The Power Of A Mantra

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Use a mantra to find clarity. This is today’s guidance. I like it. I don’t know what a mantra for me would be. I have the word integrity, do what I say I’m going to do. I feel I need one for the times when I struggle. I’m in my head more and I’m noticing thoughts that I feel are holding me back and bringing some negativity into my life. I’m trying to rewire some of that thinking. I think a mantra can help. Nothing comes to me and I don’t know that I need to seek it. I feel at some point something will come to me. I think this is where meditation may help.

The Only Prize

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

The stoic talks about holding on to the things that are practical. The examples are those things that people wouldn’t think about when they thing about people with exponential wealth. Some of the 1% living in homes they purchased years ago. Athletes still driving cars that they drove as teenagers. I get it. I love the Honda brand for cars because I can buy one new or used and it will get me from point A to point B on a consistent basis. This is even with hundreds of thousands of miles on the car. They’re reliable.

I feel I’d live the same way even if I were to win the lottery. I wouldn’t go out and buy a castle. It’d be a nice house. I’d like to think it would be built with quality on a plot of land. Still it would not be overly massive. It would fit the need of our family. Ultimately, the prize is what we are willing to accept as luxury. Money shouldn’t change that.

Push For Deep Understanding

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Getting a deep understanding of things hasn’t been a struggle for me. I’m a questioner and I like to understand all the context of something. I’m not afraid to ask questions. Which has it’s downside. That’s not the point of the stoic today though. It’s to take time to truly understand something. I’ve found that it’s easier with things of interest and not so easy when things aren’t applicable or I’m not as interested in.

The Truth About Money

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

The thing about celebrities is that you either here about them or you don’t. When you hear about them it’s usually because of some break down. If you don’t it’s because they try to keep things private. The same is true for the Florida man. You either hear about the outrageous things he’s done or you don’t hear about most of them. Money has little impact on how people handle life. I believe there’s a study that says once you get over $70,000 more money doesn’t bring happiness or satisfaction in life.

Like The Notorious B.I.G said, “Mo money, mo problems.” This is why I’ve never chased more money. I got my family to a more stable place financially. Everything after that is a bonus. I’m here to explore and enjoy the rest of life. Making millions doesn’t appeal to me. I want to improve and get better. I want to take a moment and enjoy the little things in life.

Daily Stoic(s)

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Yesterday - A Morning Ritual

I have a morning ritual for work. On the weekends it’s a bit different. For the weekdays I get up and either run (if it’s above 40 degrees) or hop on the elliptical (below 40 degrees). On the weekends, Saturday I go to the farmers market and run around town for any other errands. When it’s warm on Sunday’s, I get up and golf at some point. The stoic today talks about reflection on philosophy. I don’t do that so much during those early morning rituals. I will when I’m showering after an exercise or golf. Through out the day I’m asking myself how I’m doing and how I can be better. Better even in stoicism and life in general. The past couple of weeks have been stressful and I’ve gotten out of my daily routines. It’s the ups and downs of life. I think regular rituals help.

Today - A Day In Review

This stoic talks about doing a journal at the end of the day. Reviewing the things that happen and can be improved upon. That some times falls into these stoics. Not regular enough. I do it for golf with a focus on what I learned from the golf round. I did have a period where I got out of the habit of doing that. I shot some of my worst rounds of golf. Since then I’ve picked the practice back up and I’m happy to report that my scores have continued to improve.

I like the idea of that for my life. Although it is another thing in my life that I have to do. Along with the morning rituals of the previous stoic. I work after that. Practice golf or workout. Some times both. Then I eat dinner and do what chores I can. Adding another thing makes my life even more cluttered. Still I might try it and give it a few moments out of the day of what I learned.