23 mind empowerment principles from Epictetus / Stoics

#stoics #stoicism Number one is hide what others will exploit. What we’re talking about is the arsenal for self-defense. I was originally going to call this the toolbox, but I got to thinking about it. These points that I put together have more to do with defending ourselves from those who are outside, you know, the hive mind where those people are constantly fighting to get on top. Well, they don’t stop to do that when they come into the uncanny valley where I live. They still are trying to fight to get on top of everyone else. It’s just their nature. It’s the way they do it. And they look for vulnerable things in our personalities, our traits, our lives, anything they can exploit, they will go after that. So those weak spots in your life, those things that cause you pain, they love to find out what those are. Now, if the person is a full-blown psychopath or a full-blown narcissist, I mean, they will really go after you. But the people in the hive mind, the neurotypical people, maybe not quite so much as others, but still, why take a chance? Try to hide those weaknesses and the things that cause you pain. If you can, a lot of times, we just can’t do it. Number two is this, make a kind act list. Yeah, seriously. Number three is embrace change. Number four is prepare for the worst. Number five: Value a good name. Number six, the next defensive tool is to be unlike those you dislike. Number seven: surround yourself with people you admire, who is somebody you want to be like. Number eight is don’t focus on money alone as wealth. Number nine is this, listen more than you speak. Number 10 is embrace failure as a teacher. Number 11 is think before you number 12 is be responsible. Number 13 is don’t allow others to control your mood. Number 14, we already touched on it. Number 15 is have a variety of life goals. This is number 16. Be content with your state, whatever state you’re in. I’m not talking about Indiana, not talking about California, I’m talking about your state. Number 17 is embrace humility, but just embrace humility. Number 18 is find solutions, not self-blame. Number 19 is ignore cynical critics, haters. Number 20 is this. Identify the silver lining in every circumstance. But number 21 is don’t fret. Number 22, and we’re getting to the end, is be grateful. This is not an act. This is an attitude. The act follows the attitude. So if you try to fake the attitude by creating an act, it’s hypocrisy. It’s not genuine. It’s not real. You can do that. Neurotypical people do that all the time. They live in a fake universe. They’re constantly wearing masks. And it’s okay to wear a mask, you know, because it helps you to communicate. But when it’s hypocritical, that’s when I think it becomes a flaw. And again, as I said earlier, make a list of things that people do that are positive. So be grateful. Make a list of things to be grateful for. Thanksgiving, that’s the whole, we have an entire holiday in America that is dedicated, in the United States of America, that is dedicated to being grateful, being thankful for what we have. That’s a good thing. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got, I don’t know who said this, but I’m quoting somebody else. If you’re not happy with what you’ve got, you won’t be happy with what you get. So happiness is not a collection of things you possess or even life circumstances. Happiness is a state of mind that you choose to have. Now, I can think of some really tough circumstances where it would be very difficult to be happy. But we touched on this earlier when we said just be content. Embrace your circumstances, particularly those circumstances that you can’t change. Just be grateful. If you’re not happy again with what you’ve got, not going to be happy with what you get. Number 23. And this is one that we touched on earlier, but I’m going to make it its own exclusive point. And that is success is paved with stones of failure. Don’t resent failures. Don’t resent those hard times because they are there for a reason. I guarantee you everything that you can see that was invented, when they were inventing those things, they wouldn’t even exist if they didn’t have failures on their way to making those inventions. If you got something out of this video, and I know you did, if you got something out of this video, I hope you did, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Then click the bell and YouTube will be notified by you that you were to be notified by them that you want to be notified when we upload new videos, which I try to do every day. But if I can’t think of anything, I don’t upload a video just to be making one. But yeah, subscribe, give this video a thumbs up if you think it deserves it. Don’t forget to leave a comment if you got some input to add. And if you would share this on social media, that helps us a lot. And that’s the best way you can say thank you is just helping us get these videos out.