Do This Every Day | Clarify Your Intentions

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Jan 5, 2024

Explore the significance of self-reflection and journaling, drawing inspiration from Marcus Aurelius. Discover how journaling fosters personal growth by helping us process thoughts and clarify our intentions. The conversation highlights the need for clear goals to navigate life's decisions and the dangers of ambiguity in defining success. Learn about intentional living and the transformative power of specific objectives to maintain focus and create a meaningful path forward.

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ANECDOTE

Journaling as a Safe Space

Marcus Aurelius used journaling as a safe space for self-reflection, processing stress, and anxieties.
He also used it to ask himself tough, probing questions about his soul and mind.

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ADVICE

Start a Journaling Habit

Start a journaling habit to achieve self-awareness and clarity, like Ryan Holiday who journals even on vacation.
Find a journaling method that works for you, whether it's a structured journal or a blank notebook.

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ADVICE

Clarify Your Intentions

Clarify your intentions and direct your efforts towards a specific goal, advises Seneca.
False conceptions, not activity itself, cause disturbance, according to Seneca.

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Embracing Journaling for Self-Discovery and Intentional Living

01:52 • 4min

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Navigating Life with Clear Intentions

06:03 • 2min

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Clarifying Intentions for Success

In 'The 48 Laws of Power', Robert Greene and Joost Elffers synthesize three thousand years of the history of power into 48 laws. These laws are derived from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz, as well as the lives of influential figures such as Henry Kissinger and P.T. Barnum. The book provides tactics, concepts, and lessons on how to achieve and maintain power, emphasizing prudence, confidence, and self-preservation. Each law is illustrated with historical examples and is designed to help readers understand and navigate the dynamics of power in various aspects of life, including work, social hierarchies, and politics.

On Tranquility of Mind

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Plutarch

Plutarch's 'On Tranquility of Mind' is a philosophical essay exploring the nature of inner peace and how to achieve it. The work draws on Stoic principles, emphasizing the importance of self-control, acceptance of fate, and living in accordance with nature. Plutarch's writing style is characterized by its clarity, its practicality, and its insightful observations on human nature. The essay offers practical advice on how to cultivate inner peace and overcome adversity. 'On Tranquility of Mind' remains a valuable resource for understanding Stoic philosophy and its application to daily life.

Essays

None

Michel de Montaigne

Montaigne's *Essays* are a seminal work that introduced the essay as a literary form. The book is a personal and introspective exploration of various subjects, including the human condition, skepticism, and the importance of concrete experience over abstract learning. Montaigne's skepticism is reflected in the title *Essais*, meaning 'Attempts' or 'Tests', indicating a project of trial and error and tentative exploration. The essays cover topics such as the education of children, the role of the body, illness, aging, and death. Montaigne's writing style is characterized by multiple digressions, anecdotes from ancient and contemporary sources, and quotations that reinforce his critical analysis of reality.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen R Covey

This book, first published in 1989, outlines seven habits that are designed to help individuals become more effective in their personal and professional lives. The habits are grouped into three categories: Private Victory (habits 1-3), Public Victory (habits 4-6), and Renewal (habit 7). The habits include being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, thinking win-win, seeking first to understand and then to be understood, synergizing, and sharpening the saw. Covey emphasizes the importance of personal integrity, effective time management, empathetic communication, and continuous self-improvement.

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations is a series of private writings composed by Marcus Aurelius, one of Rome's greatest emperors, as he struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. Written between 170 and 180 CE while on military campaigns, this work combines Stoic philosophy with personal observations on leadership, duty, mortality, and human nature. Through twelve books of intimate thoughts never intended for publication, Marcus Aurelius explores themes of self-improvement, resilience in the face of adversity, and living virtuously while accepting what cannot be changed.

The Daily Stoic

366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living

Ryan Holiday

Stephen Hanselman

This book provides 366 meditations on Stoic wisdom, featuring new translations of passages from Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and other Stoic philosophers. Each day, readers are presented with a Stoic lesson explained in modern language, along with advice on how to apply these lessons in everyday life. The book is organized temporally and thematically across the twelve months of the year, making it a daily resource for practicing Stoicism.

Areté

Activate Your Heroic Potential

Brian Johnson

In *Areté*, Brian Johnson combines ancient philosophy, modern science, and practical tools to help readers activate their heroic potential and live a life of excellence. The book offers 451 short insights across seven disciplines, providing a roadmap for personal growth and transformation. It is designed to help individuals overcome challenges and achieve their full potential.

The pages were a safe space. A place away from the intrigues of court. A place away from war and death and pestilence. A place to process his stress, his anxieties, his fears.

We can see in Meditations what these meditations were doing for Marcus Aurelius—they were doing what journaling can do for all of us. Give us space to think, space to calm down, space to get perspective, space to be grateful, space to remind ourselves of what’s important.

And in today's Daily Stoic journal reading, Ryan reminds us to clarify our intentions, that all of our efforts must be directed towards something which makes us less distracted along the way. When we clarify who we want to be and where we want to be we define our own success.

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