7 Stoic Principles That Changed My Life
In this post, I'II quickly share with you the 7 stoic principles that’ve changed my life.
These includes:
Without further ado, let me briefly explain each of these.
1. Be Grateful
Back in the day, I used to be very pessimistic i.e. viewing the glass🥃 half empty instead of viewing it half full.
This was due to my upbringing & conditioning, since I was programmed to see mainly negative things in any situation – though there might be good ones to be grateful for.
But as soon as I started practicing stoicism, l started to practice gratitude – since l began to understand that there's other people out there who're worse-off than me – and they would kill to be in my position.
Instead of just looking for the negative staff in every situation, I started to become grateful for the things that are available to me – even though they might be little things.
And up to now, I keep a gratitude journal which I write on a regular basis – and I've to admit that this has boosted my mental health significantly.
Now, you might be saying;
‘I don't have anything to be grateful for?’
Wow, the fact that you're reading this blog post means that you're live & breathing – which in itself, is the greatest blessing that you should be grateful for.
So friends, I highly urge you to practice gratitude on a daily basis.
Because, you wont appreciate what you have now until you lose it.
So appreciate those things whilst you still have them – and this will open doors for new blessings as well.
2. Focus On What You Can Control
This is also a great principle that have changed my life – and it can change yours too!
Back in the day, I used to complain about external factors, which I have less control of.
For example, if you complain about the exorbitant prices of international plane tickets whilst you don't have a passport, the drop in the price wont have much impact on your life – because you wont be able to travel anyways.💁♂️
Besides, you have no control over the prices of plane tickets – so it's a waste of time to complain about that issue.
So instead of complaining about external factors which you can't control, it's better to focus on what you can control – otherwise, you might waste years focusing on things that you can't change.
That's why l like the serenity prayer;
“Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I can’t change, and the courage to change the things I can – and the wisdom to know the difference"
3. Choose Your Response
Things happen to almost everyone i.e. we all face situations.
But it's not a matter of what happens to you, but it's a matter of how you react to it.
You can't choose what happens to your life, but you can choose how you react to those situation.
This might be difficult to apply for most people – because sometimes, your emotions & your ego might push you to react otherwise.
That's why you see most people do some crazy🤯 staff when they're angry – but then, regret later when they're back to their normal state.
But what has helped me a lot is meditation🧘♂️.
Because through meditation, my mental health is always at its best – also, my emotions are always calm.
So if something happens to me (even the bad staff), I’m able to carefully process the situation, choose an appropriate response, then act accordingly.
Or if I'm not sure how to react, I simply walk away from the situation, then I carefully think about it when I'm back to my normal state.
4. Diminish Your Ego
As humans, we all have ego.
But if you fail to control your ego, your life might turn into a downward spiral.
Your ego normally rises when you're starting to see some great results in whatever you're pursuing i.e. be it business, fitness, sport, or anything.
Once you're achieving some level of success, your ego will tell you that, you're ‘better' than everyone else.
And once you have that mind-set, you'll start to boast yourself i.e. looking at everyone else as useless.
But if you want to continue growing & accomplishing greater things, you gotta diminish your ego.
Because if you fail to do so, you might see everything that you've built tumble down to the ground.
5. Lead By Example
When people look at you, what do they think?
Do they get inspired, or do they get disgusted?
It's good to lead by example in everything that you do – so that people can take inspiration from you.
Instead of wishing for a clean neighbourhood, be the kind of person who first pick-up the trash🚮 – and everyone else will be inspired to follow suit.
And if you're a person who always lead by example, people around you will be inspired to do good things as well.
6. Practice Resilience When Faced With Obstacles
‘Champions are nothing but contenders who refused to give up'
In anything that you're pursuing, there's always some obstacles involved along the way.
The road to success isn’t a smooth one i.e. it has some rough terrains, bushes, waterfalls, mountains, etc.
In other words, success lies on the other side of the jungle – and you must be willing to go through that jungle.
You must develop a relentless mentality of not giving up i.e. regardless of the obstacles that you face.
Because those obstacles are meant to strengthen you – so that you can become a better person who truly deserves the success that you're pursuing.
Thus, if you're faced with obstacles, always remember that they're just testing you to see how bad you want it – also, they're just strengthening you mentally & emotionally.
Plus, if great things in life were easy to achieve, then everyone would have them.
Thus, obstacles are meant to screen those who truly deserves great things from those who don't.
7. Take Massive Action
Last but not least, I became a great action taker once I started practicing stoicism.
Back in the day, I used to procrastinate a lot – which negatively affected my progress back then.
But as soon as I started taking action, I saw a drastic change in my life.
Because nothing great happens when you don't take any action.
You can have the best business plan on the planet, post motivational quotes on Instagram, but if you don't take action, you wont go any where.
And once I understood this principle, I started to take massive action in everything that I wish to accomplish i.e. my business, my finances, my health & fitness, etc.
Wrapping Up
So these are some of the stoic principles that completely revolutionised my life.
Let me know in the comments section if you have some additional principles to add onto this list.
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