Come along with me as we dig into why it's crucial to calm the mind, tackle challenges, and concentrate on what genuinely helps us grow. In this episode, we'll discuss about how shutting down that non-stop mental noise can do wonders for our well-being. We'll also talk about purposely putting ourselves in tricky situations and how those challenges make us more adaptable and resilient, focusing on what truly matters, building up grit, and watching some personal growth happen.
Hope you enjoy and if you like my content, drop me a follow and find me on Instagram @stoicspirituality, Tiktok @stoicspirituality, and Youtube @stoicspirituality
Find my other podcast episodes and platforms here: https://rss.com/podcasts/stoicspirituality/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Why is it important to cull the constant nattering of the mind?
(00:08):
Why do you think it's important to put yourself in strenuous situations so that you force
your body to adapt?
And why is it important to avoid the superfluous parts of life and instead focus on what's
in front of you, to develop grit and watch it grow?
Hello, my name is Jagan and I'm a student of the human experience trying to spread some
(00:31):
knowledge out to the rest of the world, and welcome to Stoic Spirituality.
This episode is going to be dedicated more to Stoic philosophy and Stoic concepts which
are imminently practical in our daily lives, and this episode is going to be dedicated
more to illustrating discipline of the body, illustrating kind of how we can use our mind
(00:57):
to center ourselves in the right direction, avoid unnecessary stimuli that pop up on a
regular basis, and why it is important to ensure that we are the master of our desires,
not the desires taking control of important parts of us.
(01:21):
Let's begin.
So the first part is the idea of a strenuous life.
So a lot of us have this ideal, this ideology that as soon as life is good, life is easy.
We have an ideology in our head that kind of illustrates that as soon as our life gets
(01:45):
easy then only it'll be fun, or then only we're going to have fun.
So when we have like almost in a sense a few money, when we have an excess of what we need,
then only life is going to be the best possible life.
But the first thing you want to ask yourself really is has anyone really drunk or eaten
(02:11):
their way to happiness?
Has anyone really taken all this extra money and really thought now I can do whatever I
want with it, let me fill myself up in excess until I can no longer in a sense tell the
(02:31):
difference between what dopamine really is and what I generate in my own head.
One thing to always remember that the pleasure of excess is always fleeting.
Because what happens is as soon as you identify with something external as pleasure giving
or something external as where you stake a majority of your happiness or pleasure from,
(02:57):
it'll never be enough.
You will always want more, you will always seek more, and you will always get to a state
of excess because you have constantly shifted the goalposts in a negative way so that you
cultivate a continual gluttonous way of life instead of one that is measured by the opposite.
(03:23):
One thing about self-discipline, one thing about discipline in general is that you would
think that it's kind of the self-whipping prophecy or self-whipping kind of ideology
you must have and you must hold yourself to, that you must not touch anything negative,
you must not do anything or think anything negative, you must be this stoic emotionless
(03:45):
wall that simply exists to get things done and can never have fun.
And you would be wrong if you would think that because self-discipline as a concept
is not really a rejection of pleasure, it's rather an embrace of it, but in a unique way.
(04:05):
What a lot of us kind of associate with pleasure is having really sweet food or drinking tons
of alcohol and feeling the dopamine spike inside of us and maybe just going on social
media and scrolling for hours on end just so we capture for 10 to 20 seconds at a time
our attention and speed through and get cheap laughs for some time.
(04:30):
And that's what a lot of us kind of define what pleasure is for the most part, but self-discipline
is rather an embrace of pleasure that doesn't necessarily come at the moment you work toward
it.
We as a society are geared toward this idea of instant gratification and instant pleasure,
(04:52):
but self-discipline does cultivate pleasure, it cultivates long lasting, almost in a sense
happiness and inner peace, but it takes some work to get to that point.
Self-discipline cultivates long lasting, but delayed happiness in what you are doing.
(05:15):
And self-discipline manifests in ways such as treating our body well, moderating our
desires, working, maybe physically or mentally, exercising, and just working toward your real
purpose.
Because that kind of happiness or that kind of pleasure, even though in my mind they have
(05:39):
different definitions for the purposes of this episode, can be equated to the same thing,
is really the work we do for which happiness or pleasure is the reward.
And that's really what pleasure can be defined as.
What we consider as the usual definition of pleasure or cheaply bought is something that
(06:06):
lasts temporarily, disappears, and has you wanting for more.
The pleasure cultivated by self-discipline or the happiness cultivated by it is long
lasting and keeps us grounded to who we are as a person.
One other thing is we are here on this earth to fulfill a purpose.
(06:31):
We are the apex predator of earth that has conquered pretty much every single species,
and for us to simply lie down and give in to animalistic pleasures when we have a thinking
rational brain as a part of us seems like a poor and cheap use of our own lives.
(06:57):
The idea that Marcus Rulius would have in his notebook at all times was an unrestrained
moderation which are two words I subscribe to to the best of my ability in my daily life,
and something I hold to as a core point of my overall philosophy.
So unrestrained moderation describes the idea and concept that it's important to always
(07:22):
work toward keeping in moderation whatever you do.
This refers to rest, this refers to eating, this refers to other pleasurable activities,
but it also refers to work, it also refers to strenuous activities, it also refers to
(07:44):
part of our lives that we would think must be maximized to the extent, maximum of our
current ability.
And so unrestrained moderation as a concept talks about the idea that in everything we
do, good for us or bad for us, we must be moderate.
(08:07):
So that means if you want to take a look at something like alcohol, being moderate or
defined by standards whether scientific or personal depending on your extent of alcohol
which you think is inebriating or causing me buzz, maybe like one or two drinks for
the sake of it is what you would define as unrestrained moderation, and in the same way
(08:33):
not working 20 hour days and burning yourself out is also a form of unrestrained moderation.
So finding that balance in between a life of excess and a life of self-whipping is what
unrestrained moderation's philosophy talks a lot about, and self-discipline both of rest
(08:55):
and of work cultivates this philosophy and this ideology.
Remember a lot of us think that greatness is innate and it comes from our natural talent
or somewhere deep inside of us, but almost always if not always, courage and deliberate
(09:18):
action and deliberate practice is what creates greatness, it's what creates self-mastery.
Robert Greene quotes in his book Mastery that about 10,000 hours are required for us to
achieve mastery in any sort of skill, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice dedicated to
a skill.
(09:39):
That 10,000 hours does not come from our innate self that has just somehow produced 10,000
hours out of nowhere, we may be able to use some innate talent or some structure of our
unique DNA to provide the initial impetuous to find what we love and what we are fond
of but in the end it is the point of self-mastery and greatness.
(10:05):
Even from a philosophical standpoint, a philosopher's body should be well prepared for physical
activity because the four virtues of stoicism, courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom all
kind of use this idea of our body as a necessary instrument for life, almost as a temple because
(10:27):
the body we have been born into is the one we're going to die in, so it's important
that our body be well prepared and well toned for the many comapences of life.
So it's almost like motivating in a sense, like if you just wake up and reject the idea
(10:49):
of staying in bed for extended periods of time and choose to go work out or choose to
go use your body or mind in a productive way, you treat your body and mind rigorously so
that it doesn't disobey you when it matters most.
You cultivate this grit, this willpower, this discipline inside of yourself over extended
(11:13):
periods of time so that when you need to call upon it, in times of necessity, in times of
suffering or pain, it doesn't disobey you when you need it.
That little voice in your head that asks you to stay under the covers at night, that asks
you to take a break because you've worked hard quote unquote, doesn't always need to
(11:38):
be heeded.
And quite ironically, even though we may think that stoicism and spirituality are on two
different ends of a spectrum at times, this little point of the little voice in our head
doesn't need to be heeded is very reminiscent of previous episodes descriptions of the idea
(11:59):
that our mind does not define who we are as a person.
There's a little voice in our head that we kind of refer to as our mind or ego and that
voice isn't necessarily who we are and it doesn't always need to be heeded.
And the thing is, if you make your body into that of a better shape, if you make your body
(12:20):
work for you, then you will do with it what needs to be done in times of crisis.
So now that we've kind of looked at this idea of self-discipline, finding the moderation
and difference between self-whipping and a life of excess, let's go into things we should
avoid as a part of avoiding this life of excess.
(12:43):
And the primary thing we should avoid is the superfluous.
So it was very interesting how one day in ancient Greek mythology or philosophy, depending
on how you think of it, there were a group of senators or group of individuals who tried
to go to a Greek philosopher's house to bribe him for him to speak in their favor at the
(13:10):
senate.
And when they walked in with a potential major cash sum to be provided, they saw him in his
kitchen boiling turnips.
And as soon as they saw that, they walked away knowing that this was going to be a lost
cause.
Remember that one who is satisfied with so little in their life can never be tempted.
(13:35):
Obviously this is not a call for us to subsist on boiled turnips as a part of our diet, but
it's kind of an illustration that we choose to cultivate qualities inside of us as opposed
to looking for them outside, we become more of a greater person.
(13:56):
Because the less you desire, the richer you are on the inside, and the freer you are on
the inside, and the more inherently in control of your own self, and by extension the more
powerful you are.
But when we desire greater than what we need, what we do is we make ourselves vulnerable,
(14:16):
we make ourselves open to the influences of things that shouldn't have that power over
us or that control over us.
So by curtailing our desires, curtailing our needs instead of giving into them at all times,
we allow ourselves to stay in control of who we are.
(14:38):
And by avoiding these superfluous things that aren't going to last more than a few hours
with a corresponding hangover after, or are made up of other pleasure giving parts, we
reduce our vulnerability we have, we reduce our dependence on anything external to us.
(14:59):
And by being a little bit harder on ourselves, we allow, or we make it much harder for other
people around us to be hard on us, hard on us in the sense of demeaningly condescending
with what they say affecting you mentally.
(15:20):
But think about how much superfluous is presented to us on a daily basis, social media's stories
present everyone having the best possible life they can.
Hosts with so many filters and social media algorithms dedicated to give us this feeling
of FOMO or fear of missing out, or attempting to kind of cover all of our cravings at all
(15:49):
time.
And what's important for us is to understand and identify what the superfluous in our life
is and seek to chip away at it, little by little until all that remains is just dedicated
non-superfluous concepts, ideas, and material things that we so require.
(16:13):
And by avoiding the superfluous, what we generate as a result is a sharper focus on what's
in front of us.
This idea of superfluous doesn't really just apply to material goods or material pleasures,
it also applies to our past and our future.
Because sometimes our reflection on the whole sweep of life and the whole illustration of
(16:38):
what life is, may it be the past that was that caused us regrets and causes us pain,
or the future that will be, and the anxieties we have over it, can cause us to be crushed
by the overwhelming illustration of time before and after this present moment.
(17:00):
But instead if we focus on what we have to do, practically and logically speaking, instead
of wondering about what was, what could have been, or what will, or what will be, or what
could be, if we just do what is in front of us without letting our mind wander and apply
ourselves properly, we take a beam of light that is our minds thoughts and our minds potential
(17:24):
and ability, and instead of splitting it up into various little beams, we concentrate
into one beam that looks straight ahead and focuses on what is in front of us.
And this touches into the idea of courage, because while we have this discipline, this
temperance, that is the second virtue of stoicism, may it be through avoiding the superfluous,
(17:47):
focusing on what's in front of us, or equipping our body so that it can fight for our mind,
courage is a necessity before all of this.
Because while we can cultivate self-discipline, while we can be unrestrainedly moderate in
whatever we do, to take this leap, to take this leap of faith or jump in that direction,
(18:12):
we must take counsel of our fears, and have the courage to push past them.
Rather take counsel in the sense of take count rather, not really counsel as in take their
advice but take counsel as in take count of it.
But rather if we take counsel or the advice of our fears, what will happen is we'll
never make that leap into growth.
(18:32):
We'll never take that leap of faith into the right direction.
Because remember, if life had certainty, if we knew everything that would happen to us
in the next moment, day, week, month, or year, we would never require courage.
All we would have is just us knowing what's happening in front of us at every single point
(18:54):
in time, and no courage because we would just know what to do at all times.
But that's not the case.
99.9999% of things in our life we cannot control.
Other drivers on the freeway, people's reactions to people's moods to what you say, the words
(19:17):
of people intended to harm or hurt you, or the various situations you could find yourself
in on a daily basis.
These all you cannot control, but what you can control is how you respond to situations
and the quality of your thoughts based on these situations, based on these people, and
based on whatever else comes in your way or comes onto your way.
(19:42):
And so what happens is someone with no courage, in this case, classified as a coward, just
waits for these stares that'll never come.
One of the four most stoic quotes that I remember reading and internalizing in my head was this
idea of not necessarily waiting for the plane to perfectly land on the runway and have every
(20:07):
single opportunity set up in front of us with absolute precision and certainty before we
take a leap.
Ryan Holiday in his books talks about the idea of taking a leap or jumping into an opportunity
or something before we're completely ready.
Because what will happen if we don't is we will talk ourselves out of it, illustrate
(20:31):
that we're not ready for this opportunity because we have imposter syndrome, or we're
not good enough, or we're too good, waiting for an opportunity that will never come.
And so the purpose of courage is for us to not fear what we'll miss, but rather fear
what will happen if we don't act.
(20:53):
And how we do that is we position ourselves into a place or a location that demands us
to leap, that demands us to take the next step, the leap of faith, before we're completely
ready.
Because then only we can engage our self-discipline to push forward the spark of courage that
(21:14):
is required to take this leap of faith.
And so you may think that around us we see a lot of individuals that are talented, that
have everything quote unquote down, they know exactly what they're doing.
And a lot of us have something called fundamental attribution error, where we attribute mistakes
(21:38):
that we do to external situations, but mistakes that other people do to themselves.
And if we were to apply this psychological concept to the idea of having everything down
quote unquote, or being someone of high power, prestige, and precision, a lot of us attribute
(22:03):
this kind of ascension to innate natural talent.
But we attribute our growth, our work, to our grit, our determination, our discipline.
So it's important to kind of see that if you're fighting a battle of determination, grit, and
(22:24):
discipline, everyone is fighting the same exact battle around you.
And very rarely do we see someone with innate talent rise to a prominent position.
Everyone has put on the grit, the hours, the work, the discipline, to get to a point.
(22:44):
No one really usually gets their natural talent.
And the benefit of discipline and grit cultivated by the initial courage is that people's grit
goes up over time.
If you find yourself holding yourself to a high set of sense of discipline in one field
(23:06):
of your life, may it be working out constantly or reading for a certain amount of time every
single day, what you will find is that other parts of your life will start to fall in place.
Because discipline is contagious, not only amongst individuals, but amongst your habits
and amongst your own self.
And that's why it's so important to cultivate this discipline.
(23:28):
It doesn't have to be from 0 to 100, it can be from 0 to 5, 5 to 10, and the 10 will
become 40 before you know it, and the 40 will become 80 to 100 in no time.
But if you focus on this idea of the future and avoid what's in front of you, you will
(23:48):
not get to 10, let alone 40 or 100.
And these numbers refer to like percentages of your own self that is disciplined.
And so one way you really can bring upon this discipline seems a little bit counterintuitive.
It's based on the idea of seeking discomfort, which in this case can be seen as perpendicular
(24:16):
or opposite to that of pleasures.
Because a lot of us spend the majority of our life building these walls in between anything
unpleasant or anything non-pleasure giving.
But what we don't realize by building these walls is that we don't understand how dependent
it makes us.
(24:37):
Because it makes us seem like the whole point of success is to never have struggle, never
put in more effort in a place of discomfort knowing what to do what is right, but just
have everything on demand.
And who would really choose negativity?
(24:57):
Who would really choose something that may cause them to not experience full pleasure
when ease is there?
But that's what we must do.
We must take that leap of faith or put that work in to get to success based on seeking
(25:19):
discomfort and continue to seek it even when we reach the top of our mountain.
Because whether or not we like it, success breeds softness.
Success breeds fear.
And one of the benefits of success is that we get comforts, we get creature comforts.
And what happens as a result of the success going to our head or lasting for a long time
(25:44):
is that we get softer, we get more fearful of losing what we achieved, and we become
afraid.
The courage that brought us to this point has now dissipated, and all that we're left
with is just a longing for what once was.
(26:04):
So by seeking out this discomfort every single day, every single time we have a chance to,
we toughen ourselves up.
We accept successes for what they are, but we're not satisfied with them.
Not out of unrestrained ambition, but rather focusing on what's in front of us and building
ourselves up to the path of self-mastering.
(26:27):
It's kind of this idea of building a sword or crafting a sword.
So this treatment of discomfort is how you would temper a sword, because we expose it
for a brief instance to heat and then cold, forcing through this metaphor our bodies to
change and adapt to different scenarios, different situations, different people, and as a result
(26:53):
we harden our bodies, we harden our minds, and we are not so thrown off by failures and
do not revel in the pleasures of success for an extensive period of time, because we know
to avoid the superfluous, to focus on what's in front of us, and to build up our body so
(27:15):
that it doesn't disobey the mind when the time comes.
Because the person who has the upper hand over their body, one who doesn't listen
to every single desire for pleasure that the body or mind puts in to us, the one who seeks
discomfort and builds self-discipline through unrestrained moderation, one who does not
(27:41):
fear change, discomfort, the reversal of fortune, and sees pain and pleasure with equamity is
harder to defeat.
And how we do this is we practice temperance in times of plenty.
When there is everything in front of us, when we are on the top of the world, one would
(28:03):
think that is the point in time for us to enjoy the many avenues of life or the many
pleasures that life has to offer, but we must rather practice temperance then, because when
it does disappear, or if it does disappear, we are ready.
(28:25):
We have not softened ourselves up to such a point that any push, slight push off balance
can throw our entire philosophy out the window and bring us to a very low mental state, but
rather that when and if these kinds of things happen, by practicing temperance, we are ready.
(28:47):
4.
The change that life can bring on a moment's notice.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode on the idea of calling the mind, understanding
the benefits of treating our body like a temple, but also working ourselves so that it does
listen to us when we want it to or need it to, avoiding the superfluous aspects of life,
(29:14):
and focusing on what's in front of us, understanding the idea of courage that emblazons the discipline
that makes a large part of us, and the idea of putting in the work and the hours to build
our grit and self-mastery, primarily by seeking discomfort.
If you would like to hear more content in the realm of Stoicism or the realm of spirituality
(29:39):
where I look through the Bhagavad Gita and attempt to extract philosophical concepts
from there, feel free to check out this podcast and other episodes I've published over the
last few months and year.
And if you would like to hear more short-form content, clips from my podcast, feel free
to follow me at Stoic Spirituality on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
(30:02):
At Stoic Spirituality, no space in between.
Thank you so much for listening, and see you guys next time.
Why is it important to cull the constant nattering of the mind?
(00:08):
Why do you think it's important to put yourself in strenuous situations so that you force
your body to adapt?
And why is it important to avoid the superfluous parts of life and instead focus on what's
in front of you, to develop grit and watch it grow?
Hello, my name is Jagan and I'm a student of the human experience trying to spread some
(00:31):
knowledge out to the rest of the world, and welcome to Stoic Spirituality.
This episode is going to be dedicated more to Stoic philosophy and Stoic concepts which
are imminently practical in our daily lives, and this episode is going to be dedicated
more to illustrating discipline of the body, illustrating kind of how we can use our mind
(00:57):
to center ourselves in the right direction, avoid unnecessary stimuli that pop up on a
regular basis, and why it is important to ensure that we are the master of our desires,
not the desires taking control of important parts of us.
(01:21):
Let's begin.
So the first part is the idea of a strenuous life.
So a lot of us have this ideal, this ideology that as soon as life is good, life is easy.
We have an ideology in our head that kind of illustrates that as soon as our life gets
(01:45):
easy then only it'll be fun, or then only we're going to have fun.
So when we have like almost in a sense a few money, when we have an excess of what we need,
then only life is going to be the best possible life.
But the first thing you want to ask yourself really is has anyone really drunk or eaten
(02:11):
their way to happiness?
Has anyone really taken all this extra money and really thought now I can do whatever I
want with it, let me fill myself up in excess until I can no longer in a sense tell the
(02:31):
difference between what dopamine really is and what I generate in my own head.
One thing to always remember that the pleasure of excess is always fleeting.
Because what happens is as soon as you identify with something external as pleasure giving
or something external as where you stake a majority of your happiness or pleasure from,
(02:57):
it'll never be enough.
You will always want more, you will always seek more, and you will always get to a state
of excess because you have constantly shifted the goalposts in a negative way so that you
cultivate a continual gluttonous way of life instead of one that is measured by the opposite.
(03:23):
One thing about self-discipline, one thing about discipline in general is that you would
think that it's kind of the self-whipping prophecy or self-whipping kind of ideology
you must have and you must hold yourself to, that you must not touch anything negative,
you must not do anything or think anything negative, you must be this stoic emotionless
(03:45):
wall that simply exists to get things done and can never have fun.
And you would be wrong if you would think that because self-discipline as a concept
is not really a rejection of pleasure, it's rather an embrace of it, but in a unique way.
(04:05):
What a lot of us kind of associate with pleasure is having really sweet food or drinking tons
of alcohol and feeling the dopamine spike inside of us and maybe just going on social
media and scrolling for hours on end just so we capture for 10 to 20 seconds at a time
our attention and speed through and get cheap laughs for some time.
(04:30):
And that's what a lot of us kind of define what pleasure is for the most part, but self-discipline
is rather an embrace of pleasure that doesn't necessarily come at the moment you work toward
it.
We as a society are geared toward this idea of instant gratification and instant pleasure,
(04:52):
but self-discipline does cultivate pleasure, it cultivates long lasting, almost in a sense
happiness and inner peace, but it takes some work to get to that point.
Self-discipline cultivates long lasting, but delayed happiness in what you are doing.
(05:15):
And self-discipline manifests in ways such as treating our body well, moderating our
desires, working, maybe physically or mentally, exercising, and just working toward your real
purpose.
Because that kind of happiness or that kind of pleasure, even though in my mind they have
(05:39):
different definitions for the purposes of this episode, can be equated to the same thing,
is really the work we do for which happiness or pleasure is the reward.
And that's really what pleasure can be defined as.
What we consider as the usual definition of pleasure or cheaply bought is something that
(06:06):
lasts temporarily, disappears, and has you wanting for more.
The pleasure cultivated by self-discipline or the happiness cultivated by it is long
lasting and keeps us grounded to who we are as a person.
One other thing is we are here on this earth to fulfill a purpose.
(06:31):
We are the apex predator of earth that has conquered pretty much every single species,
and for us to simply lie down and give in to animalistic pleasures when we have a thinking
rational brain as a part of us seems like a poor and cheap use of our own lives.
(06:57):
The idea that Marcus Rulius would have in his notebook at all times was an unrestrained
moderation which are two words I subscribe to to the best of my ability in my daily life,
and something I hold to as a core point of my overall philosophy.
So unrestrained moderation describes the idea and concept that it's important to always
(07:22):
work toward keeping in moderation whatever you do.
This refers to rest, this refers to eating, this refers to other pleasurable activities,
but it also refers to work, it also refers to strenuous activities, it also refers to
(07:44):
part of our lives that we would think must be maximized to the extent, maximum of our
current ability.
And so unrestrained moderation as a concept talks about the idea that in everything we
do, good for us or bad for us, we must be moderate.
(08:07):
So that means if you want to take a look at something like alcohol, being moderate or
defined by standards whether scientific or personal depending on your extent of alcohol
which you think is inebriating or causing me buzz, maybe like one or two drinks for
the sake of it is what you would define as unrestrained moderation, and in the same way
(08:33):
not working 20 hour days and burning yourself out is also a form of unrestrained moderation.
So finding that balance in between a life of excess and a life of self-whipping is what
unrestrained moderation's philosophy talks a lot about, and self-discipline both of rest
(08:55):
and of work cultivates this philosophy and this ideology.
Remember a lot of us think that greatness is innate and it comes from our natural talent
or somewhere deep inside of us, but almost always if not always, courage and deliberate
(09:18):
action and deliberate practice is what creates greatness, it's what creates self-mastery.
Robert Greene quotes in his book Mastery that about 10,000 hours are required for us to
achieve mastery in any sort of skill, 10,000 hours of deliberate practice dedicated to
a skill.
(09:39):
That 10,000 hours does not come from our innate self that has just somehow produced 10,000
hours out of nowhere, we may be able to use some innate talent or some structure of our
unique DNA to provide the initial impetuous to find what we love and what we are fond
of but in the end it is the point of self-mastery and greatness.
(10:05):
Even from a philosophical standpoint, a philosopher's body should be well prepared for physical
activity because the four virtues of stoicism, courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom all
kind of use this idea of our body as a necessary instrument for life, almost as a temple because
(10:27):
the body we have been born into is the one we're going to die in, so it's important
that our body be well prepared and well toned for the many comapences of life.
So it's almost like motivating in a sense, like if you just wake up and reject the idea
(10:49):
of staying in bed for extended periods of time and choose to go work out or choose to
go use your body or mind in a productive way, you treat your body and mind rigorously so
that it doesn't disobey you when it matters most.
You cultivate this grit, this willpower, this discipline inside of yourself over extended
(11:13):
periods of time so that when you need to call upon it, in times of necessity, in times of
suffering or pain, it doesn't disobey you when you need it.
That little voice in your head that asks you to stay under the covers at night, that asks
you to take a break because you've worked hard quote unquote, doesn't always need to
(11:38):
be heeded.
And quite ironically, even though we may think that stoicism and spirituality are on two
different ends of a spectrum at times, this little point of the little voice in our head
doesn't need to be heeded is very reminiscent of previous episodes descriptions of the idea
(11:59):
that our mind does not define who we are as a person.
There's a little voice in our head that we kind of refer to as our mind or ego and that
voice isn't necessarily who we are and it doesn't always need to be heeded.
And the thing is, if you make your body into that of a better shape, if you make your body
(12:20):
work for you, then you will do with it what needs to be done in times of crisis.
So now that we've kind of looked at this idea of self-discipline, finding the moderation
and difference between self-whipping and a life of excess, let's go into things we should
avoid as a part of avoiding this life of excess.
(12:43):
And the primary thing we should avoid is the superfluous.
So it was very interesting how one day in ancient Greek mythology or philosophy, depending
on how you think of it, there were a group of senators or group of individuals who tried
to go to a Greek philosopher's house to bribe him for him to speak in their favor at the
(13:10):
senate.
And when they walked in with a potential major cash sum to be provided, they saw him in his
kitchen boiling turnips.
And as soon as they saw that, they walked away knowing that this was going to be a lost
cause.
Remember that one who is satisfied with so little in their life can never be tempted.
(13:35):
Obviously this is not a call for us to subsist on boiled turnips as a part of our diet, but
it's kind of an illustration that we choose to cultivate qualities inside of us as opposed
to looking for them outside, we become more of a greater person.
(13:56):
Because the less you desire, the richer you are on the inside, and the freer you are on
the inside, and the more inherently in control of your own self, and by extension the more
powerful you are.
But when we desire greater than what we need, what we do is we make ourselves vulnerable,
(14:16):
we make ourselves open to the influences of things that shouldn't have that power over
us or that control over us.
So by curtailing our desires, curtailing our needs instead of giving into them at all times,
we allow ourselves to stay in control of who we are.
(14:38):
And by avoiding these superfluous things that aren't going to last more than a few hours
with a corresponding hangover after, or are made up of other pleasure giving parts, we
reduce our vulnerability we have, we reduce our dependence on anything external to us.
(14:59):
And by being a little bit harder on ourselves, we allow, or we make it much harder for other
people around us to be hard on us, hard on us in the sense of demeaningly condescending
with what they say affecting you mentally.
(15:20):
But think about how much superfluous is presented to us on a daily basis, social media's stories
present everyone having the best possible life they can.
Hosts with so many filters and social media algorithms dedicated to give us this feeling
of FOMO or fear of missing out, or attempting to kind of cover all of our cravings at all
(15:49):
time.
And what's important for us is to understand and identify what the superfluous in our life
is and seek to chip away at it, little by little until all that remains is just dedicated
non-superfluous concepts, ideas, and material things that we so require.
(16:13):
And by avoiding the superfluous, what we generate as a result is a sharper focus on what's
in front of us.
This idea of superfluous doesn't really just apply to material goods or material pleasures,
it also applies to our past and our future.
Because sometimes our reflection on the whole sweep of life and the whole illustration of
(16:38):
what life is, may it be the past that was that caused us regrets and causes us pain,
or the future that will be, and the anxieties we have over it, can cause us to be crushed
by the overwhelming illustration of time before and after this present moment.
(17:00):
But instead if we focus on what we have to do, practically and logically speaking, instead
of wondering about what was, what could have been, or what will, or what will be, or what
could be, if we just do what is in front of us without letting our mind wander and apply
ourselves properly, we take a beam of light that is our minds thoughts and our minds potential
(17:24):
and ability, and instead of splitting it up into various little beams, we concentrate
into one beam that looks straight ahead and focuses on what is in front of us.
And this touches into the idea of courage, because while we have this discipline, this
temperance, that is the second virtue of stoicism, may it be through avoiding the superfluous,
(17:47):
focusing on what's in front of us, or equipping our body so that it can fight for our mind,
courage is a necessity before all of this.
Because while we can cultivate self-discipline, while we can be unrestrainedly moderate in
whatever we do, to take this leap, to take this leap of faith or jump in that direction,
(18:12):
we must take counsel of our fears, and have the courage to push past them.
Rather take counsel in the sense of take count rather, not really counsel as in take their
advice but take counsel as in take count of it.
But rather if we take counsel or the advice of our fears, what will happen is we'll
never make that leap into growth.
(18:32):
We'll never take that leap of faith into the right direction.
Because remember, if life had certainty, if we knew everything that would happen to us
in the next moment, day, week, month, or year, we would never require courage.
All we would have is just us knowing what's happening in front of us at every single point
(18:54):
in time, and no courage because we would just know what to do at all times.
But that's not the case.
99.9999% of things in our life we cannot control.
Other drivers on the freeway, people's reactions to people's moods to what you say, the words
(19:17):
of people intended to harm or hurt you, or the various situations you could find yourself
in on a daily basis.
These all you cannot control, but what you can control is how you respond to situations
and the quality of your thoughts based on these situations, based on these people, and
based on whatever else comes in your way or comes onto your way.
(19:42):
And so what happens is someone with no courage, in this case, classified as a coward, just
waits for these stares that'll never come.
One of the four most stoic quotes that I remember reading and internalizing in my head was this
idea of not necessarily waiting for the plane to perfectly land on the runway and have every
(20:07):
single opportunity set up in front of us with absolute precision and certainty before we
take a leap.
Ryan Holiday in his books talks about the idea of taking a leap or jumping into an opportunity
or something before we're completely ready.
Because what will happen if we don't is we will talk ourselves out of it, illustrate
(20:31):
that we're not ready for this opportunity because we have imposter syndrome, or we're
not good enough, or we're too good, waiting for an opportunity that will never come.
And so the purpose of courage is for us to not fear what we'll miss, but rather fear
what will happen if we don't act.
(20:53):
And how we do that is we position ourselves into a place or a location that demands us
to leap, that demands us to take the next step, the leap of faith, before we're completely
ready.
Because then only we can engage our self-discipline to push forward the spark of courage that
(21:14):
is required to take this leap of faith.
And so you may think that around us we see a lot of individuals that are talented, that
have everything quote unquote down, they know exactly what they're doing.
And a lot of us have something called fundamental attribution error, where we attribute mistakes
(21:38):
that we do to external situations, but mistakes that other people do to themselves.
And if we were to apply this psychological concept to the idea of having everything down
quote unquote, or being someone of high power, prestige, and precision, a lot of us attribute
(22:03):
this kind of ascension to innate natural talent.
But we attribute our growth, our work, to our grit, our determination, our discipline.
So it's important to kind of see that if you're fighting a battle of determination, grit, and
(22:24):
discipline, everyone is fighting the same exact battle around you.
And very rarely do we see someone with innate talent rise to a prominent position.
Everyone has put on the grit, the hours, the work, the discipline, to get to a point.
(22:44):
No one really usually gets their natural talent.
And the benefit of discipline and grit cultivated by the initial courage is that people's grit
goes up over time.
If you find yourself holding yourself to a high set of sense of discipline in one field
(23:06):
of your life, may it be working out constantly or reading for a certain amount of time every
single day, what you will find is that other parts of your life will start to fall in place.
Because discipline is contagious, not only amongst individuals, but amongst your habits
and amongst your own self.
And that's why it's so important to cultivate this discipline.
(23:28):
It doesn't have to be from 0 to 100, it can be from 0 to 5, 5 to 10, and the 10 will
become 40 before you know it, and the 40 will become 80 to 100 in no time.
But if you focus on this idea of the future and avoid what's in front of you, you will
(23:48):
not get to 10, let alone 40 or 100.
And these numbers refer to like percentages of your own self that is disciplined.
And so one way you really can bring upon this discipline seems a little bit counterintuitive.
It's based on the idea of seeking discomfort, which in this case can be seen as perpendicular
(24:16):
or opposite to that of pleasures.
Because a lot of us spend the majority of our life building these walls in between anything
unpleasant or anything non-pleasure giving.
But what we don't realize by building these walls is that we don't understand how dependent
it makes us.
(24:37):
Because it makes us seem like the whole point of success is to never have struggle, never
put in more effort in a place of discomfort knowing what to do what is right, but just
have everything on demand.
And who would really choose negativity?
(24:57):
Who would really choose something that may cause them to not experience full pleasure
when ease is there?
But that's what we must do.
We must take that leap of faith or put that work in to get to success based on seeking
(25:19):
discomfort and continue to seek it even when we reach the top of our mountain.
Because whether or not we like it, success breeds softness.
Success breeds fear.
And one of the benefits of success is that we get comforts, we get creature comforts.
And what happens as a result of the success going to our head or lasting for a long time
(25:44):
is that we get softer, we get more fearful of losing what we achieved, and we become
afraid.
The courage that brought us to this point has now dissipated, and all that we're left
with is just a longing for what once was.
(26:04):
So by seeking out this discomfort every single day, every single time we have a chance to,
we toughen ourselves up.
We accept successes for what they are, but we're not satisfied with them.
Not out of unrestrained ambition, but rather focusing on what's in front of us and building
ourselves up to the path of self-mastering.
(26:27):
It's kind of this idea of building a sword or crafting a sword.
So this treatment of discomfort is how you would temper a sword, because we expose it
for a brief instance to heat and then cold, forcing through this metaphor our bodies to
change and adapt to different scenarios, different situations, different people, and as a result
(26:53):
we harden our bodies, we harden our minds, and we are not so thrown off by failures and
do not revel in the pleasures of success for an extensive period of time, because we know
to avoid the superfluous, to focus on what's in front of us, and to build up our body so
(27:15):
that it doesn't disobey the mind when the time comes.
Because the person who has the upper hand over their body, one who doesn't listen
to every single desire for pleasure that the body or mind puts in to us, the one who seeks
discomfort and builds self-discipline through unrestrained moderation, one who does not
(27:41):
fear change, discomfort, the reversal of fortune, and sees pain and pleasure with equamity is
harder to defeat.
And how we do this is we practice temperance in times of plenty.
When there is everything in front of us, when we are on the top of the world, one would
(28:03):
think that is the point in time for us to enjoy the many avenues of life or the many
pleasures that life has to offer, but we must rather practice temperance then, because when
it does disappear, or if it does disappear, we are ready.
(28:25):
We have not softened ourselves up to such a point that any push, slight push off balance
can throw our entire philosophy out the window and bring us to a very low mental state, but
rather that when and if these kinds of things happen, by practicing temperance, we are ready.
(28:47):
4.
The change that life can bring on a moment's notice.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode on the idea of calling the mind, understanding
the benefits of treating our body like a temple, but also working ourselves so that it does
listen to us when we want it to or need it to, avoiding the superfluous aspects of life,
(29:14):
and focusing on what's in front of us, understanding the idea of courage that emblazons the discipline
that makes a large part of us, and the idea of putting in the work and the hours to build
our grit and self-mastery, primarily by seeking discomfort.
If you would like to hear more content in the realm of Stoicism or the realm of spirituality
(29:39):
where I look through the Bhagavad Gita and attempt to extract philosophical concepts
from there, feel free to check out this podcast and other episodes I've published over the
last few months and year.
And if you would like to hear more short-form content, clips from my podcast, feel free
to follow me at Stoic Spirituality on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
(30:02):
At Stoic Spirituality, no space in between.
Thank you so much for listening, and see you guys next time.
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