5 LESSONS on How to Think Clearly (stoicism by Marcus Aurelius)

Marcus Aurelius is one of the most famous and well-known stoic philosophers of all time he was a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 after Christ and he was the last ruler from a line later known as the five good Emperors he was in one of the highest positions of power in the world at the time and would have access to the realization of all his Temptations and desires should he wish for them but instead he dedicated his life to fairness and justice during his rule Aurelius found the time to construct a series of autobiographical writings

now known as the meditations which has become one of the most important texts within stoic philosophy in the meditations Aurelius describes guides on how to improve oneself these were mostly focused on taking a cosmic perspective and critically analyzing your judgment on yourself and others as a leader of a powerful Empire that experienced multiple wars during his rule Aurelius used his own stoic philosophy to let go of stress and worries and to be the very best and reliable leader he could be stoicism is an ancient and Incredibly famous philosophy that aside from a theory is also

a truly inspiring way of thinking and living the stoics strongly believed that doing the right thing was the key to individual happiness and that in order to do the right thing sound judgment and clear rational thinking was necessary so with that in mind in this video we will talk about how you can develop a rational mind through five important lessons that can help you think more clearly from the teachings of Marcus Aurelius before we continue check your channel subscription it is very important that you are subscribed click be a member to support us and encourage

us to make more videos lesson one train your perception Marcus Aurelius says choose not to be harmed and you won't feel harmed don't feel harmed and you haven't been one of the greatest lessons of stoicism is to take control of your perception we're used to judging everything we come across any event we experience any people we meet SES we see all of them get a value judgment something was either bad good boring fun beautiful ugly Etc this is unbeknownst to us a very exhausting practice and also one that might affect our lives for the worse

for example judging every interaction you have on a particularly hard day as awful gives the day itself an even more negative view if you label a party you went to as boring that is all it will be that one boring part of your week we often let our initial judgments of things be influenced by our emotions which means that they are most likely not entirely rational furthermore our tendency to judge every moment of Our Lives goes hand inhand with a tendency to talk in metaphors and hyperboles that make things seem worse if you get dumped

by your partner you might say your ex broke your heart instead of the fundamental fact that they no longer feel for you the way they used to this way of speaking or rather this way of thinking shapes how you feel it is not the actual event that makes you feel bad but rather the way you unconsciously choose to think about it the stoics in contrast encourage people to be careful to judge everything you come across and the things that you do and one of the ways to be careful is to undo your judgments which essentially

means to look past them to be able to forget your first instinct and to judge something through a more optimistic and reasonable lens you can try to reframe that boring part party in your mind as an event where you got to see a new place and meet some new people okay afterwards you might note that you didn't really resonate with anyone but you didn't go in with the expectation of negativity as such practicing not to judge everything based on your first instinct and emotion is the very best way to start training your perception on life

whenever you think about anything in an opinionated way try to ask yourself is is this rational what have I based my opinion on is there a better or more positive way to interpret this Marcus aelius stressed that harms can only be if you consider them as harms this means that any hard experience you went through seems harder and worse the harder and worse you consider it to be as such you have complete control over how much certain situations affect you the stoics also encourage you to see every bad thing that happens as an opportunity or

source for good as an exercise of training your perspective in a stoic way there is a challenge called turning the obstacle upside down when a new coworker is a slow learner and their mistakes affect the company's profits you might feel frustration this co-worker is an obstacle to what you are trying to achieve Effectiveness efficiency and profit however this situation can also be an opportunity for good it is an opportunity for you to exercise and practice patience to become a better teacher to learn how to integrate new people into the company and how to handle stressful

times all of these are skills that will also be useful later and should also help you increase profits in the long run as well on this subject Marcus Aurelius famously said the impediment to action advances action what stands in the way becomes the way so all in all instead of judging everything you come across in an exaggerated sense sense take the time to look at things as they objectively are and you might find that life is simpler and clearer than you thought every situation has a more positive interpretation and a more negative one when you

adjust your mindset accordingly you will find that nothing bothers you as much as it used to and you will get through life much more easily two learn to control your emotions mark aelius advises us to stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you stop being hypocritical self-centered irritable acting out of emotion is often depicted as a stark contrast to acting rationally and this is not without reason there is nothing that clouds our judgment more than our own emotions can so if you want to think clearly at all times one of the most important

skills to master is the ability to control your emotions according to Marcus or relus the emotion of anger in particular does us more harm than good contrary to what many people seem to think or try controlling your emotions does not mean suppressing them when you feel intense anger as a result of a betrayal you cannot control this anger by denying its existence to yourself or others or by pretending you're fine it will still be there no matter how deep down you push it instead controlling emotions such as anger is according to the stoics done by

redirecting emotions so when you are next experiencing anger ask yourself what you can do with that anger yelling at the one who hurt you might seem tempting but will it help you lessen your hurt or better your situation will it help the one who betrayed you be better in short think about what you are tempted to do and then ask yourself if it is helpful if not find ways to express your emotions that are helpful maybe you can achieve better results by calmly talking with the one who who hurt you explaining your feelings and trying

to see their side you could also Journal take part in physical exercise get lost in a video game or anything else that might help you let go of your anger afterward for another example take anxiety or fear you cannot simply push it down but you can redirect it instead of letting anxiety paralyze you you can use it to challenge yourself to take those actions that make you feel it and acknowledge its existence through out let's say you're too scared to ask your boss for a raise lots of people see such fear as a reason not

to do something and they allow themselves to be stopped by their anxieties others might be able to go through with it and regard their anxiety as something that is in the way and needs to be pushed down and ignored but neither has to be the case instead your fear is something that can be expressed healthily and maybe even end up being helpful for example this fear makes you you think about everything that can go wrong which can lead you to consider all the possible questions your boss might ask all the counterarguments you might get to

he this way you can brace for them and form a plan for each possible scenario but most importantly the fear provides a positive motivation to go through with it to challenge yourself and grow as a person to prove to yourself that you can to make the step not despite your fear but partly because of it and in that scenario you you can be aware of the anxiety throughout and think how awesome that I'm trying this anyway when you manage to redirect strong emotions with ease you will be a calm person no matter what and your

emotions will never lessen your ability to think rationally and make smart decisions controlling your emotions is the key to a calmer mind three exercise the dichotomy of control in the words of Marcus aelius you have power over your mind not outside events realize this and you will find strength the dichotomy of control is the distinction between what we can control and what we cannot for example the weather traffic issues or what people think about you are all outside of your control but how you dress at what time you leave and the kind of people you

surround yourself with that you can control so whenever you face a situ sitation that makes you feel a certain way ask yourself what can I control whatever you can control is a reason to act whatever you cannot control you should learn to accept and embrace without letting it affect you learning to distinguish these two things and act accordingly can clear your mind instantly a very important part of the dichotomy of control is amorfati or translated love for fate when you Embrace Life and all the circumstances it brings you you will always love life you cannot

Escape fate or decide circumstances that are out of your control but you can choose to love your life no matter what if you find that you are rejected for a job you have wanted for years you might think there is no redemption in such a situation you wanted the job tried and failed you couldn't possibly pretend to love fate in a circumstance like this however this is a misunderstanding instead of viewing the fact you didn't fulfill your ambition purely as a negative investigate what led to the negative result and use it to make a positive

move either the reason you didn't get the job was a failure on your part in which case this is something you can control you can work on those failings and try again when a similar opportunity appears in the future or the reason was an external Factor like nepotism or a personality clash with a member of the hiring staff this was never in your control meaning the opportunity never truly existed and there's no point getting upset over something that has never existed one part of accepting fate is distancing yourself from a fixed outcome and from external

markers of success if you want to be a writer for example and measure your success by the amount of sales your book makes then you will let your success be controlled by the arbitrary book Market of the time but if you choose to measure your success by how satisfied you are with your finished product or by the amount of work you put into it then you are in control of your success so by all means make sure to do everything in power to try and achieve your goals but never forget that you might not achieve

them and accept this possibility in advance if we occupy ourselves only with what is in our control and vow to accept everything that isn't the exact way it comes then one will find themselves being calm whatever happens four embrace the virtues quoting Marcus Aurelius delve deep within yourself for a Wellspring of goodness is ready to gush forth if you persist in your quest a virtue can be seen as an Excellence of character or more simply put morally upright Behavior such Behavior not only benefits you and those around you but also contributes to the greater good

stoicism Embraces the idea of an interconnected Universe where everything and everyone share a link consequently what serves the greater good eventually benefits you as well thus the stoics firmly believed that those most in harmony with reason were the ones who dedicated themselves to the broader welfare in other words they practiced virtues contrarily the absence of virtuous conduct is attributed to ignorance according to the stoics when life propels you into unforeseen circumstances virtues can be your guiding Stars directing you on the right path and keeping you grounded this is why individuals most enriched with virtue vires

often emanate tranquility and composure to embody virtuous qualities one must internalize the four cardinal virtues of stoicism wisdom Justice Temperance and courage in the stoic perspective wisdom is the ability to distinguish between good bad neutral and everything in between it entails transcending the sway of emotions allowing reason to govern what is morally just confronted with a dilemma wisdom empowers you to analyze both options with a clear mind next comes Justice wisdom is the foundation of Justice entailing a commitment to what is right and Equitable for both oneself and others the stoics regarded it as a

duty towards oneself fellow humans and society as a whole Courage the third virtue enables action even in the face of personal fear it propels you to act for the greater good or undertake tasks despite uncertainty about the outcome courage doesn't entail the eradication of fear desire or anxiety but rather the conscious decision to proceed surmounting emotional barriers lastly Temperance also known as moderation Temperance signifies maintaining a balanced path between extremes it's about exercising self-control restraint and discipline Marcus Aurelius highlighted the human trait of self-regulation setting us apart from animals Temperance prioritizes long-term well-being over fleeting

gratification consider a mundane example a bag of chips indulging in the entire bag might bring momentary pleasure yet it jeopardizes health and even mood here exercising Temperance means pausing after a few bites wisdom is instrumental engaging the right amount to consume before stopping stoicism categorizes things and actions into Goods evils and indifference seeking the good avoiding evil and embracing indifference according to personal preference were guiding principles departing from these virtues equated to fostering evil stealing disrespecting recklessness or abstaining from good indifferent actions such as taking a leisurely stroll did neither these principles offer more than

just personal betterment they Foster a state of serene composure aligning your actions with these virtues ensures you always tread the path of righteousness Guided by reason and thus cultivating a tranquil mind five Embrace a broader perspective in our concluding quote from Marcus Aurelius he eloquently Echoes Plato's wisdom whenever you want to talk about people it's best to take a bird's eye view and see everything all at once adopting a wide-angle view is a remarkably vital aspect of achieving mental Clarity in the hustle and bustle of life we often find ourselves entrenched in the midst of

every issue each challenge feeling feeling as if it carries the weight of the World Imagine being part of a small crowd it might appear as if the entire city is suffocating in congestion yet shifting your Vantage Point just a few steps away can reveal an entirely different reality in essence when we detach and contemplate the grand tapestry of our world and existence we realize how minute our personal experiences are and how infinitesimal we are in the vast scheme of things this shift in perspective unveils the expansive realm beyond our immediate encounter often people Overlook the

truth that their own encounters and viewpoints aren't the only ones deserving of consideration even within their own lives consider someone who's had an unfavorable experience with dogs they might find it challenging to Fathom that dogs could be cherished companions to others unless they deliberately acknowledge the possibility of diverse experiences from time to time it's imperative to step back and inquire what am I neglecting or failing to grasp this introspective practice Bears multiple benefits for instance envisage having to choose between remaining in your current job or pursuing a newly available position elsewhere such a decision might

seem daunting especially if you're uncertain whether either option will fulfill your aspirations while your current job offers stability and you're wary of the additional responsibilities tied to a promotion the Allure of a better salary beckons you might feel ens snared within this dilemma however a wealth of untapped prospects Lies Beneath the surface have you contemplated venturing into a completely different field or exploring a side Venture that complements your current job perhaps immersing yourself in a passion to shift your focus away from tasks you find less appealing it's entirely plausible that numerous unexplored Avenues in life

are eluding your awareness adopting a panoramic perspective rather than fixating solely on immediate concerns significantly AIDS in informed decision- making broadening your scope isn't only valuable for determining priorities but also for shaping your opinions to form a comprehensive judgment it's imperative to consider all facets and possibilities within a given situation moreover stepping back signifies distancing yourself from personal biases and viewpoints temporarily relinquishing your desires can offer a fresh vantage point prompting you to reflect on those around you and your responsibilities towards them in the intensity of the moment you might perceive an action like littering

as inconsequential however when you pause and widen your perspective to Encompass the entirety of the world and the potential consequences if everyone were to follow suit the insignificance of your inclination to litter becomes starkly apparent in contrast to the well-being of the planet as previously mentioned the stoic firmly believed in the interconnectedness of everything in the world positing that the overall betterment of the world inherently contributes to one's personal well-being hence taking a step back to embrace a global Viewpoint rather than solely focusing on your own life holds immense significance confronted with a decision adversity

challenge or life-altering change you have the capacity to pose introspective queries whether In the Heat of the Moment or later on perhaps while strolling Outdoors or during a reflective journaling session an activity that Marcus orelus particularly advocated these questions allow you to delve deeper into your thoughts and [Music] actions you might think that In the Heat of the Moment littering is not a big deal but when you step back and think of the entirety of the world of the possibility of everybody else doing it you find see the smallness of your desire to litter in

comparison to the well-being of the world as said before the stoics thought that everything in the world is interconnected and that the general well-being of the world improves your personal well-being as well thus taking a step back and looking at the world as a whole instead of just your life is tremendously important when facing a choice hardship problem or change in life you can inwardly ask yourself some questions this can be in the moment or later on perhaps when you're thinking through your day whether while out for a walk or when journaling about them something

Aurelius was a particular fan of the most common questions to ask yourself are what could the long-term effects of my choice action be how could someone else's perspective on this differ from mine do I know somebody in a similar situation or with similar goals to mind that could help does my choice action affect my well-being does it affect the well-being of those around me are there any choices I have not considered yet taking the time to consider all aspects of the world helps yourself in the way that it helps you understand your actions thoughts life

and choices more clearly and it helps yourself in the way that it allows you to help the world when you consider the the whole picture you will always have an overseeing view that leaves you free from unnecessary restraint bias or doubt if you enjoyed this video please make sure to check out our playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness using ancient philosophical wisdom don't forget to subscribe and if you can become a channel member thanks so much for watching stay with the Creator