Reducing The Chances of Depression

 “Every emotion is weak at first, but then it gains strength as it progresses. It’s easier to prevent it from starting than to stop it once it has begun.” -Seneca

To simplify Seneca’s words: Prevention is easier than medication. The best way to fight depression is to live in such a way as to minimize the risk of developing depression. Some things, such as loss, are outside of our control and can cause depression. Many things, however, are within our control and we simply fail to associate them with depression. If we don’t exercise, socialize, eat properly, sleep well, or go outside... over time, these bad habits will increase the likelihood we’ll develop depression. Often depression is, like obesity, the result of bad habits which mean that a change in lifestyle may be require in order to change our outlook on life. Mental health, like physical health, requires effort in order to be maintained. Let’s insure that what’s within our control is as good as we have the energy to make it.

On Peace

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson “The most important thing for peace of mind is never to do wrong. Those who lack self-control lead disturbed and chaotic lives; their crimes are matched by their fears, and they never find peace.” -Seneca Peace also comes from living a virtuous life. It’s more difficult for a thief to find peace than someone who lived a virtuous life as he not only has internal troubles but external ones as well - every day comes with the torment of “getting caught”. Live virtuously... “A person suffers more than necessary when he suffers before it is necessary.” -Seneca Peace is learning to live in the moment. Looking into the past brings regrets while looking in the future, at what may or may not be, brings anxiety. Live in the moment... “We are all subject to the same terms: whoever is granted the privilege of birth is also destined to die. Time separates us, but death brings us together. The time between our first day and our last is uncertain and always changing: if measured by its troubles, it seems long even to a young person; if measured by its speed, it seems short even to an old person. Everything is unstable, unpredictable, and more changeable than the weather. All things are tossed about and change into their opposites at the whim of Fortune; in this chaotic world, the only certainty is death.” -Seneca In order to find peace in this life one must overcome their fear of death. To understand life’s unpredictability and finite nature is to understand peace. What begins also has an end whether this end is tomorrow or a thousands years from now. Death will come... “Every day and every hour remind us of how insignificant we are, and they keep showing us in new ways how much we forget our own frailty; then, as we make plans for eternity, they force us to glance back at Death.” -Seneca References:

• “Letters from a Stoic” by Lucious Seneca
• “Self-Reliance and other essays” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Frustration of Lifelong Students

“To win popular approval, you must use deceit and make yourself like the crowd; they won’t approve of you if they don’t see you as one of their own. However, what you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you. The approval of unworthy people can only be won by unworthy means.”
-Seneca

There comes a point in a lifelong student's life where he'll turn his back on popular media in favor of education. Time spent watching such things as sports is time that could be invested in diligent study. Through this, the student looses part of his ability to relate with those that are still connected to popular media.

Lifelong students have to submit themselves to some of the interest of the masses as not doing so negatively impact their ability to influence. A person is much more likely to open up to you if you share an interest with them.

This almost feels like we need to put on a face in order to be able to connect with other people.

“I find myself pondering how many people train their bodies and how few train their minds! Crowds flock to the games, which are mere entertainment, while the places where good and noble arts are taught are almost empty.”

-Seneca

Seneca eloquently identified this problem more than 2000 years ago and nothing changed since. At no other time in our history has knowledge been so widely available (Seneca's work is available for free on the IOS book app) yet it did very little to help bring knowledge forward as the majority prefer to entertain themselves to death rather than going through self-education.

"Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is supposed to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, who's synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seem to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth."
-Eric Fromm

The Reader's Edge

“If you read a book a week, in a year you’ll have read 52 books. In ten years 520 books. You’ll be in the top 1% of your field. You’ll be more motivated, better educated; you’ll become the leader in your field.”

-Jim Rohn

If an employer has a choice to hire 1 out of 2 exact same people only one read 1 self-improvement book while the other didn't. Which person is most likely to be hired?

The value of a book is difficult to quantify however we instinctively know that the person who reads has "something" over non-readers. 

While reading can be an advantage, it means very little if there's no way to market it. Nobody knows which book you've read simply by looking at you. We've got to build ourselves a brand to better sell the idea that we're someone that spend a great deal of our time honing our skills. We need ways to stand out, communicate our ideas clearly, be bold.

"Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still."

-Chinese Proverb

School is for Reading and Inspiration

"There is nothing which an better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness."

-George Washington (Address to Congress, January 8, 1790)

Public school will be, to some, their only exposure to a system of education. If the educational system has failed to teach them how to read, or inspire to self-educate, then the system has failed them.

Learning is supposed to be fun...

While it's true that some things can be difficult/stressful to learn, if all the student remembers from school is anguish or boredom then how likely will he be to pickup a book later on in life?

“In a world in transition, students and teachers both need to teach themselves one essential skill—learning how to learn.”

-Carl Sagan

Self-Education and Choosing Political Leaders

Wars are fought against imaginary enemies created by leaders seeking more power. The problem isn't that those leaders have a voice to speak evil but that they're able to find an audience. All it takes is for one delusional President to spread lies for a friendly country to turn into an enemy.

Enough is enough...

Because I spend a great deal of my time on self-education, I'm now able to identify some of the absurdities being shared by Dictators. If more people prioritized their self-education, those charlatans would never be given positions of power let alone be able to spread their lies.

Would a Country benefit from screening their political leaders?

Some workplace require employees to go through security clearance, drug test, internal reviews... wouldn't it make sense to implement the same for our political leaders? Before we give a leader keys to a Country's secret, couldn't we ask:

• An analysis by a renowned psychologist to determine what are the ulterior motives (if any) of the individual..
• A security clearance...
• A physical evaluation to determine if the individual is fit to lead...
• Drug test...
• test test test...

Is this too much to ask? In-lieu of screening exercises, we get bickering under the guise of "political debates" and that's how we're supposed to choose our leaders.

“If we can’t think for ourselves, if we’re unwilling to question authority, then we’re just putty in the hands of those in power. But if the citizens are educated and form their own opinions, then those in power work for us. In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.“

-Carl Sagan

Creating our Ideology

"Mere education, however, is not enough. The important thing is the kind of education. We often hear that "education is power", but we need to remember that it may be power for life and human welfare or power for death and destruction. We can teach people to be selfish and narrow, or we can give them an education which broadens their outlook and makes them cooperative members of a world society."
-P. 212 of "Living Issues in Philosophy" book by Harold H. Titus and Marilyn S. Smith

As a kid going through school we don't really think about what sort of education we're getting. Are we directly, or indirectly, programmed to hate specific groups? Are we being influenced beyond words and numbers? Are we getting a good education?

Everyone has an ideology, including teachers, that they either consciously or unconsciously push unto others. Our responsibility is to create an ideology of our own based on experiences and what we teach ourselves.

While it's great that we live in a country where education is free, the responsibility to learn falls on us. We are responsible to take in what make sense and cut out what doesn't in order to live the sort of life that we want to live.
What is offered, for free, is essentially the basic. If everyone knows what you know then you're not standing out above the crowd. What you learn is important.

Choosing Our Problems

I once attended a leadership seminar where the speaker said "those of you who are single have single problems and those of you who are in a relationship have relationship problems... part of life is about choosing the sort of problems that you want."

Life is FILLED with problems and we get to choose some to take care of. If we play soccer, we're responsible to resolve soccer related problems. If we choose a specific career path, then we choose to resolve problems related to that career.

A friend of mine said that she wished she was married as it would resolved most of her current problems. While that may be true, marriage will introduce a set of new problems to deal with.

Of course, sometimes life forces problems unto us, such as a disease, that we have to deal with. We must learn to deal with our problems and choose the ones that best fit who we are.

The Many Distractions of Today

Never in our history have we had so much entertainment. This created a generation of individuals that knows more about the likes of “Star Wars” and very little about anything else. Important subjects, such as Politics, Economy, Law... are pushed aside in favour of imaginary worlds. This creates individuals that are ill-equipped to traverse the obstacles of the societies that allowed them these pleasures.

It is said that during the fall of the Roman Empire, as the Barbarian were at the gates of the city, the general populace wanted the Emperor to initiate "games" in the colosseum. All they wanted, as their society collapsed, was to be entertained. 

Some may say that "Ignorance is bliss" but that isn't true. Ignorance opens the door to be taken advantage of. Freedom comes with responsibility and that responsibility is to be educated enough to recognize when Freedoms are being taken away. Similar to the Romans, if all we care about is our distractions, while the barbarians are at our doors, then we may end up loosing our freedoms.

Allow yourself to be entertainment but also remember that you, as a citizen, have a responsibility to uphold the freedom that was given to you.

Everyone is a “Work in Progress”

I recently met someone who put a great deal of effort into her self-improvement. She felt like she was the only person in the world that was as “flawed” as she was hence why she “required to be fixed”.

The reality is that everyone is a “Work in Progress” and few people realize it with even fewer people putting in the effort to improve themselves. It’s extremely rare to find someone with the desire to become the best version of themselves.

If self-improvement doesn’t feel like a positive experience it’s because it’s approached from the perspective of “everything about myself is wrong and I need to fix it”.
For self-improvement to be a positive experience, the author must first understand that the raw material is already great and whatever effort is put in will make it shine brighter. 

The first step is to find peace with who you are currently. You’re not perfect but you have redeeming qualities that makes you great. The flaws you have aren’t as big as you make them out to be.

Mindful Associations

Understanding the power of influence is an important step of the self-improvement journey. One of my mentors used to tell me that if you enter a room with 2 idiots - 3 idiots will come out. This was an example of the power of influences.

If all of your friends are smokers, than chances are high that you will also smoke. Of course, if you understand the power of influence, then you can use this to your advantage by looking to associate yourself with people of the qualities that you're looking to attain.

“Get a millionaire mentor. Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.” 

-Yvon Chouinard

My mentor also told me that he was able to determined my income based on the average income of my 5 closest friends. We can't deny that we're likely more easily influenced than we like to believe that we are. Be careful who you hangout with as you may end up like them.

How To Develop Critical Thinking

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action."

-louisville.edu

In short, critical thinking is the ability to question the information presented to you.

Reinforce your critical thinking abilities with reading...

If you read non-fiction books of similar subjects you will encounter situations where there's contradictions either amongst the authors or with your own experience. You, the reader, will need to think about who's right/wrong and that exercise is what ultimately develops your critical thinking abilities. 

Critical thinking is a lost art because not enough people are reading or being exposed to situations that requires them to think critically. Society suffers when there's not enough critical thinkers.

The Torch of Knowledge

We must learn from our ancestors, sprinkle in some of our own knowledge, and pass it on to the next generation hoping that they’ll do the same. Shame is having to relearn a lesson from the history of our civilization. We must keep pushing our understanding, perfect it, make it easier to learn, for the benefit of students that will follow in our footsteps.

Life is short - we are but carriers of the torch of knowledge. We’re but messengers in the canvas of our civilization.

Read, learn every day, become all that you’re supposed to be, share your lessons with the hopes that someone will learn from your mistakes. Make tomorrow better from your contribution.

Growing Up Is A Choice

As a kid, I would look at adults with awe because I believed that they had everything figured out. Now that I'm an adult I realize that not only do most people don't have everything figured out they're basically thinking the same way as they did when they were kids.

“Growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional.” 

-Walt Disney (or Charles Theodore Davis)

While you'll never have everything figured out, you must live your life in such a way that if you were to look back 5 years ago you can see how much progress you've made since. Gray hair, by itself, isn't a good enough indicator of how "grown up" someone is.

How do I "grow up"?

You need to plan for it as it won't happen naturally. You need constantly challenge your philosophies for life, read and associate with people that are better than you so that some of their experiences can rub off on you.

Religion is Self-Improvement if you Leave Out The Non-Sense

(Image created by A.I. DALL-E)

If you approach religious text the same way as you do with any other text, meaning that you take in what make sense and leave out the non-sense, what you're left with is a self-improvement philosophy. Religion is the predecessor of the self-improvement genre and if you leave out the non-sense you're usually left with something that can add value to your life if followed.

Lets talk about the Bible...

The Bible includes a lot of fluff because it's a combination of common beliefs that existed at the time the religious text was created. If Jesus and his followers were alive today the Bible would look very different.

It was common for Romans, for example, to sacrifices to their many Gods hence why it's not that surprising that the Bible includes stories of such sacrifices and talks about the benefits of it. 

The theory of creationism first originated in the 5th century B.C. and was a subject of discussion at the time of Christ.

The Bible has stories of incest because it wasn't considered a taboo at the time. It is said that Julius Caesar had relations with his mother.

A lot of fluff that has either been debunked or is no longer relevant yet I would argue that, if you remove it all, you're still left with something that's worth reading/understanding. The Golden Rule, The 10 Commandments, Book of Proverbs... there's still value here for those looking to better themselves.

If you're a student of life then don't turn your back on Religious text simply because you don't agree with parts of it. The people that created those documents put a lot of efforts into making something that stood the test of time and some of that foundation is not only still relevant today but also used in such genres as Self-Improvement.

"A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much."

-Proverb 20:19

Parents to Fill in the Blanks of Educations

When thinking of the educational system the general consensus is that it doesn't do enough to prepare children to be successful members of society. While I can certainly agree with this, we have to see the educational system as a stepping stone rather than an answer to education meaning that it's a start but not a complete package making the remainder, or what's missing of education, the responsibility of the parent.

Where the educational system fails most, however, is that it makes education a chore rather than something fun to do. Children aren't encouraged to learn on their own account but rather taught to listen and take in whatever is thrown at them making them passive learners rather than active ones.

Self-Improvement is, perhaps, the one skill that parents should instill upon the child. It's the responsibility of the parent to teach the child that the educational system offers basic knowledge, and college/university offers specialized knowledge, but in order to grow as a person one must take ownership of their own education beyond what is readily available via these pre-defined systems.

The difficulty here is, of course, that most parents don't consider self-improvement important themselves as they didn't learn about its importance when they went to school or from their own parents. 

There's a cycle here that must be broken which, hopefully, YOU will help break.

How to Find Your Purpose

"Without a strong sense of values and of direction, the human spirit tends to weaken or deteriorate." 

-Harold H. Titus & Marilyn S. Smith

If you feel that you're alive for a reason but are frustrated that you don't know what that reason is then consider the following to help you find it. 

• Set/Accomplish small Goals: A purpose is a life goal that works the same way as smaller goals. Set yourself some small goals to practice for when you find what drives you - your life mission.
• Dedicate time to it: Similar to getting fit, finding your purpose requires time dedicated for it. You won't find your purpose by re-watching Friends.
• Stay Away from Distraction: Whether it be social media, streaming, gaming... all these things are distracting you from finding out what your purpose is.
• Try new things: If you haven't found your purpose doing what you're doing then try something new.
• Be Curious: Ask questions to those you feel have found their purpose.
• Learn new things: Learn about things that are outside of your area of expertise.
• Travel to new Places: A friend of mine found that her purpose was travelling by... well... travelling. Another friend of mine found that he wanted to be a teacher by going to another Country and teaching English.
• Make new friends: Social interactions can be a good way to find your purpose.
• Be Patient: Your purpose may come to you later in life.

Many people go through life without finding their purpose but that doesn't mean they haven't lived fulfilling lives. One thing is for sure, however, is that you won't find your purpose unless you put forth some effort to find it. These things don't tend to come up by staying in bed.

Reading Struggles

My dad admitted to me that he didn't like to read because he had problems remembering what he had just read. I think we can all relate to this to a certain point. Some people have Dyslexia or other learning difficulties that adds up to the difficulty of learning new things from books. I would argue, however, that most people don't have any problems other than they get discourage too easily when attempting to read a book. 

The following are things that anyone that wants to read anything should keep in mind and be at peace with:

• You will not remember everything that you read: This is normal as not everything that you read will have a significant impact to leave a mark.
• Not everything needs to be remembered: Authors usually adds a lot of "fluff" to books that don't necessarily need to be remembered.
• You will not understand everything that you read: Some authors like to use fancy words to describe things which may confuse the reader.
• It's okay to take notes of what's important: Taking notes is a great way to remember the parts that you actually need to have remembered. Some like to write notes, or highlight, directly in their books but I usually prefer having a notepad on the side where I'll write important paragraphs along with some thoughts.

Reading is a form of meditation and, like meditation, is something you get better with over time. Don't get discourage if you struggle with a book. Give it time and you'll get it!

Fear - The Long, or Short, Battle

Have you ever been afraid of speaking infront of a crowd? Talking to a potential mate? The easiest thing to do in the moment is often to run away of the things that we're afraid of but when ever we do then the fight becomes trying to be at peace with the regret that ensues. 

If we don't face these fears then the work becomes trying to be a peace with the regret felt whenever that event pops up in a memory.

Face these fears and the fear disappears but run away from them and they will stick for a long time afterwards.

Talk to that person... speak infront of that crowd ... make the career change... You'll regret not doing it and you may not a chance at these things later on. It's now or never!

The Priorities - 2021 Edition!

Every once in a while, I write about priorities trying to figure out a universal order for it something that most can agree upon as being the correct order of things and something to thrive towards. The following is my updated list:

1. Health: If your Mental/Physical Health isn't on track then everything else on this list becomes more difficult. Regardless of how many time I review these priorities, this always comes at the top.
2. Self-Improvement: Self-Improvement goes beyond official schooling - it's a lifelong process. We're all students in the school of life and we should learn until the day we die. Education doesn't guarantee success but it does help in all areas of life.
3. Freedom: Learn about the governmental system of your country and get involved if only to give your opinion. Freedom is important and it's our responsibility to insure that it's not needlessly taken away by those in power. Without freedom, the everything on this list becomes more difficult. This comes after self-improvement because you need a knowledgeable opinion.
4. Relationship: Being successful means little if you don't have anyone to share it with.
5. Finance: It's not about being a millionaire as much as being financially stable. The financial system is all around us and it's important for all of us to know how to swim in it.
6. Fun - Why is this here? Well it's here because we seem to forget that we also need to find some enjoyment in life. While the other items on this list may also be enjoyable, this one is to set some time aside for the activities that you enjoy most.

The above are the priorities in the order I feel they should be... but if you were to look at my life today, you would probably see the priorities as follow:

1. Finance: I've been fortunate enough to be able to save and invest money during these toughs times. Budget is more important to me than ever as we never know what tomorrow will bring especially when Covid is around.
2. Fun: During Covid, I've tried to find many escape and "fun" seem to have been the focus.
3. Health: Nutritious meals, or a good workout, is a bit more difficult to come by again because of Covid. I'm one that seeks the comfort of junk food during difficult times and it's a bit difficult to control these urges.
4. Freedom: The focus of most Governments right now is on Covid and the Canadian Government has been, for the most part, an example for other Countries to follow. As I'm writing these words, a few provinces are about to go back to "Green" (normal).
5. Self-Improvement: My reading/learning time has been spent on new boardgames I'm trying to learn (Fun). While this is still "learning", it's not really learning anything useful hence why I haven't put this high on my current list.
6. Relationship: I've never been that good at keeping in touch with friends. This has become even more of a problem during Covid. 

Do you agree with my list? Comment below!