Well well one more good news. The Stoic Guide is done. If you would like to read it send me a access request here and I will share the whole pdf with you.
Now that it is done, what is next? I wonder when will be the last time for me to ask “what is next” ?
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🧠 Good to Know in 5 Sentences:
Anarcho-Capitalism:
I ran into this idea of Anarcho-Capitalism, found it really interesting and wanted to share with you.
The term was coined and developed first by Austrian School economist and libertarian Murray Rothbard in the mid-20th century,
In a nutshell, Anarcho-Capitalism is a system in which the government is abolished entirely and replaced by free market and private companies at every level.
“Anarcho-capitalism rejects the state, believing that state entities steal from its people through taxation and expropriation, use physical force, use their coercive powers to benefit some businesses and individuals at the expense of others, create monopolies, and restrict trade.”
The other name for it is “free market anarchism”, since it advocates the provision of all goods and services, including law enforcement, courts, and national defense, by private companies and competitors in a free market.
It is like the blend of capitalism and socialism : it uses markets and property rights while abolishing the state and its coercive and abusive power on people.
Here is a brief introduction to the ideas:
Try this article if you want to embark on a deeper journey.
🗒️ Book summary of the week:
This week’s summary comes from philosophy. I am trying to expand my understanding on death and how it makes us human. The book was filled with counter-intuitive ideas and strange arguments. Totally worth the read.
Would we be happier or more peaceful if we were to live longer? I do not think so.
If the human life span were increased even by only twenty years, would the pleasures of life increase proportionately? Would professional tennis players really enjoy playing 25% more games of tennis? Would the Don Juan’s of our world feel better for having seduced 1,250 women rather than 1,000? … Likewise, those whose satisfaction comes from climbing the career ladder might well ask what there would be to do for fifteen years after one had been CEO of Microsoft, a member of Congress, or the President of Harvard for a quarter of a century? Even less clear are the additions to personal happiness from more of the same of the less pleasant and less fulfilling activities in which so many of us are engaged so much of the time.
We all have that friend that has seemingly boundless energy and gets more done than two people seem to in a day. They appear superhuman, and yet they still seem happy and not overwhelmed. What's their secret?
They've built a life that leverages principles for decision making, automation for the mundane tasks in their life, and systems for the things that bring value to themselves in the world.
In Alex's newsletter, Appearing Superhuman, he shares his best advice for focusing on what matters, eliminating the noise, and setting up systems that get your time back and make you 1% better every day.
I'm a subscriber, and I highly recommend you check it out:
https://alexlenox.com/newsletter
📸Photo of the week:
Books and trees. What else do you need?
🐦6 Tweets/Threads:
Here is the best advice on CV you cannot find in anywhere else:
Here are some good advice listed, best one is hidden in the photo. Do not care about what society allows or not. Who the fuck is society anyway? They were not there when you are dying inside, they do not have any saying in your adventure while you are taking risks.
I do not know what the female part of my lovely subscribers will think after seeing this video. I cannot imagine myself going through all this trouble just to go outside.
Stop reading about happiness and self-improvement. Start doing the thing:
Good reminder. Most of the time persistence > intelligence
We need to make our mind wander less. Interesting research details:
🦩How about some fun ?
📝 3 Articles:
To-the-point article on what kinds of Stoic rules are there for you to implement in your modern life:
My highlights:
You are disturbed by your judgment over situations : “If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it.”
Examine every impression carefully: “Be not swept off your feet by the vividness of the impression, but say: ‘Wait for me a little, impression: allow me to see who you are, and what you are an impression of; allow me to put you to the test.’”
“There are things which are up to us and things which aren’t; we should always “make the best use of what is in our power, and take the rest as it happens.”
Take back the control of your time: “We’re tight-fisted with property and money,” says Seneca, “yet think too little of wasting time, the one thing about which we should all be the toughest misers.”
This was a refreshing article on building new habits.
My highlights:
According to the author, willpower is not the solution to consistency and building new habits. “Repeatedly using self-control to resist desires that interfere with your goals is unlikely to help with goal attainment down the road”
“In my study from 2017, what did predict goal attainment was experiencing fewer, and less intense, conflicting desires. So, your main aim would be to reduce the strong desires in the first place. You can do that by setting up your surroundings so that temptations are, well, less tempting, and so that the positive behaviors are easier to remember and to do. For temptations, this can be done by making them unavailable (eg, leave the credit card at home) or less accessible (eg, hide the cookies on the highest shelf, out of view).”
Use the power of reminders that will make it easier to remember and/or complete the behavior : Prepare your gym pack the night before.
This article has a terrifying headline “ The Future of Work Is a 60-Year Career”. I cannot even stand the 30-40 years we have now.
My highlights:
“In the United States, demographers predict that as many as half of today’s 5-year-olds can expect to live to the age of 100.”
It was a surprising fact to learn : “A 20-year-old worker in 1880 was likely to work, on average, up until fewer than two years before they died.”
60-year work will require more flexibility for people:
“Carstensen proposes allowing workers to scale their hours up or down throughout their careers, based on their responsibilities outside of paid work”
Retirement also needs some adjustments.
“Older workers often want to work less and more flexibly, but find they have two options—continue to work full-time (or more) or else retire completely.”
📺 3 Videos:
How do we know if something really is a coincidence? This video has an interesting perspective:
“When you’re on the right path, the universe winks and nods at you from time to time, just to let you know. And once you start noticing these little cosmic clues. Once you understand that you’re on a path at all, you’ll begin to see them everywhere.” - Greg Levy
“Synchronicity happens when there’s a meaningful coincidence. Jung believed that life is not a series of random events, but rather an expression of a deeper order, which he called “Unus mundus.”"
Love every video exurb1a creates. We previously touched upon Buddhism and its rules, this video makes it more bearable to learn.
Existing is a little bit crap.
We suffer because we crave.
Let go or be dragged.
We refuse to accept change, cling to the current state of things. But everything is permanent.
I need to share this because you need to feel the high tis performance brings. Speechless.
Mark Dykeman is an IT project manager by day (sometimes by night) and a reader/writer whenever possible. Mark lives with his family in Woodstock, New Brunswick (CANADA). You can find his work online at How About This /about), a mighty fine electronic newsletter with posts on creativity, reading and writing, and managing it all, with a dash of current events, pop culture and interviews with Atlantic Canadians you should know about. You can also frequently find him on Twitter as @markdykeman (https://twitter.com/markdykeman). He's a little obsessed with notebooks and index cards.
(https://howaboutthis.substack.com
📊 1 Interesting Graph/Stat:
We’re already seeing the impact of climate change—today, droughts, heatwaves, and extreme rainstorms are 2x more frequent than they were a century ago. (Source)
📽️ 1 Series/ Film or Documentary:
Next film suggestion is directed by Agnes Varda: Cleo From 5 to 7. “Cleo, an arrogant pop star, is a nervous wreck as she awaits the results of a biopsy test. With almost two hours to kill before the results are revealed, she wanders around and bumps into a soldier.” The film depicts every minute of this long wait.
Cleo: I feel like I have no life in me.
Cléo: I'm afraid of everything - birds, storms, lifts, needles - and now, this great fear of death…
Antoine : Nakedness is simplicity itself. Love, birth, the dawn, the sun, the beach, all that.
The fifth subscriber profile will be my lovely friend and gorgeous mom Seher. She answered the questions below on her own, it was easy to write. Thanks a million :)
What is your biggest fear in life?
Losing my loved ones.
What is one thing you never get bored of doing?
Making puzzles.
If you could get a sentence as a tattoo on your arm, what sentence would it be?
"Not dead, can't quit"
What is the thing you regret the most that you didn't do/try?
Let's keep it confidential :)
Who would you like to have dinner with and talk about life?
Gertrude Bell.
You have one wish, you can do anything, what's the first thing you'll do?
To have a never ending bank account.
If money wasn't a problem for you, what would you be doing?
Travelling, especially experiencing new foods.
Who is your favorite superhero and why?
Wonder woman (just being feminist).
Who is your idol?
I do not really have one.
What is something that people are obsessed with but you just don’t get the point of?
Alcohol. It's not my fault, if I can't get a lot. Is it really necessary while hanging-out with friends? Just asking, not judging.
If you had the chance, what would be the city and time you like to be born and live in?
Milano, around the 1990s.
If you had to listen to 10 songs until you die, which 10 would it be?
Any music it could be, except hard rock
Check out the Spotify playlist. Use this link to add your 10 , please no more than 10 :)
If you can recommend only 10 books to your loved ones, which 10 would it be?
What is the one movie you keep re-watching?
Scissorhands.
📜 3 Quotes:
“Where your fear is, there is your task.”
— Carl Jung
“The man who actually knows just what he wants in life has already gone a long way toward attaining it.”
— Napoleon Hill