Let’s keep the momentum going, so here’s Day 2 of the best Stoic quotes for whatever you may meet in your day ahead. In case you missed it, here’s Day 1. Hopefully these can serve as your daily reminder to stay focused on your personal development. Perfection isn’t the goal, we’re just after the small improvements every day that add up in the long run. Let’s jump right into it:
1. “Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness” – Seneca
This is much easier said than done. Of course, it’s easy to be kind to those that show kindness back. But what about those that you feel have wronged you?
One of the main Stoic principles is that of Courage. It may not seem like it, but sometimes it takes courage to show kindness to those that refuse to give it back. To those that attempt to insult or irritate you, your first instinct might be to mirror their behavior back. This is where you need to remind yourself that you cannot control the actions of others, but you are absolutely in control of your own.
You may be annoyed too, but you can choose to show compassion for what the other person is going through. Even if you don’t know the full story, all you can do is assume that they are hurting on a deeper level than you know. You don’t know what others are going through, so don’t assume the worst in people.
Whether easy or difficult, you have the ability to spread kindness, independent of the actions of those you are interacting with.
2. “Captain your own ship, but do not attempt to command the sea” – William Ferraiolo
A huge part of Stoicism is the idea of embracing the factors in your life that you are able to control, and taking the rest as it comes. Realize what is in your sphere of influence, make the most out of that, but do not try to control everything in life.
You will quickly realize how much of the world is outside of your control. You may do your best to influence the direction that life takes you, but nothing is guaranteed. As much as you may try, you will never be able to control the behaviors of others, influence the weather, or stop the passing of time. The idea is to NOT pour your focus into the things that are pointless.
You are in control of your thoughts, your goals, and your actions; take control of your life by working on these things. Again, nothing is guaranteed, but you have the ability to move probabilities of success more in your favor. Allocate your energy into the things you have direct control over and that will yield the highest return on investment.
3. “When you have faults, do not fear to abandon them” – Confucius
We become so used to our habits and behaviors, that we may not even be aware of some of our shortcomings. Try to bring more personal awareness to your everyday life, and really start to evaluate the way that you present yourself to the world.
Maybe you’re quick to get angry, or maybe you have a bad habit of talking over people. It could be any number of things, but try to be more aware of these faults and work on fixing them. The first step towards the solution is simply addressing the problem.
Do not cling to these ideas as part of your identity though. Don’t use the excuse of “that’s just the way I am”. If you notice that some of your actions negatively affect other people, then you need to make an honest assessment and decide if you feel it’s important enough to fix it. Learn to let go of these faults and replace them with more constructive behaviors.
4. “I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it” – Vincent van Gogh
I cannot emphasize enough how important this concept is if you want to progress further in your life. It’s so common that people won’t pursue a new hobby, a new job, a new skill, or a new whatever because they feel like they don’t know enough in the beginning.
The beginning is absolutely the time that it’s okay to NOT know anything! No one expects you to be an expert in something you have zero experience in. It comes down to putting your pride aside and being okay with possibly looking like a fool while you’re still learning.
The quickest way to learn anything is by doing it. There’s only so far that studying and researching will get you before you have to put your knowledge into practice. My recommendation is to take the time to research the basics, and then figure the rest out as you go. You’ll learn so much more through real world application and failures than you will through a textbook.
Of course, if it’s a riskier venture, take the time to learn proper safety, but the main idea is to become an expert on everything with time and practice.
5. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop” – Confucius
Effort, effort, effort; that’s all you have to give. You never truly fail at something if you never stop trying. You may have setbacks, but so long as you have the Courage to try again, you never failed.
It doesn’t matter how small the progress is, the point is that it’s still forward momentum. At the end of the day, that’s all we’re after. There’s no endpoint of perfection in anything, so any type of progress is movement in the right direction.
Conclusion
As always, I try to preach being patient with yourself. I understand the frustration of not being where you want to be in life, but you can’t control the end results of most things. All we can do is intently focus on the things that are actually within our control and hope for the best. If you’re making a genuine effort to do better each day, that’s all you can ask of yourself.
Learn to detach your sense of accomplishment from your end goal. In other words, don’t wait until you reach your goal to feel gratification. It’s inevitable that once you reach your goal, you’ll already have another one placed ahead. It’s a never ending cycle, and you’ll never feel truly fulfilled if that’s what you’re chasing to feel accomplished.
You should feel a sense of success for each day you genuinely made an effort to improve yourself. Of course, have your goals and aspirations for the future, but don’t base your sense of well being on whether or not you reach those. You should feel accomplished by taking responsibility for your sphere of influence (the things you can control), and making the most of what you’re able to. Find success in your daily habits.