite Ideas and the very first thing we teach our Heroic Coaches and Mastery Optimizers.

In our last +1, we talked about the fact that when we go after accumulating more and more “stuff” (whether that’s the latest gadgets or Instagram likes), we often find ourselves working harder and harder but not getting any happier.

In our last +1, we chatted about my Gordion knot and the Orison Swett Marden wisdom that most obstacles melt away when we make up our minds to boldly walk through them.

In our last +1, we talked about Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the fact that his word for “happiness” was VERY different than our word.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been talking about the power of Celebration to help us hack our brains to accelerate the process of creating new habits.

In our last +1, we talked about Joseph Campbell’s koan: “What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?”

In our last couple +1s, we’ve chatted about a couple of my favorite ideas from the Mastery series lecture on The Fundies: How to Energize to Optimize and Actualize Virtue-Wise, Peak Performance-Wise, and Spirituality-Wise.

In our last couple +1s, we’ve been hanging out with Emerson, playing the “I Love You!” game and taking a quick look at the story of our world.

Aristotle was born in Greece on the border of Macedonia in 384 BC. His father was the court physician to the Macedonian king. At the age of seventeen, he went to Athens where he studied with Plato in his Academy for TWENTY years until Plato’s death.

Not too long ago, we had fun revisiting some Stoic wisdom as we mined some goodness with a range of books—including Musonius Rufus’s Lectures and Sayings, Donald Robertson’s How to Think Like a Roman Emperor and William B. Irvine’s The Stoic Challenge.

As you know if you’ve been following along, I’m a bit obsessed with Aristotle’s idea that the whole point of life, the ultimate target, the SUMMUM BONUM (the highest good!!) is to have a “good soul”—to be a eudaimōn.

In our last +1, we reminded ourselves of the fact that the ancient Greek word for hero didn’t mean “tough guy” or “killer of bad guys.”

In our last +1, we talked about our ego vis-a-vis our id and superego.

In our last +1, we talked about Mister Rogers’s wisdom on the symphony of life and the wonderful joy of harmonizing our uniqueness with the uniqueness of others.

A couple years ago, we chatted about Aristotle’s Virtuous Mean. Then, a year ago, we dusted off that wisdom and approached it from a slightly different angle in a +1 called Aristotle’s Doctrine of the (Virtuous) Mean.

In our last +1, we talked about Seneca’s take on flexibility.

In our last +1, we met an enraged Mister Rogers channeling his love in service to his ideals.

As we’ve discussed, if I had to summarize my entire philosophy in one sentence, one of Abraham Maslow’s gems would probably do the trick.

Not too long ago, we hung out with Aristotle’s Little River Creatures to get some perspective on the brevity of life.

Today we have the final installment in our What Would Aristotle Do? +1 series.

A couple +1s ago I promised to chat about Aristotle’s thoughts on magnanimity.

In our last +1, we talked about Aristotle’s Doctrine of the Mean. With diligent, patient, and persistent practice, virtuous activity of the soul can be found right between the vice of excess and the vice of deficiency.

In Greatest Year Ever 2019, we kicked the party off by reminding ourselves of the ultimate game we’re playing—leaning into Aristotle’s wisdom (yet again!) that the summum bonum of life (the highest good!) is to experience the joy of flourishing by having a great relationship with our inner soul.

Today we’re going to talk about walking.