You're Thinking of Philosophy Wrong
Philosophy is a Tool
Philosophy’s not meant to be something you study, but something you practice. If all you do is think about the value of an idea but never act on it, you have only wasted time.
MEDITATIONS
Today is the Beginning of Our Journey Together. We should all start reading Meditations today. If you do not have the book, you can overnight it on Amazon and start tomorrow, no problem.
Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations” is a personal journal by the world’s most powerful man never meant to be published. His work is not meant to be a book on thinking like a better man, it is a book on being a better man.
An anonymous Byzantine (ancient, but not as ancient as Marcus) poet wrote this about the book:
If you desire to master pain
Unroll this book and read with care,
And in it find abundantly
A knowledge of the things that are,
Those that have been, and those to come.
And know as well that joy and grief
Are nothing more than empty smoke
So as you read this book, I would suggest you don’t read it like a Percy Jackson book (f*** Harry Potter) flipping page after page and finishing quick (nice). And I also would suggest you avoid looking at this reading like a chore.
Read 8 pages a day to finish in 3 weeks. An 8 year old boy could do that. So don’t rush it. Read it with care. And when you find something that speaks to you, read it again. Even mark it with a pen or fold the page. Come back to it a week later with fresh eyes.
The goal is not to finish the book. The goal is to learn from the man who wrote the book. 90% of the value you find may be in a single passage you read over and over. It may change how you live your life forever.
Brains Gains (think about this on your way to work)
What is the most impactful lesson you learned in the past 5 years? Who did you learn it from?
Think about the question above. Ponder it. Even make time to write down your answer in a journal, a document or just reply to this message if you feel comfortable.
Your Biggest Fan,
Noah “BigNerd King” Sochaczevski
PS. If you are one of the people who messaged me worried about starting the book late, please start tomorrow latest to not fall too far behind. Order overnight here
I learned that compounding interest applies to everything in life, not just money. All the important things - relationships, reputation, happiness, and loads more - all compound overtime. A good relationship gets better exponentially over years. I learned this from Naval Ravikant.