On Resilience | Mondays with Marcus

At the risk of being cliche, as I often am, I’ve always thought that having a framework, a set of daily(-ish) themes for a blog would make it easier to stick to that sort of schedule. In my infinite cheesiness, alliteration immediately follows. Monday, being the start of the week, always drifted towards “Mindset” but with the recent release of yet another Ryan Holiday book on Stoicism, I’d been thinking about that angle… and here we are.

“Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness—all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil.” – Marcus Aurelius

Elements of Resilience

I asked some “tools” for advice on topics for a blog series like this and the idea of resilience came first, which makes a lot of sense, since I’m continually trying to bounce back from not hitting the publishing schedule that I aspire to. I don’t intend to parrot Holiday here, and to be honest, I’ve started all of his books… but I swear there’s always another one before I finish the previous tome… but I digress. I do want to channel other modern “thinkers” that I respect as a way of giving myself a chance to go deeper on the “quote of the week” from dear old Marcus. I’m sure I’ll change it up over time, but would be interested if any readers picked up on the influences.

• Empathy: I’m a naturally empathic person, to a fault a lot of times. When I read this quote through the lens of empathy, I want to be more inclined to meet the day’s challenges with an understanding that difficult people or attitudes come from misalignment or general misunderstanding. How much can be resolved just by approaching any given scenario with an openness to the notion that… you could be wrong? Even just a willingness to accept “ignorance” over ill-will gets us a lot of the way there in many circumstances.
• Mental Toughness: It never feels right, but lot of times, we face things we just have to “grin and bear”. Recognizing past choices that led to a present suboptimal outcome can help us better anticipate the next time around. I said I wouldn’t parrot Holiday, but “the obstacle is the way” is staring us in the face here. We should use adversity to build resilience and stay focused on long-term goals.
• Intrinsic Motivation: Channeling this “virtual” mentor is one of the things that has me cranking on the keyboard at this moment. It’s so easy to look at each bit of negative feedback, the “slings and arrows” of everyday life, as a sign that we should do something, anything else. In reality, we should take those opportunities to take stock, practice empathy with ourselves and be resolved to live our principles; to stay true to what drives us and rise above the noise.
• Focus and Inner Peace: Finally, I’ll get back to that first word in the list: interference. How many a pleasant, well-aligned morning have fallen apart by an unexpectedly busy inbox? Changing priorities, unexpected feedback, negativity of any degree will challenge even the most prepared or deliberate mind. We cannot languish; we must rebound and focus. Get re-organized and stay centered on what truly matters.

Illegitimi non carborundum – “Don’t Let The Bastards Grind You Down”

This is clearly what they call cod/dog Latin but I’ve loved it since I first read it long ago. That said, it’s clear that a resilient mindset is as fundamental in our time as it was for Marcus Aurelius. So, take a deep breath… then, embrace empathy, stay focused, be true to yourself, and get ready to face whatever comes your way.

I wish you all a productive and fulfilling week!