How To Best Change The World

How does your personal excellence relate to the changes you'd like to see in the world at large? Maybe you haven't considered your life on this grand scale. Whether or not you have, you are part of this system we call the world. If you take exercising virtuous self-control seriously, you'll move the world to a better place through your actions and by making choices worthy of emulation. No pressure.

Hey there. It's me, Kore. And you're listening to Exercising Self-Control: From Fitness To Flourishing.

You know that scene in the movie Limitless when the main character, played by Bradley Cooper, walks into his apartment after first taking NZT? If not, here’s a little background. He's a writer who hasn't written anything, with little money left of an advance from a publisher, and he's just taken a pill, that's the NZT, that unlocks the full potential of his brain. He looks at his small apartment after walking through the door and, disgusted with how messy it is, decides to make some changes. He cleans and organizes everything.

After his brain was optimized, he got to work on what was directly in front of him. It started in his apartment, but it didn't stop there. If you haven't seen the movie, it's one of my favourites.

But that aside, imagine the world in all its complexity. It's a smoothly running system producing the results that we currently have. From the global economy all the way down to the hot water coming out of your shower tap in the morning.

Now imagine that you want to influence this system in all its complexity. You want to make it better for yourself and those you care about. Where could you start? What would make the most sense? To my thinking, the simple, obvious, direct answer is to start where you are with what you have in this moment. And that means you start with yourself and your own life.

By living as the most excellent person you can imagine yourself being, you will be doing the absolute best you can imagine doing. As a result, you'll be leading by example, even if you decide to try to influence others directly. Your most powerful influence comes from how you live; how you operate in the world.

People don't change when someone else gives them reasons to change. They change when they come to their own conclusions, when they come up with their own reasons. Your words carry less influence than your example. From seeing you live with virtuous self-control, people will imagine the possibilities for themselves. They’ll become inspired if your choices and the life you live are attractive to them. They'll convince themselves to change.

So whatever task is before you in this moment, do it with excellence. This moment shapes your future. The virtue you choose to practice now will be more readily available when you need it tomorrow. The vice you choose to embrace today will be even more difficult to overcome tomorrow. Remember, practice always works. And your excellence contributes to the excellence of the system as a whole. When you improve, the world improves.

Now, I believe lack of virtuous self-control is the root cause of the world's problems. The solution is for each of us to exercise virtuous self-control to such a high standard that our choices are worthy of emulation. One person can make a difference for the better. It's a matter of choice. That's in our power.

Why do I suggest starting with an exercise practice? After all, the subtitle of this podcast is From Fitness to Flourishing.

Here's a metaphor. Imagine you're a lumberjack with an axe that gets sharper and easier to use when you actually use it. You'd be way more effective and productive than any other lumberjack. They would have to stop working and sharpen their axe. That's the way normal axes work. You’d have a definite advantage.

The axe you have in reality is your brain. When you choose to exercise, you're sharpening your brain: boosting your cognitive function, increasing energy levels, reducing stress, and improving your mood. In other words, your overall well-being is elevated. This all leads to better focus, enhanced memory, faster learning, and an increased capacity to be more productive and more effective in your life.

Not only that, an exercise practice requires a lifestyle to support it.

* An organized schedule to plan workouts within a busy life.

* A healthy diet to support the physical effort required.

* Making time for quality sleep to recover fully.

* Setting goals, keeping track of progress, paying attention to the feedback, adapting your approach, and so on.

Your whole life improves. All this because you're implementing an exercise practice. Not just exercise, but an exercise practice. I always do my best to stress the i