1. On Work
1.1. “Work nourishes noble minds.”
1.2. So-called pleasures, when they go beyond proper measure, are but punishments.”
2. Self Control
2.1. Those who lack self-control live disoriented and disturbed lives.
2.1.1. Impulse Control
2.1.1.1. Emotional Intelligence
2.1.1.1.1. Daniel Goleman
3. Clarity of Purpose and Direction
3.1. Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is sailing, no wind is the right wind.
3.1.1. 7 Habits of highly effective people
3.1.1.1. Habit 1: "Begin with the End in Mind"
3.2. “Tranquility can’t be grasped except by those who have reached an unwavering and firm power of judgment— the rest constantly fall and rise in their decisions, wavering in a state of alternately rejecting and accepting things. What is the cause of this back and forth? It’s because nothing is clear and they rely on the most uncertain guide— common opinion.”
3.2.1. Outwitting the Devil Within - By Napoleon Hill
3.2.1.1. Drifting is the most common cause of why the devil within takes over
3.3. Euthymia = “believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction.”
3.3.1. Trusting yourself
3.3.2. Self Belief
4. On Reflection
4.1. “Believe me, it’s better to produce the balance-sheet of your own life than that of the grain market.”
4.1.1. How will you measure your life?
4.1.1.1. Clayton Christensen
4.2. “I will keep constant watch over myself and— most usefully— will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil— that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.”
4.3. We should every night call ourselves to an account: what infirmity have I mastered today? what passions opposed? what temptation resisted? what virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.
4.3.1. Keep a Journal/diary
4.3.2. Plan - do - Review - Improve
4.3.2.1. Fundamental of Execution
4.3.2.2. Fundamental of Life
5. On Difficulties
5.1. “I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through life without an opponent— no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you.”
5.1.1. It is the tough times that make us stronger
5.1.2. Easy times only make us weaker
5.2. “Success comes to the lowly and to the poorly talented, but the special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life."
5.2.1. Having the Grit to persevere
5.2.2. "Grit" - Angela Duckworth
5.2.3. "Getting Grit" - Caroline Miller
5.3. Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.
5.3.1. “Why then are we offended? Why do we complain? This is what we’re here for.”
5.3.1.1. We are not here for the easy stuff
5.3.1.2. We are not here for a life devoid of challenges
5.4. “Apply yourself to thinking through difficulties— hard times can be softened, tight squeezes widened, and heavy loads made lighter for those who can apply the right pressure.”
5.5. A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.
5.5.1. Accept that difficulties are a part of life and that they are GOOD for you
5.6. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
5.7. It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
5.7.1. "The Magic of Thinking Big" - David Schwartz
5.7.1.1. Attack Mindset!
5.7.2. Our inaction causes us to believe that things are difficult
5.8. Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
5.8.1. Just like working out in the gym
5.8.1.1. You have to lift more weight in order to strengthen the body
5.9. The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.
6. On Becoming Tougher
6.1. “Here’s a lesson to test your mind’s mettle: take part of a week in which you have only the most meager and cheap food, dress scantly in shabby clothes, and ask yourself if this is really the worst that you feared. It is when times are good that you should gird yourself for tougher times ahead, for when Fortune is kind the soul can build defenses against her ravages. So it is that soldiers practice maneuvers in peacetime, erecting bunkers with no enemies in sight and exhausting themselves under no attack so that when it comes they won’t grow tired.”
6.1.1. Examples of practicing poverty
6.1.1.1. Fasting
6.1.2. "My fight your fight" - Ronda Rousey
6.1.2.1. "I know that I can deal when things are bad. I can come back when things are at their worst. I'm not afraid of losing all my money or losing my career because I know I am capable of living in my car and rising up. "Once you've conquered the worst things that can happen to you, there is no need to fear the unknown. The fight is yours to win
7. The Good Life
7.1. “The good life doesn’t consist in its length, but in its use, and that it is possible— no, entirely too common— for a person who has had a long life to have lived too little.”
8. On Fear
8.1. A person's fears are lighter when the danger is at hand.
8.1.1. When the danger is not at hand - we are just imagining
8.1.2. When the danger is at hand- it is time to ACT
8.1.2.1. You don't have the liberty to just think about the fear anymore....
8.2. "The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable."
8.2.1. "We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality."