I'm a writer, podcaster, musician, and artist creating content to help you live on purpose and die without regrets.
Throughout history, there’s always been a thin line between authentic self-love and unrepentant vanity.
On the one hand, it’s important to set boundaries with others, make time for rest and relaxation, and enjoy life’s most pleasant blessings in moderation.
On the other hand, it’s important to “turn the other cheek” as Jesus did, to push our minds and bodies to the limit regularly, and to maintain vigilance against the corrupting gravity of pleasure.
Proper self-care integrates all of these things in a healthy balance, which is the opposite of what any good marketer (AKA corporate propagandist) will tell you. We’re all familiar with the “Treat Yo’self” mentality pushed on us in modern advertising.
Marketers tell you: “Hey, you deserve better.”
If you trust modern marketers, then all you need to have a life of ultimate happiness is everything: the nice house, the fancy car, the designer clothes, the lavish nights out, etc. Should be easy enough to accomplish, right?
Unfortunately, the self-care movement, which started out with good intentions, has gotten sucked up into the same marketing machine as everything else.
So, what should the philosopher on a quest for genuine happiness do? In my opinion, it all starts with the two timeless philosophies of memento mori (remember death) and amor fati (love of fate).
Remember each day that death awaits you, and could pounce at any moment, and so the time for living is now. Also, accept that most of what happens in your life is beyond your control, but that you can choose to be happy no matter your circumstances.
To make friends of Death and Fate is to unlock limitless power to shape your perceptions and fabricate joy in your life.
To this end, I want you to remember one simple phrase: discipline is freedom.
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself? . . . If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off . . . you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.” – Epictetus
Life is weird. As we age, we develop a sense of autonomy –– a feeling that we can do what we want when we want. It’s exhilarating.
The thing is, every one of our choices has consequences, and often what is pleasurable now leads to pain later.
For example, a lifetime of shitty eating and poor exercise ends up restricting our physical and financial freedom in the long run. Likewise, while spending on credit feels great in the moment, it can lead to headaches when something unexpected, like a global health or financial crisis, impacts our employment.
That’s the irony of freedom: discipline and restraint in the short term often yield greater freedom and more rewards in the long term:
To me, this is true self-care: loving the future you just as much as you love the present you. Sure, pricey margaritas and chocolate cake might sound great right now, but if you don’t set limits on yourself in the present, you’re likely to regret your choices in the future.
Here are a few simple ways I build healthy habits in my life:
I find that these simple habits improve my life dramatically over time. Reading and journaling help me grow as a person, walking and sleeping right help me regulate my energy and creativity, and “detoxing” helps me avoid getting sucked into toxic behaviors.
Now, here’s the thing: I’m no guru. I don’t maintain my “good habits” every single day. I frequently have lapses in judgement. I make plenty of bad choices. But that doesn’t matter –– what matters is that I’m actively trying to take care of myself, not just to do “self-care.”
And this is my exhortation to you: take care of yourself. You deserve it.
What’s one tiny habit that you could start building today which could change your life positively in 6-12 months? What’s one bad habit that you could kick in order to change your life positively in the next 6-12 months?
I'm a few chapters into The 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene for this month's book club, and holy shit is it a good read. Power is attained, leveraged, and abused in many ways. It impacts everyone. Learning how to use it — and not be used by it — is, in my opinion, one of the most important tasks for a human on the path of self-actualization. If you want to read along and discuss, pop into the Discord.
I released some new stickers: "Your Ego Is Not Your Amigo" and "Question Everything". Patrons on the Collector tier will get both for free sometime this month.
The Curiosity Chronicle is a personal growth newsletter authored by entrepreneur and investor Sahil Bloom that has helped me change how I think about life, relationships, and business. If you are an independent thinker with a passion for business, I recommend you check it out.
In November, I started using Hypefury to grow my Twitter account and the results have been absolutely explosive. My favorite feature is the Engagement Builder, which I've been using to interact with huge accounts and get followers without even logging into Twitter. If you want to save time + grow on Twitter, try Hypefury today.
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I'm a writer, podcaster, musician, and artist creating content to help you live on purpose and die without regrets.
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Stop Trying To Be More Productive Before we dive in, I have a quick request. Today is my birthday – I'm turning 29. If you've been following me for a while, it would be amazing if you supported my work for $1 per month on Patreon because you get so much awesome value from my content (that's only $12 per year – the price of one margarita!). You can think of it as a birthday present 😄! If you don't want to support, it's no big deal – I'll keep producing writing, podcasts, music, and art to help...
You’ll Never Find Yourself — You Must Create Yourself Before we dive in, here are two things I can do for you: If you're interested in philosophy, self-improvement, and online business, you can join my Discord to chat with me directly and connect with people who share your interests If you're a creator (writer, podcaster, YouTuber, musician, artist, etc.), and you want help getting started, building an audience, or monetizing your passion, you can schedule a FREE coaching call with me I’m...