saturday mornings #3
Good morning all,
I hope you had a great week and are welcoming the weekend with open arms. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of troubles last week, but I’m so happy you’re here this morning to kick off your weekend.
Below are some topics and ideas I’ve found interesting over the past seven days, in the hope that they provide a bit of fun and perhaps some points to think about and explore for yourself.
As an aside, I also stumbled across a passage this week by Epicurus that captures my aim for this newsletter:
“I write this not for the many, but for you; each of us is enough of an audience for the other.”
Let’s dive in. Thanks for being here.
Quote I’ve been thinking about:
“I believe that having questions is better than having answers because it leads to more learning. After all, isn’t the point of learning to help you get what you want? Don’t you have to start with what you want and figure out what you have to learn in order to get it?”
As someone who believes in life-long learning and enjoys the constant struggle of attempting to refine my weaker qualities (there’s a lot of work to do), I like this quote as it promotes the idea that learning is a passage to growth and to reaching one’s goals.
Moreover, it introduces an idea I’ve been exploring, which is the importance of asking better questions. Tony Robbins often mentions that a lot of the world’s top performers he works with have become experts at this skill, as to get better answers (and determine the truth) one has to ask better questions.
Stoicism excerpt I’ve been pondering:
At last, then, away with all these treacherous goods! They look better to those who hope for them than to those who have attained them. If there were anything substantial in them, they would sooner or later satisfy you; as it is, they merely rouse the drinkers’ thirst.
Seneca, Letters of Seneca, Vol 1, Letter 15: On Brawn and Brains
Newsletter I subscribed to:
The Daily Stoic - Ryan Holiday
Ryan Holiday, a four-time New York Times best-selling author and marketing consultant, is one of the biggest advocates urging people to implement more stoic practices in their daily lives. Every morning he sends out a brief newsletter with his interpretation of a quote or idea from an ancient stoic. The topics are often shockingly applicable to current global events or inward challenges people may grapple with, and the suggestions offered on how to deal with these events or struggles are straightforward. I’ve found them to be fairly insightful and a good value-add to my day.
Albeit, I do find it a bit contradictory that he promotes stoicism as a philosophy to live by, but simultaneously tries to sell small trinkets and items to his followers.
If philosophy is something you’re interested in or something you’d like to learn more about, these newsletters are a great way to metaphorically “dip your toe in the water” and see what this stoicism ruckus is all about. As always, I’d never suggest anything I don’t personally enjoy or actually read.
Product I’ve enjoyed:
TOPS Legal Pad (Amazon)
Not that I’m suggesting for anyone to rush out and purchase a product, promoting it will be life-changing or productivity-enhancing, but as someone who has ideas come up throughout the day and frequent to-do lists, it’s handy to have a legal pad beside me on my desk.
I’ve found the quality of these legal pads to be good, and on Amazon you pay $1.61/pack (or 3 cents per page), which offers better value than most office supply stores.
Plus, there’s something mystically satisfying about writing on a legal pad.
What I’ve been watching:
Kraig Adams
Kraig travels the globe, exploring some of the most beautiful hiking trails in different corners of the world. And, as an amateur videographer, the cinematography he captures is stunning.
If you’re one to fantasize about travel (as I often do) and have a burning desire to see the world, I’d recommend checking out some of his videos – they’re definitely worth the watch.
Broadly, I think the idea of structuring a trip to a new country to see a city but also block out time to hike and experience the outdoors and natural beauty in that region is something I’d like to experiment with.
My personal favourite is his video titled “Hiking 80 Miles Alone on the Torres Del Paine Trail in Chile”.
Weekend playlist I hope you love:
Lake Shore Drive, Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah (YouTube, Spotify)
You Make My Dreams (Come True), Daryl Hall & John Oates (YouTube, Spotify) - also happens to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goal song for you Canadian hockey fans
Challenge for the week ahead:
Experiment with a gratitude journal
There’s an abundance of research on the impact that reflecting on, and writing down, a few things that you’re grateful for has on your happiness, state of mind, and well-being. I am neither knowledgeable nor intelligent enough to make an attempt at summarizing it, so I will defer to a few articles from top medical researchers that cover the effect of gratitude (Harvard and Berkley).
One of the more interesting insights, from my perspective, is that people think those who are happy are naturally grateful. But in fact, cultivating gratitude is more of an active and intentional practice that happy people continually do. As such, gratitude more of an act than a feeling.
I’d encourage you to take five minutes each morning and record 3-5 things you are grateful for, and then take a couple of seconds to really reflect on each item and the gratitude you feel (it’s not enough to just write them down without involving emotion in the exercise). For starters, it’s scientifically proven to make you happier, and I think there are a lot of profound impacts on your relationships with both yourself and others.
I’ve had a positive experience through this exercise of reaching out to let people know how much I appreciate them. It’s a warm feeling to see people light up when you express a heartfelt message, and shocking how rarely it happens. Life is short and unpredictable, so I believe it’s ceaselessly important to be grateful for what you have when you have it, as you never know what the future may hold. Give it a try and let me know what your experience is like. For those of you that may not be sold on gratitude, check out this interview (14:50 to 22:00) with Gary Vee and Tony Robbins.
That’s all from me for today. Hopefully, you enjoyed this morning’s topics and they provide some interesting ideas to explore.
And, as always, please give me feedback. Which topic above is your favourite? What do you want more or less of? What challenges and ideas are you exploring and grappling with or have found particularly interesting?
Just hit reply to this email, and I will make sure to read it and do my best to get back to you.
Have a wonderful weekend, all. You deserve it.
Much love to you and yours,
Thomas