Marcus Aurelius says “At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself:
‘I have to go to work–as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going
to do what I was born for - the things which I was brought into the world to do? Or is
this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?”
Marcus Aurelius was one of the last 5 good Roman emperors who genuinely cared for his
people. He believed that each of us have a purpose; something we were created for. During
his rule, Aurelius found the time to construct a series of autobiographical writings, now
known as the Meditations. In these writings, the Roman Emperor offered a number of key
insights on how to find a purpose and live a life of virtue. Here are 10 of the most
important of those insights for finding purpose from the writings of Marcus Aurelius.
1. Your purpose is in front of you - which is to make the most of your present
Marcus Aurelius says “Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from
the present – thoughtfully, justly”.
It is true that life is short, precious and not repeatable. All we have is our past and
present, and our future is unknown. Until now whatever has happened is our past – and
it is one area of life that we do not have a control over anymore. Let us ponder about
our now – the present. The present is the most precious moment of our lives because
it’s in hand now and we can even in fact define our future to a great extent by our
present thoughts and actions. Our purpose should be to serve our present with virtue.
In every phase of our life, our present comes as an opportunity and it’s defined by the
time, space and circumstances. Allow me to explain this further. Imagine you are completing
your master studies in three to four years which is your time frame, but where are you
performing these studies, it may be in Harvard Where are you completing from – it may be
in Harvard, it may be in Standford. This is your location or the space and each space
or location offers you many beautiful amenities, surroundings, scholarships, comforts, friendship
and family support, academic facilities etc; this are your circumstances. Your purpose
is in front of you – which is to make the most of your given opportunity and graduate
with distinction. Your present will always gift you with an opportunity to find your
purpose. Just ask yourself every time - How can I make the most out of my present, my
time, space and circumstances.
2. Your purpose is to add value According to “Men exist for the sake of
one another”.
We are each unique, with different gifts, passions, and purposes and we need to figure
out how we can best share this gift with others because we will only get all we want in life
if we help other people get what they want. Shift from me to we and watch your career,
and your life, become shockingly successful. Be a Value Creator. When we talk about your
present circumstances, there are going to be people who need you in some way or another.
They may be your family, friends, colleagues, or any one you associate with on a daily level.
The truth is all of your most highly cherished dreams can become reality as long as you help
enough of those around you get to their personal mountaintops. The easiest way to understand
the value you could offer is by asking yourself these simple questions –
1. What is the one thing that comes very easy to me or which is the one thing I am good
at that others could learn from me? This could be anything your art, your music,
or your communication skills, anything that you are passionate about to teach.
2. Who do you do it for? This could be your family, friends or anyone
that you care for. Family and friends will give you a reason to hang on to something
even if it gets difficult for you.
What do people want or need? This will give you a clear idea of what’s
missing and it will provide you with an opportunity to fill in.
Then Give your best - to each of today’s pursuits - and then go farther. Because the
more value you can create for others, the more value they’ll return to you.
3. Ask yourself Are you happy? In the words of Marcus Aurelius “You can
pass your life in an equable flow of happiness if you can follow the right way and think
and act in the right way”.
You should always pursue what you love, follow your bliss, listen to your heart and intuition,
and know that by doing so, success will have no choice but to follow. When you get stuck
with something you don’t love, when you are doing the things that took you off your
path for too long, you will forget who you really are, you forget that you do have a
choice and you do have the ability to shift your lives in the right direction. Here is
how it works. We all have our inner guidance system, our inner GPS that’s similar to
the GPS system we use in our car which tells you how to get from point A to point B. So
for this inner GPS to work, it needs to know your current location to get you to your end
destination. So if you are not enjoying what you do in the present, there are high chances
that you will not successfully reach where you want to reach. So ask yourself these two
questions –
1. What is it that I love doing? This could be anything, your hobby, your music,
your art and just start doing it.
2. What is it that I need to change about my present?
This could be anything you job, your relationships, the people around you, anything in your present.
It makes less sense to continue pursuing something you aren’t enjoying in your present. For
example, if you are not enjoying your subject choice, then look to change it.
Because if you do not love what you do, you will not be able to add the value that is
required, and you will not find your success.
Now if you look at this diagram carefully, you will realise that your life purpose is
to make the most of your present by adding value to others
by doing what you love.
4. Just start As Marcus Aurelius once said “When they’re
really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give
up practicing their arts.”
After you figure out your life purpose, what you want to do, you might not know how to
go ahead or which road to take. You may even lack certain skills. So the best way to move
forward is just by starting with it. If you want to be a writer, write every day. If you
want to be an artist, draw and create every day. Anything you want to do, you don’t
need any more motivation or research or advice. You just start practicing something you’re
interested in and tackle every day as it comes because it’s your purpose that will give
you an internal desire, drive, and motivation to propel you forward towards your goal. You
can start with forming an effective plan of action that is comprised of a deadline for
accomplishing your goal. It must also be built on the foundation of mini-milestones that
break your goal down into manageable chunks. Mini-milestones will ensure that you are working
toward your desired outcome in small pieces and time blocks.
5. Purpose is meaningless without self-discipline According to Marcus Aurelius “You must build
up your life action by action, and be content if each one achieves its goal as far as possible
- and no one can keep you from this” Discipline is the fundamental action, mind-set
and philosophy which keeps one in a routine and making progress towards whatever one is
pursuing. Even after having a solid purpose and a practical plan, you need to show up,
every day, and put in the work. Self - Discipline is nothing more but the habit of consistency
- finding the motivation to do something again and again, until you do it on autopilot and
start seeing results. Hence this simple act of showing up will definitely bring you closer
to achieving whatever you want. Your ability to keep going is what moulds you into a disciplined
and strong person.
6. Stop worrying about the outcome Marcus Aurelius says “You have the power
over your mind - not outside events”
When we set out to do something, we often get overwhelmed by fear. We worry too much
about the outcome. A big part of worrying has to do with the what-ifs we tend to contemplate
in our minds. What if this happens? What if that happens? The fact of the matter is that
the mind is very much like the lens of a camera - you get whatever it is that you focus on.
If you focus on problems, you’ll see more problems. If you focus on something positive,
eventually you’ll start seeing positive things and steering your life in that direction.
You will start by realising that the outcome or the future is not in your control. As per
the stoic philosophy, we need to stop worrying about the outcome and other things that are
not in our control and concentrate on stuff we could control. For example, if you want
to be the best athlete, then instead of worrying about things that are not in your control
like your competition, opinions of your critics or your body, concentrate on things you can
control like your training, the diet you eat, and your progress.
Just by concentrating on things you can control, you will be able to put yourself in the driver’s
seat and be able to give yourself a sense of control over the tasks and projects you’re
working on.
7. Find a role model To quote Marcus Aurelius “It will even do
to socialize with men of good character, in order to model your life on theirs, whether
you choose someone living or someone from the past”
When you realise your purpose and when you set out to do something, having good role
models is more important, as they influence what we do and how we turn out eventually.
Positive role models influence our actions and motivate us to strive to uncover our true
potentials and overcome our weakness.
Your role models could be your friends, family, colleagues who have already achieved the goal
you are working towards.
Warren Buffett, says "It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out
associates whose behaviour is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction."
8. Ignore negative people As Marcus Aurelius once said “When another
blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside
and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked
with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you”
When you announce your purpose and set out to achieve your goals, you will attract some
negativity from people around you. There will always be people there to tell
you that you can’t do something, that you’re not smart enough, that you don’t have enough
resources or connections, that you don’t have enough money, and so on. But you have
to ignore the negativity if you want to achieve your goals. Their voice does not deserve to
be heard. Don’t hand over your peace of mind to outsiders to disrupt as they please.
Mahatma Gandhi once said - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight
you, then you win.
9. An obstacles is really a way through In the words of Marcus Aurelius “The impediment
to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way”
On your pursuit, there are going to be obstacles for sure. You’ll overcome some and others
are going to be difficult to tackle. Imagine you want to be the best boxer in the world.
You are doing your best, you are training hard, you are doing everything right and with
each day you are getting closer to achieving your dream but suddenly you get into an unfortunate
accident which leaves you with a permanent damage that doesn’t allow you to box anymore.
Any kind of injury is perhaps one of the most challenging obstacles for anyone to overcome,
and, potentially, one of the most damaging factors to your mental state. The chances
of us having such major obstacle is less but it’s still a possibility and when it happens,
we turn to our negative side and concentrate on things we can’t do anything about. We
think of it as a failure and live under the curtains of fear and embarrassment. We need
to change our perception and realise that whatever happened was not in our control and
there is nothing we could do about our situation but we can turn this obstacle into opportunity
by practicing virtue over things we do have control over – which is our life ahead itself.
Going back to the previous example – after being asked to not box for the rest of your
life, you can present yourself an opportunity of finding a new bigger purpose – which
is to train young boxers and make them better than you could ever be.
Finally number 10. There is never an end Marcus Aurelius reminds us “A man’s worth
is no greater than his ambitions”. There will be a time when you have found your
purpose and achieved everything. There will be a time when you’re not sure where you
want to go next. Take a break and say “I did it!” Even if that just means going out
to a nice dinner. But as per the stoic philosophy, you shouldn’t get carried away with your
success. You should always look for ways to evolve your ambitions. The theory of evolution,
which we believe is the fundamental theory of life implies that everything in the universe
is still evolving; and hence it’s imperfect which is why there is always a big room for
improvement. Therefore life must be ever changing and be ever dynamic- a journey towards improvement.
If you feel stuck now that you’ve achieved everything, it might be a perfect time to
try some new things, and gain new experiences so that you have new things to work towards.
Life will always provide you with the opportunity to find a new purpose and all it takes is
going out there and doing everything with virtue.
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so much for watching.