Fighting Beside Seneca

With so many versions of 12 Rules to Live By published lately, how could I not? Here you go… Accept in your soul that life is short and live like it . Do not go gentle into that good night. Life is not fair… never has been, never will be. Know that fact and move on. Focus on what you can control . Take action on that. Accept and let go of the rest. (By the way, you can’t control what others think or say or do…) Advocate for yourself. Take care of your health, become educated (however you can do so & libraries are free), look out for what matters to you. And shut down that voice in your head. Life must have goals. If you don’t push yourself, you don’t grow. Self-esteem comes from achievements. To live is to fight. (or, in the words of Seneca: vivere militare est ) Like it or not, every day is a fight. Even if only against yourself. You must define success for you. There is always more… most know less. You are not special. We are all children of God. Every person is ...

On most any list of admired or preferred personality traits you will find confidence . Why? Do you actually think that competence precedes confidence? Of course, we must start with definitions. Oxford for this one. Confidence: a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities Right. Because that’s reliable. A feeling… One’s appreciation of one’s own abilities… You need not be a sage to recognize that plenty of people have unearned and unreasonable “confidence”. Every Washington, DC politician is confident. Yes, those intellectual giants. Every CEO that has ever run a business into the ground was confident. There seems to be no more important trait to instill in your children these days. Shouldn’t they actually do something first? Might confidence get in the way a bit? Might humility be preferable? Epictetus, the slave who became a famed Stoic philosopher, said: “ It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already kn...

I considered the title Rethinking “Selfishness” , but advocate is such a powerful word let’s go with it. I often refer to definitions because words mean things, and those things matter. It’s important to consider two here. Advocate: to support the cause of; to speak or write in favor of Selfishness: seeking personal advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others I have always been struck by the fact that when Jesus was asked which commandment was greatest*, he answered that “You should love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”. He went on, “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. As yourself! Not that loving your neighbor is always easy, but Jesus’ working assumption here is that you love yourself! Prefer Buddhism? Fine. Buddha said, “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”. Maybe philosophy is your thing. In the Enchiridion, Epictetus...

There are many models for achieving your goals. As simple as this one is, it covers the elements that I think are necessary to get started, stay focused, and hit your target. ·          Decide o    Commitment o    Alignment of subsequent actions ·          Plan o    Develop an understanding of obstacles o    Defined actions & timelines to address o    IN WRITING ·          Execute o    Concerted effort on planned actions o    Review progress & reflect o    Iterate plan, as required ·          Achieve o    Will to push through to the end o    Reflect on your WHY o    Celebrate If you have not read, “What you want to do does not matter…”, start there. Making the decision to ...

I once read an Inc. magazine article where the author, a leadership expert, lamented the phrase “it is what it is” as stupid, dangerous, and, ultimately, the abdication of responsibility. Might some use the phrase in that manner? Sure, we have the ability to bastardize and destroy most anything. However, I could not disagree more! I, too, have used those very words and in a leadership context. Why? For the simplest of reasons… If you are unwilling to accept circumstances for what they are, you cannot address them. More than the words, the underlying meaning is critical here. Any challenge, any difficulty you may face, will only be made worse if you are unwilling or unable to see it for what it is and accept it. Those difficulties do not care how you feel. Those difficulties do not care if you take action. Those difficulties do not care if you search far and wide for another to blame. Merely wishing something to be different, will not make it so. If, however, you can accept a...