Uncommon Moments: Lessons from Marcus Aurelius

So I recently just read this book called Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. It's considered a classic, and I want to go through in this short episode, just real quick, 20 or so highlights that I highlighted in the book Meditations. And it was a great book. I think On the Shortness of Life, the Seneca episode that came out a couple weeks ago, is better in terms of it's a short book. You're getting a lot of good wisdom and insight. In that more than I would say this one, but this one still has some really good quotes. So I want to go through kind of the highlights of what I found in Marcus Aurelius's book Meditation. So he says, "Those who possess wisdom place it in their own action." This is really interesting because in this quote, right? In this quote, those there's a quote where it's like. You need to— there's no work about work, just work. And also, you either do the thing or you don't do the thing. And you need to prioritize action. Like I talked about in the Seneca episode a couple weeks ago, in that episode you need— so in that episode, it's like you really need to just work, right? When I'm talking about this quote, those who possess wisdom place it in their own action, in this quote You need to worry about prioritizing action first, right? That's a big thing. He goes on, train yourself to listen carefully to what others say, and as much as possible, step into the mind of the person who is speaking. He is mentioning this because I, I see 2 things in this quote. One, listen carefully. Listen to other people. Understand what they're saying. It's better to be listening a lot. There's this great story from, I think, Churchill's mom or wife. And she says that she was going to dinner with 2 noblemen. One nobleman, she felt like he was super important. It was great to meet him. The other one, she felt like it was like she was the one providing him value. And it's because one was talking so much about himself. And the other one was asking so many questions and listening. So the key, after, after that story, the key is to listen carefully to what other people are saying, to ask them questions, to get into their mind. And it's like stepping into someone else's shoes. He goes on, how many people with whom I entered this world have already departed? He's kind of Going through introspectively, reflecting on how many people, you know, has he met, has he, you know, has he talked with that maybe they passed away, right? So the shortness of life, like I talked about in the Seneca episode. He says, what lies outside my mind is absolutely nothing to my mind. Learn this, and you will be an upright person. You can come alive again, see things as you once saw them. That is what it means to revive. Now I want to go into this next quote: Do not be ashamed to accept help. Your task is simply to do your duty, like a soldier fighting on the walls. And what then if you were lame and unable to climb the ramparts alone, but could do so with the help of another? Would you hesitate? So many people are so caught up with themselves that they don't want to ask other people for help. He says narrow your focus to the present moment. This reminds me of Seneca because Seneca talked about being— Seneca talked about being present all the time, to really just focus on being present and not to worry about the future and not to be caught up in the past. And it's amazing that Marcus Aurelius is talking about this. He goes on, observe what is happening to you or to others. Again, being watchful, being mindful about what's happening to you and to other people, what's going on. He says, it is the mark of a king to act rightly and be criticized. Again, it's going back to the whole idea of friends, right? You have your circle, you have your family, you have your friends. But outside of that, if you do something right, you are going to be criticized. You're going to be in the position— and he was a king, he was a king, and he was being criticized. And it is the mark of a king to act rightly and be criticized. The next quote from Marcus Aurelius is The art of living is more like the art of wrestling than the art of dancing, for one must always be ready and firmly grounded against unexpected blows. I like that. Mike Tyson has this great quote. He says everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face or punched in the mouth, something like that. And it's like this quote as well. It's like the art of living is more like you're wrestling, right? You have to be firmly grounded on something. You know, and ready for those unexpected hits or punches or blows, which is a great quote. Continuously examine who these people are who whose testimony you seek and what guiding principles they follow. Again, this is another way of saying like test the people that you're around or test your friends in the sense that you need to examine. Like the advice that you seek from these people, you need to examine how are they living their lives. The important thing is like, what are their guiding principles? What are they living their life by? You know, is that even someone you want to become or admire? Like you, you admire them now and I want to become like that. And they're my, they're my friend. And it's like, I want to achieve what they have and they're helping me do that, or they're helping me, helping me become better, right? Or is it, these are my friends right now and at some point I'll get a better job and at some point I'll do better in my life. You know, it's really up to you. You need to find those people that make you better, that help you grow. He goes on, no one grows weary of receiving benefits. Benefits are actions in accordance with nature, so don't grow weary of receiving them even as you give them. Marcus Aurelius continues, so if you have truly understood what matters most, stop worrying about what others think of you. That's such a great quote. If you truly understood what matters most, it's like I've explained this to some people about like creative process. With like Rick Rubin or even David Senra or even myself, right? Where it's like the biggest thing is if you like it. It's called the inner scorecard. It's from Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett. It's like you make things good because of the level that you put them at in the sense that Kobe says this. Someone, some reporter asked him, you know, You like, you have a lot of fans, or the fans are always, you know, in the crowds, and it must be a lot of pressure. And Kobe had this unforgettable line. I, I will never forget this line. He says, their expectations will never be higher than my own. And that goes back to the inner scorecard. If you have a higher inner scorecard, it's going to be harder to achieve that. But the, the bar is so high that when you hit that, You know, no one else can reach that level. And when you're always constantly worrying about other people's scorecards, like, oh, did I, did I satisfy them? No, I didn't. All right. I need to go do that. Then you're, you have a lower inner scorecard. And again, it's like, have your expectations high, have your standards high. And when you have them high, like no one will have higher standards than I will. On this one episode or on this one thing, or on the thing that you love to do, the thing that you're doing, and success will follow. So that, that's a great insight from Marcus Aurelius. He says, do not dwell on all the suffering you may have to endure in the future. Instead, when each difficulty arises, ask yourself, what about it is truly unbearable or insurmountable? Another way of saying this is like nothing, nothing's impossible. Like do not worry about the pain that you might have to go through if you start a business. Like just start it. And when each difficulty arrives, solve that problem. He says, work, but not with the air of a victim, nor to gain pity or admiration. I've said this quote so many times by now in the Netflix episode, the Seneca episode, now this episode, but it's like there's no work about work. Just work. And this is a really interesting insight because he's kind of fighting— he is fighting against the ideology of victimhood. He is actively saying, don't work to gain pity or to even gain admiration. Just work. Do the work well. And if you achieve Your inner scorecard or, you know, your high bar, like you should be setting a high bar. If someone else is setting a high bar for you, that's a bad sign. He goes on, loss is nothing but transformation. This goes into the quote that Charlie Munger talks about. Actually, it's from Henry Kaiser. I've heard it so much on David Sennott's podcast, Founders. This quote from Henry Kaiser is, problems are just opportunities dressed up in work clothes. So problems are opportunities, but you're just working, right? You're working. You know, it's— people think, oh, it's another problem, but that is an opportunity for you to go solve it. Now he keeps on going. For every action someone takes, make it a habit whenever possible to inquire within yourself, what is this person aiming for with this action? But begin with yourself and examine your own motives first. I like this kind of introspection of like, ask yourself, what are your motives? And then figure out what are this, you know, the other person that you're talking to, what are their motives? He goes on, a frank and honest person, in short, should be like someone who smells of a goat. Whether others like it or not, they notice it as soon as they approach. Artificial frankness is a danger. He goes on, nothing is more disgraceful than the friendship of a wolf. Avoid it above all else. Genuine kindness is invincible if it is authentic kindness without sarcasm or pretense. In writing and reading, you cannot become a teacher until you have first been a student, and even more so in your life. That's the way that you learn the most. That's actually why I started my podcast, is because I wanted to learn more. I wanted not only to just read books But to learn a lot in the books that I read, and also kind of keep a history of it. So I could go back and listen to the five episodes. I actually found out it's like over three hours that I did on Isidore Sharp. And Isidore Sharp is the founder of Four Seasons. Four Seasons is this luxury hotel chain started back in 1966 as a motel in Ontario, Canada, and. Without reading that book and going through it in really deep ways, I would have never, you know, I would have just read the book and then been done with it. I think this also applies to most authors, people that write, people that read, you know, you need to become a student, you need to learn, and then you can kind of teach. The next quote, if you strive to live only What you are living now—that is the present—you will pass the time that remains until death without disturbance. He's talking about living in the present, just like we talked about with Seneca. He goes on, and this is the last quote: Do not act randomly or without purpose. This is a really good book, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. I think it's a little bit longer. I think it's over 100 pages, maybe 112. Maybe 180, if I'm not mistaken. It was a longer book than On the Shortness of Life, and I got a lot more out of On the Shortness of Life than I did with this book. But I wanted to make a short, a shorter episode with this one just because of how good it is. It's still classic, really good, and there's still timeless wisdom within this. So thank you for listening, and I will talk to you guys again soon.