Stoic Snippets: Rock Your World, And The Boat

What is it you want and are you willing to go get it? That's the theme of today. Too many of us distract ourselves with the most trivial of worries and forget to take control of our lives. To be all you can be you need to know what you want and be brave enough to chase it.

Transcript

Welcome to Stoic Snippets, The philosophy track that is short in length, But not in depth. Seneca had a word he used, Euthymia. It's a really fancy looking and sounding word. I don't think he came up with it, But he would define it in the most eloquent of ways. Listen to this. Euthymia is believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction. How many of us spend our days going through the motions and doing what everyone else is doing? Not because we want to do it, But for fear of missing out and for fear of standing out. The most obvious issue here is that many of us have not given much thought to what is the right path for us. We have busy lives and so many other questions that we answer before we ever get to this one. But this is one of the most important. What do you want? Not what is everyone else doing, But what is it you want from this life, This short temporary life that you have been gifted. You may think that's way too heavy of a burden to deal with and that's how most people think, So they never answer this question. But without answering this question, How on earth are you to know what you should put your time and energy into? As Seneca says, With no port in mind, No wind is favourable. Knowing what you want is the backbone for all your decisions. It stops you wasting time and feeling anxious about choices. The best example I can give you is when you choose something to watch. Have you ever sat down without a plan to watch something with your friend or partner and then found yourself 30 minutes later still with no decision? Why? Because you had no parameters to choose with. You didn't know what genre you wanted. You didn't know how long you wanted the movie to be. You had too much choice and not enough parameter. You didn't decide what it is you wanted. So what ends up happening? Well, You watch whatever is trending. You hand over your entertainment choice to someone else. This is what we do with so many of our other choices. But sometimes we do know what we want. We know exactly what rocks our world. The problem is, We don't want to rock the boat. It's the true paradox of our times. We desperately want to be special, But only special like everyone else. And that's an issue. Because you cannot simultaneously be special and be like everyone else. And this is particularly painful if you're social or an extrovert like me. Because people like us, We value being connected with others. The problem is, Often on your path to where you want to be and what you want, You only run parallel to others for a while. It's temporary. When your paths begin to deviate, You have two choices. You can A. Please the company you have and let yourself down. Or B. Please your calling and let them down. And it's not easy. We feel this most when we go through some identity shift. Giving up a vice, Getting in shape, Becoming a parent, Starting a business or changing careers. As it happens, I'm doing all of those things at the moment. So my friendship group is very much crumbling around me. I'm moving, I'm changing, I'm growing. And when we do so, We risk leaving people behind. But if we are truly to reach our potential, Then this is a risk we have to run. So as I leave you today, Remember this. Spend some time working out what it is you want. And don't let the footprints of others lead you astray. Life is shorter than you think. Don't spend it living someone else's dream. Good luck. Thanks so much for joining me. If you'd like to hear more of this type of thing, Check out my courses in Stoicism. I think you'll really enjoy them.