1. Don't wait for perfection
1.1. “Do now what nature demands of you. Get right to it if that’s in your power. Don’t look around to see if people will know about it. Don’t await the perfection of Plato’s Republic, but be satisfied with even the smallest step forward and regard the outcome as a small thing.”
1.1.1. Don't wait for the perfect circumstances to take action
1.1.2. Rounda Rousey "My Fight your fight"
1.1.2.1. The conditions will never be perfect
1.1.2.2. Take action in face of all the challenges around you
2. Perceptions
2.1. “When you are distressed by an external thing, it’s not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgment of it. And you can wipe this out at a moment’s notice.”
2.1.1. How you perceive a situation changes everything
2.1.2. Distress is not a result of the situation - but your judgment about it
2.1.3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
2.1.3.1. All the negative emotions arise as a result of our flawed thinking
2.1.3.1.1. Our perception about a situation
2.1.3.2. "Feeling Good" - by Dr David Burns
2.2. “He was sent to prison. But the observation ‘he has suffered evil,’ is an addition coming from you.”
2.2.1. When I was laid off the first time in 2004
2.2.1.1. Some took pity on me
2.2.1.2. Some felt bad for me
2.2.1.3. I felt sorry for myself
2.2.1.3.1. for a few days
2.2.1.4. But it turned out to be one of the best things that happened to me
2.2.1.4.1. Got a Raise
2.2.1.4.2. Moved to California
2.2.1.4.3. My life changed dramatically
2.2.2. Ties to how "The obstacle is the Way"
2.3. “Those obsessed with glory attach their well-being to the regard of others, those who love pleasure tie it to feelings, but the one with true understanding seeks it only in their own actions. . . . Think on the character of the people one wishes to please, the possessions one means to gain, and the tactics one employs to such ends. How quickly time erases such things, and how many will yet be wiped away.”
3. Handling Obstacles and difficulties
3.1. “While it’s true that someone or something can impede our actions, they can’t impede our intentions and our attitudes, which have the power of being conditional and adaptable. For the mind adapts and converts any obstacle to its action into a means of achieving it. That which is an impediment to action is turned to advance action. The obstacle on the path becomes the way.”
3.1.1. The Obstacle is the Way
3.1.1.1. They can impede our actions but they can't
3.1.1.1.1. Impede our intentions or attitudes
3.1.1.2. The mind adapts and converts any obstacle to it's action into a means of achieving it
3.1.1.3. The impediment to action advances action
3.1.1.3.1. What stands in the way - becomes the way
3.1.1.4. The obstacle becomes the Way
3.2. Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, 'This is a misfortune' but 'To bear this worthily is good fortune.'
3.2.1. "To bear this worthily is good fortune"
3.3. “You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.
3.3.1. True for all emotions
3.3.2. Circumstances don't care about you
3.3.2.1. Why would you give your emotions to them?
3.4. 3 Keys to handling obstacles in life
3.4.1. 1. Though my actions might be impeded, my thoughts, attitudes and intentions can not be impeded
3.4.1.1. 2. The obstacle has no power over my emotions
3.4.1.1.1. They are within my control
3.4.2. The impediment to action advances action
3.4.3. 3. The mind will convert this obstacle into a means of achieving my goal
3.4.3.1. This obstacle is the Way to my goal
3.4.3.2. This implies that the obstacle is good for me
4. Procrastination
4.1. Instead of being a good person today, you choose instead to become one tomorrow.”
4.1.1. You procrastinate on doing the right thing
4.1.2. You only have the power to choose to be the good person today
4.1.3. In this moment you say:
4.1.3.1. I will eat that cookie or watch a little more TV or not go to the gym
4.1.4. Spartans
4.1.4.1. Take the cookie later
4.1.4.2. In Spartan world gratification must be delayed in order to get success
4.1.4.3. "Spartan Up"
4.1.4.3.1. Joe D Sena
5. Mentors
5.1. “Take a good hard look at people’s ruling principle, especially of the wise, what they run away from and what they seek out.”
5.1.1. Jim Rohn - We are the average of the 5 people we spend time with
5.1.2. Find Mentors
5.1.2.1. Smartcuts
5.1.3. Mastery
5.1.3.1. Robert Greene
5.1.3.2. Path to mastery requires a Mentor
6. Emotions
6.1. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance— unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
6.1.1. "Emotional Intelligence"
6.1.1.1. by Dr Daniel Goleman
6.1.1.2. Ability to regulate and manage your emotions is one of the most fundamental keys to long term success
6.1.2. One of the most potent ways to build a calm mind
6.1.2.1. Meditation and mindfulness Practice
6.1.3. Titan - John D Rockefeller
6.1.3.1. The more turbulent it became, the calmer he got
6.2. "you won’t let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and you’ll stop complaining about your present fortune or dreading the future.”
6.2.1. Don't let your impulses/emotions boss you around
6.2.2. Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
6.2.2.1. Impulse control is fundamental to Emotional intelligence
6.3. “How much more harmful are the consequences of anger and grief than the circumstances that aroused them in us!”
6.3.1. Circumstances are long gone
6.3.1.1. We still think about them and seethe over them
6.3.2. The stress in our system is because of the perception more than it is about the situation
7. Power of Thought
7.1. “If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible— for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.”
7.1.1. If anyone else can do it - so can you
7.2. “Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind— for they can’t be touched by fire, steel, tyranny, slander, or anything.”
7.2.1. No one can thwart your Why
7.2.2. If your Why is big enough, you will figure out the HOW
7.3. “Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.”
7.3.1. Science of Neuroplasticity is coming to the same conclusion
7.3.1.1. Our brain physically changes in response to our thoughts
8. Other's Opinions
8.1. “I’m constantly amazed by how easily we love ourselves above all others, yet we put more stock in the opinions of others than in our own estimation of self. . . . How much credence we give to the opinions our peers have of us and how little to our very own!”
8.1.1. We are mostly selfish
8.1.1.1. We care about ourselves more than we care about others
8.1.2. But for some reason
8.1.2.1. We care about the opinions of others - more than we care about our own opinion of ourselves
8.1.2.2. We take their labels on us as truth
8.1.2.3. Our self esteem comes or goes a result of their opinion
8.1.3. We need to reverse this
8.1.3.1. Care more about others - but less about their opinions