In previous articles, I talked about first 7 Guiding Principles for Winning when you face adversity.
You can read about them in PART 1 and Part 2 articles for references.
The next 5 guiding principle are…
8. Be OK with Your Failures.
WHAAAT?? Be OK with Failures?!
YES!! Because there’re no failures, only feedback.
Everybody’s had experiences that were labeled as failures.
You imagine that if only you didn’t make this or that mistake, your situation would be much better today.
“Should of/ Could of” thinking is quite common but useless.
You did what you did because it was best you knew how at that moment.
It certainly might be not the best choice, not the best decision or action, but it’s done now and you received a valuable feedback that the way you chose was not the right way for you.
You probably needed to learn this lesson. And you did. Time to move on.
9. Be Intentional, Compassionate and Patient with Others.
Nobody is perfect. Including you. It’s the nature of being… human.
People have different cultural, sociological and education backgrounds.
Some had a loving and caring family, others were raised by a single parent or grandparents, yet others were orphans.
Some are calm and have respectful and professional attitude, others are abrupt and have inadequate reactions.
Regardless of who you’re dealing with, you’ve got to be able to be intentional in your communication – stay calm and rational when face others’ emotional responses.
Regardless of the situation, refrain from lashing out at people.
Rage and insult never lead to constructive solutions,
You can choose to be patient and compassionate.
10. Appreciate Who You Are and What You Have.
It’s fairly common in our culture to envy or compare yourself and your circumstances with others; or to strive to emulate those you admire.
Some people imagine that if only they were like XYZ or had what this person has, they would be happy and fulfilled.
This kind of thinking pattern is… foolish and energy-draining.
You don’t know what this person had to go through to achieve what you want to have or experience.
You don’t know what pain, failures, and losses they experienced in their lives.
When you compare, envy or try to emulate someone else, you degrade your own humanity; you don’t appreciate your own identity and your own God-given path and purpose in this lifetime.
I love that Stoics taught the value of negative visualization, so that you could experience a radical appreciation for who you are, where you are, and what you have.
Appreciate YOUR life, have YOUR goals, and align YOUR decisions with YOUR values and goals, while leveraging YOUR talents, skills, experiences, and interests.
Be the best YOU can be. Live YOUR best rich life.
11. Accept that Everything Is Temporary.
Many people have a problem with changes. They don’t like changing places they live in; have challenging time letting go of former friends or lovers; feel stuck in grief for years after losing a loved one.
Stoic philosophers taught to accept that everything — experiences, circumstances, possessions, relationships — are transient.
Everything has the beginning and the end…. Wealth is created and spent; friendships are made and lost; loved ones come into our lives and die.
And one day you will die too.
It’s human to not be willing to think about endings…
It’s very sad… it’s very unpleasant… and very hard.
However, Stoics taught that it’s helpful not to shy away from thinking about these things and become accustomed to them.
While it is unpleasant to think about any loss, especially a loss of loved ones, becoming comfortable with the idea makes it less daunting….
It certainly helps to cherish the present moment and be better prepared for whatever may come your way.
One useful twist in this principle is that if you experience something negative right now, you may find a relief in knowing that this too will pass….
With this mindset, life is filled with rich experiences, rather than dread ones.
12. Realize That It Could Always Be Worse.
If you are in a bad situation, acknowledge it and realize that whatever you experience at the moment, it almost always can be worse.
In Stoic philosophy, negative visualization was used to imagine all the things that could go wrong and how your life situation might take a turn for the worse, yet you will survive.
It may be difficult, but it is not impossible.
The key to weathering any challenging circumstances is believing that you will survive no matter what.
“However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there’s life, there’s hope,” said famous physicist Stephen Hawking, who embodied these words better than anyone else.
Bottom line:
Stoicism is not about bottling up emotion, or being cold, distant or a superhuman.
Instead, it encourages us to be deeply in touch with our humanity and to seize the day.
Stoicism is empowering and entrepreneurial.
It teaches that no-one can take mastery of the self away from you.
It demonstrates that you have amazing inner power over external circumstances and, regardless of the adversities you might be facing, are able to thrive and WIN.
Today I shared the last 5 Guiding principles in the 12 Guiding Principles for Winning When Face Adversity:
– Be OK with Your Failures
– Be Intentional, Compassionate and Patient with Others
– Appreciate Who You Are and What You Have
– Accept that Everything Is Temporary
– Realize That It Could Always Be Worse
Thank you for your time today – I truly appreciate you reading and sharing this newsletter!
To your Health, Wealth, and Freedom!
P.S. You can watch all episodes of the “More Money with Millen” show on topics of wealth mindset, savvy money management, and strategic investing on my YouTube channel (MillenLivisChannelWealth).
