Daily Stoic(s)

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

Tuesday - To Each His Own

The last time I flew off the handle was not a pretty sight. I beat myself up fairly literally. I feel like I’m starting to handle things better. Every once and a while though there’s this huge blow up. I am probably having less of them.

Wednesday - Cultivating Indifference Where Others Grow Passion

I feel I’ve cultivate quite a bit of indifference over the past year. That does seem to have a downside in that I feel I have a lack of purpose. I look at people passionate about something that I’m indifferent to. It gives them purpose and something to strive for. I don’t know that picking up something and not becoming indifferent is the answer.

Thursday - When You Lose Control

I feel like I regain my composure after falling so far. Right now I feel very composed, yet, I had a very tough week. Both from work and emotional stand point. I feel I’ve had to take a step back instead of just following into the same habits of things. Those are both good and bad habits. Maybe that is something I should try again in the future.

Friday - You Can’t Always (Be) Get(ting) What You Want

I’m a person that has many interests. That can sometimes lead to the scenario from the book. I can become unbalanced from too many things going on. I’ve recognized this before and cut back quite a bit. Now though I don’t feel as if I’m doing enough or I’m focused on the right things. Which makes me curious if I’m still doing too much. I do recognize that with the cold there are fewer things to do and that can lead to feelings of wanting to be able to do those things.

Yesterday - Where Philosophy Begins

Doing a daily stoic for a year and further has really helped me tap into my own feelings. The study of philosophy has helped me readjust and re-prioritize some of the things in my life. I’m more in tune with my feelings and I’m finding some interesting insights. Like sleep for example. I didn’t realize how much I was pushing through feeling exhausted just to do certain things. I’m trying to get more rest and do things that will help me feel more energized instead of trying to push through it.

Today - Accurate Self-Assessment

When I was younger I held myself back. As I got older I started to realize I had a lot of potential to fill and started working towards that. To this day I don’t hold myself back. I do sometimes overestimate worth and value I bring to a relationship. It’s a tough gut check and it’s been valuable to realize that I’m not as great as I think I am. I don’t want to fall too far down though because that could potentially lead to depression or under-performance.

It has helped at work because I’ve realized that I’m just a small piece in a much larger cog. This has allowed me to get over things that annoy and frustrate me at work. I still believe I provide a lot of value to the company and so do a lot of other people.

A Functioning Society

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done.

The action point asks what the emerging government in Iraq has to do to become legitimate and what must the government do to create status and function for Iraqis. The book was written in 2004, so we can probably go look now to see what happened.

In 2005 the Federal Government of Iraq was formed. The executive branch includes a President and a Council of Ministers. The legislative branch has Council of Representatives and a Federation Council. The judicial branch contains a Higher Judicial Council, Supreme Court, and Central Criminal Court. It seems Iraq has taken on a similar government to the United States and other democratic countries.

The government being formed is one thing. A functional society is another. After the overthrow of the government there were a lot of people with agendas who entered the country and began a guerilla war. Two books I’ve recently read are Black Hearts by Jim Frederick and Team of Teams by General Stanley McChrystal. Black Hearts documents some of the problems and issues starting in 2005. Team of Teams on the other hand highlights the adjustments the fighting forces had to make to deal with the guerilla fighting.

The Smoke And Dust Of Myth

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

We’re all just dust in the end. The stoic talks about not letting emotion such as anger or resentment into our lives because in the end we’re all buried in the ground. Instead we should enjoy life. Enjoy the little moments that make life what it is. I feel I’ve come to this place. I don’t have ambitions to go any higher in my career. I’m happy with where I’m at. This allows me to step away from work even when there’s work to be done. Every once and a while there’s a later day. Overall though if it isn’t needed immediately I’m happy to walk away and focus on my free and family time.

Terrorism and Basic Trends

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done.

The action point is to write down three basic social trends that the business is based on and are these trends still intact. The three social trends my company is based on is that the healthcare system is an unwieldy mess. We’re trying to be disruptive in the space. Companies wanting to reduce costs will look to our company to take control of rising healthcare costs for workers. Those are the big two. I think both are still intact and becoming more and more of an issue. A third could be something along workers taking more control of their own health and work providing more and more of that opportunity.,

The Real Source Of Harm

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

The real source of harm comes from within not from outside. I choose how I respond to things people say and do. Last night I hit myself in the mouth with my headphones. I started to get angry and then took a deep breath. It still took some effort to no get upset. It hurt. I choose though to get over it and move on. I don’t even remember the pain as much today.

I tell my kids this when they’re upset something hasn’t gone there way or they’re battling with their sibling. They choose to react and to respond. They had a choice in the matter made a bad one and are now either upset or crying because of it.