Weekly Quote: Seneca on Delaying Your Anger
These ancient words from Seneca ask you to remember a foundational part of Stoic philosophy: delaying your reaction to anger offers a few moments to find the correct response. This action can bring clarity in the best cases and, at minimum, may allow you to quiet yourself and mute what could be an unreasoned response.
Try this. It takes practice and will only work some of the time. Yet, when it does, you will feel differently, like you’ve made less of a mistake, and that makes this effort worthwhile.
You can find Letters From a Stoic in both print and audio. Ryan Holiday’s The Lives of the Stoics is also an excellent resource to learn more about Seneca and the other Stoic philosophers.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on Gaining Confidence From Empathy
Ryan Holiday reminds us about the strength of empathy from Courage is Calling: Fortune Favors the Brave. Understanding the context of where a person is in their life means you’ll be able to meet them where they are instead of pushing or pulling them unnecessarily.
This idea is helpful and worthy of your attention anywhere, whether at home with your kids, at work with the team you lead, at the grocery store, or anywhere. Everyone goes through stuff. The more context you have, the better prepared you will be.
Weekly Quote: Austin Kleon on Letting the Right Stuff In
This week’s quote comes from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon.
Austin's reminder is simple. Control the inputs where you can. Read the books that inspire you. Spend time with your family. Call your best friend from middle school and talk for twenty minutes while your kids nap. Find people who make you better and listen to them. Just be prepared to do that for others, too. Your inputs inform who you become; you must be your best for others too.
Weekly Quote: E.B. White on Wonder
This week’s quote comes from the author and essayist E.B. White. White spent nearly his entire career at The New Yorker, wrote classic children’s books, including Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet of the Swan, released several essays and collections of his work, revised The Elements of Style, and contributed to the voice and style of a generation of writers.
He also gave excellent advice with this simple quote from Charlotte’s Web. We spend a lot of our time distracted. We take incredible things for granted, perhaps because we can see anything we want to with a quick web search. Maybe it loses meaning when it’s all there for the taking virtually.
Listen to the birds. Open your eyes. Look at the horizon as you go for your morning walk. Glance around at those waiting in line at the coffee shop. Put your phone away when you come home from work. The emails can wait. No, they really can. Your partner and children need you. You need them too.
It takes practice to get good at this. Everyone struggles. Make today count.
Weekly Quote: Embracing Perspective for Personal Growth with The Practicing Stoic
This quote from The Practicing Stoic reminds us that taking a broader view offers perspective, something of value that we all need more of.
Good or bad, whatever is happening right now won’t last forever. In fact, It probably will be over sooner than you expect. Time is indifferent to our joy and sorrow. It just moves ahead. Our best bet is to understand how we fit into the bigger picture.
Take some time today to pull back the camera for a wider view. Write in your journal and reflect on all of this, then use what you learn to become a better human.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Weekly Quote: Finding Clarity in Motion with Thomas Mann
On a beautiful day last week, I loaded my son into the stroller and walked through a nearby park. We do this regularly, although this time, my primary focus was to find clarity around a difficult decision.
About twenty minutes into the walk, my conscious thinking had gently drifted into unrelated topics. I was considering the birds and beautiful sunshine, thinking about what to make for dinner, and recalling how much my children have changed in the last year. I was becoming more relaxed, but my subconscious was working.
We wandered quietly for another fifteen minutes. Then I took my iPhone from the cupholder of the stroller, opened my Personal Reflection journal in Day One, and began using voice-to-text to dictate my stream-of-consciousness thoughts on the situation.
We arrived home shortly after, me feeling relieved and my son ready to play. The day moved on. It wasn't until that evening that I had a chance to review what I had dictated. I was surprised by what I read. I was able to come to new conclusions and organized a jumbled mess of thoughts into something actionable.
The walk with my son isn't the first time I've had this experience. I've learned that movement is a force multiplier for separating meaningful thoughts from distractions. Dictation is a helpful tool, a bridge to push those thoughts to where real work can begin. The result of combining these two actions can be clarity.
Our ancestors and their distant relatives knew this too. While their lives were different in so many ways from our modern existence strewn with convenience and comfort, the human concerns that they struggled with were very similar to what we deal with today. They knew the power of movement. We need to relearn it. It can be the difference between feeling stuck in the mud and finding the path forward.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Weekly Quote: Tiago Forte on The Second Brain
This week’s quote comes from Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. I’ve been familiar with Tiago’s work for some time. Still, it wasn’t until a series of conversations over the last month with my friend Jim from Original Mac Guy that I decided it was time to dig into this book and give the approach further consideration.
I have lots of data, ideas, and things collected in too many places. I need a better system as I do more and create more. I hope this book can help me learn how to accomplish that
I’ll share more thoughts as I go through Tiago’s book. I’m taking it slow, trying to make highlights and digest and reflect on what I’m reading.
I send a monthly newsletter about the power of reading and journaling, the benefits of finding focus and productivity through intentionality, and how tech can help you grow in the ways you want. I also share a recommendation of something I'm enjoying or finding helpful. You can read past issues and subscribe here.
Weekly Quote: Cato the Elder on Embracing the Wisdom of Others
This week’s quote comes from Cato The Elder. Cato was a Roman soldier, senator and historian who was also the first Latin prose writer of importance.
At the start of a new week, remember this quote. We must be open to learning from others, regardless of our perceptions about what they may or may not know. Those perceptions are often based on the biases we hold and bring around as unwanted emotional baggage.
Remain discerning, but do not rashly refuse, as Cato reminds us, just because you believe you already know what they will say. You may be surprised by what others know.
Weekly Quote: Ryan Holiday on Overcoming What Other People Think of Us
This week's quote comes from Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday, reminding us that we shouldn't let what others think get in the way of being who we are and accomplishing what is most important to us.
The vast majority of people aren't paying attention to you or, honestly, anything else. Instead, they're distracted by social media, exhausted by life, or obsessed with what others think of them.
While many people aren't paying attention, you are. This makes a difference.
Make this your superpower. Don't let your perceptions of what others think stop you.
Be the parent you want to be because you aren't worried about embarrassing yourself for being silly on the playground. Buy the car that suits your needs rather than the more expensive one because no one will notice. Be responsible and fruitful at work, but remember to shut things off when you go home to be with your family because most of what will come up can wait until the morning.
Do not live with the manufactured fear of others' opinions. Be bold and take inspiration by remembering the few who are watching you and who matter. Your friends and family, trusted colleagues, and mentors, they are paying attention because they care.
Weekly Quote: Reframing Problems with Insights from Todd Henry's The Daily Creative
This week’s quote comes from The Daily Creative by Todd Henry. Todd has written five books and founded The Accidental Creative, where he shares insights, workshops, keynotes, and other resources for creative people and teams.
When his clients get stuck, Todd urges them to ask themselves, “what are we really trying to do here?” This simple but easily ignored question offers a chance to reframe the situation, bringing a new perspective and an opportunity to move forward on a project or task. It’s not a panacea, but it can help get the gears moving again.
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Weekly Quote: Princess Leia Organa for Star Wars Day
background image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling
This week’s quote comes from Princess Leia Organa, delivering this well-known line in Star Wars: A New Hope.
In this iconic and memorable scene, Leia’s distress message is delivered by R2-D2 with the assistance of C-3PO to an awe-struck Luke and a knowing Obi-Wan. This scene sets the stage for much of the story and introduces us to something called The Clone Wars, explored in greater detail in the prequel trilogy, and animated series released several decades later.
I wrote a little about my love of Star Wars last year, and my enjoyment of the universe continues with shows like Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandolorian as well as my current favorite of the Disney+ streaming era, Andor.
I’ll celebrate today by sneaking in a few minutes of A New Hope, which I began rewatching earlier this week as I worked on this post. I’ve seen it dozens of times since I was a kid, and I still get a thrill when the opening crawl begins, and the main theme music hits.
Happy Star Wars Day. May the force be with you!
Weekly Quote: Reflecting on Time With Steve Jobs
This week’s quote, shared by Laurene Powell Jobs in the introduction of Make Something Wonderful, a new curated collection from The Steve Jobs Archive featuring speeches, emails, interviews, and personal reflections from the visionary co-founder of Apple.
The quote continues:
He was compelled by the notion of being part of the arc of human existence, animated by the thought that he — or that any of us — might elevate or expedite human progress.
I believe Steve helped change how many of us engage each other and the world around us. He reminds us, both through his reflections in this book and his actions during his life, that our time here is brief, and we should shine as brightly as possible.
Weekly Quote: The Daily Stoic on the Power of Authentic Connection
This week’s quote comes from The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. An idea like this that we do our best when we don’t pretend to be someone we aren’t but instead open ourselves up and listen to others is something worth being reminded of often.
I don’t necessarily read this book every day, life is too imperfect for that right now, but I read it most days and have been doing so for years. I recommend you check it out, too. It’s worth a few minutes (almost) every day for a reminder of how to practice living a richer and more meaningful life.
Weekly Quote: James Clear on The Courage to Look Foolish
This week’s quote comes from James Clear and the May 27th, 2021, issue of his 3-2-1 Newsletter.
The quote continues:
“It’s not the failed outcome that paralyzes us. It’s the possibility of looking stupid, feeling humiliated, or dealing with embarrassment that prevents us from getting started at all.
The first step to being courageous is being willing to look foolish.”
As I grow older, I get more comfortable with looking foolish. It’s something we should all endeavor to be better at. The potential reward from having a bias towards action is worth any temporary embarrassment.
Weekly Quote: Marcus Aurelius on The Power of Choice
This week’s quote comes from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. As you go through the week consider these words about how we can decide not to be harmed, and remember what Ward Farnsworth identifies as a first principle of practical Stoicism – we don’t react to events; we react to our judgments about them.
Weekly Quote: Publilius Syrus on the Strength of Kindness
This week’s quote is from the Latin writer and mime Publilus Syrus, who was active during the 1st century BC.
Being kind should be at the heart of motivating and connecting with those around you, whether you're a parent or a CEO. It's particularly impactful when you are called to do hard things or have tough conversations.
Practice kindness when teaching your children tough lessons or working through performance issues with team members. You can terminate someone from a job while still being kind. You can disagree and be kind. You can be kind to yourself during hard times, and as David Sparks says, treat yourself like you would your best friend.
Kindness matters, and it is not a weakness. On the contrary, it is a strength of character and a trait of someone confident and engaging. So practice kindness and hold your head high, especially during tough times or while doing difficult things. Whether it’s your children or someone on your team, people watch what you do and how you react; this is how you reveal yourself. Don’t let yourself or those who are counting on you down.
Weekly Quote: Ted Lasso on Feeling the Love
This week’s quote comes from AFC Richmond’s head coach and all-around nice guy Ted Lasso, promoting the beauty and the practicality of how much people can do when they care about each other.
Coach Ted’s big and imperfect heart is one of the reasons his namesake show has become such a beloved hit. The first season’s light and humorous approach was a beacon during the early days of the pandemic. The second season had a slightly darker tone, with a twist at the end that, with a careful rewatch of the episodes leading up to it, isn’t as surprising as it first seems. Hope abides for the third season to provide an equally entertaining mix of humor and drama. The new season premieres today. I’ll be watching, will you?
Weekly Quote: Brené Brown on Showing up and Being Seen
This week’s quote comes from Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Dr. Brené Brown. Brown is a research professor, author, and well known expert on topics including courage, and vulnerability.
Someone in your life wants more of you. They may not be able to tell you with words yet, so pay attention. If your children are young, their hugs and uncontrolled excitement when you walk through the door is the language they speak most clearly. If they’re teenagers, the thumbs up you get in reply to the loving text you sent or the wry smile your silly dad joke gets should tell you what you need to know. A spouse or friend might text during the day to say they’re thinking of you. At work, a colleague or manager may want to hear from more of you during the weekly zoom call and encourage you to share your opinion when the din of louder voices quiets.
It’s on you to show up and let yourself be seen. It’s a very Stoic idea to show up and understand that the rest is out of your control. When you do, you’ll be rewarded with a deeper connection and a better understanding of your importance to those around you. Take the risk; the reward of connection is worthwhile.
Weekly Quote: William Zinsser on Knowing When to Stop
The writer, editor, and teacher William Zinsser first published On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction in 1976. It’s sold over a million copies, has been updated several times, and is a book I sincerely enjoyed. It ends where it should. There is no flourish or grand finale, just more of what Zinsser does so well, advice from an experienced and passionate writer to those seeking to learn from him.
This idea that the story will tell you where it wants to stop is true in many aspects of our lives. The ending is often there waiting in front of us and is frequently visible to others before we see it. But, once we do, it can be a relief, an end to searching or striving when it makes more sense to slow down and set our gaze upon a new beginning.
Weekly Quote: The 12 Week Year on The Power of Daily Actions
This week’s quote comes from The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months, by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington.
This idea put forth by Moran and Lennington isn’t new, but it’s helpful to be reminded of a simple fact: What you do now impacts your future. So do yourself a favor and invest in your present to improve your outcomes. You will be better for the effort.