I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.
Monday June 28th - Rise and Shine
Get going. I haven’t done much of that this past week. It’s been a bit weird. I didn’t mean to not do the daily stoic. It just slipped my mind for several days. When I did remember I didn’t have much motivation for it. It built up each day until I’ve decided to finally address it today.
I’ve often wondered what I need to get going on in life. I’m in a good place with few struggles. Do I work more? Do I experiment and try different stuff? I’m hoping with the pandemic lifted there’s more opportunities for things. I just need to do it.
Tuesday - Our Duty To Learn
History repeats itself. It’s just dates. There are lessons from these historical things. I was listening to a podcast the other day where they talked about the horse problem. More people were able to own horses and moving to the city. This created quite the issue with manure. Eventually, cars were invented and that helped solve the problem. Apply that to today and all the doomsday things we worry about will probably be addressed by some new invention or technology. That’s why I’m not terribly worried about the future. We as a species find ways and things have gotten better since horses were a main form of transportation.
Wednesday - Stop Monkeying Around
I don’t really complain about the stuff I don’t have or how the way things are. I’m very much aware of the current state is because of me and my choices.
Thursday - The Philosopher King
Philosophy is essential for leaders. It helps make those tough decisions. It also drives ethical decisions.
Friday - Love The Humble Art
What humble are do I practice? My day job can be a bit of art. I used to practice it in the evening. I’ve stopped since finding success at my current place of work. There I am encourage to have a life outside of work. So I don’t feel the need to put more effort into. I’ve done other things outside of work that just aren’t as fulfilling.
I do believe speaking at conferences and creating content to help others is something I like crafting. I seem to do a decent job at it. I’ve started using the evening to further hone those crafts and still try to enjoy other things in life. The last year I feel I’ve honed myself and tried to become a better person. And maybe that’s my humble art.
Saturday - The Start-Up Of You
This stoic last year really helped me focus on myself. I have flaws and bad behaviors that need working on. I think looking back I’ve improved myself and some of my bad behaviors. There’s still the never ending journey, though. Much work has yet to be done. Progress is encouraging.
Sunday - Some Simple Rules
Don’t take life to seriously. Also do what needs to be done. The stoic talks about the first item on the task list. I’ve looked at my own first item and felt a strong desire not to do that thing. It can be tough.
Yesterday - A Leader leads
Work has been frustrating the last two weeks. I’m being asked to do something that requires putting a square in a round hole instead of just using the square hole. It can be a bit infuriating and bring up urges to look for a new job. I start asking if I’ve learned everything I can here and that it’s time to move onto a more advanced place. The other side of that is maybe this is where I need to be.
I’ve influenced past decisions before. I’ve changed minds with the way I do things with often can be against the norm. My team’s results have highlights and confirmed that what I’m doing, though against the grain, is producing good results. The other side of leaving is to step up and try to show a better way forward. Or at the very least shaving the square into a cylinder that fits into the round hole.
Today - A Little Knowledge Is Dangerous
The stoic talks about picking up things quickly. I’ve had this ability in life. True to the stoic I have missed out on basic and fundamental knowledge as a result. I’ve had to learn things that I hadn’t picked up the first time.
In IT security there’s a really great course called SANS 401. It’s the beginner course for SANS and has a lot of great stuff in it. I was asked to take it after being in IT for several years. I thought I was too good for it. I ended up learning a lot of the basics and fundamentals I had missed out on because of that course. It was a humbling experience.
