Watch This Every Day – Leadership Principles – 9 Stoic Rules For A Better Life

Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome at the peak of its power - commanding armies, passing laws, managing an empire of 70 million people. He was also writing private journal entries every night about how to be a better person. He never intended them to be published. That journal became the Meditations - one of the most widely read philosophical texts in human history.

The 9 Stoic rules below come from his life and writing. They are not motivational slogans. They are battle-tested operating principles from a man who had every temptation to be corrupt, lazy, and self-serving - and chose otherwise, every day. Watch this every day. Let it reset your standard.

1. PUT OTHERS FIRST
   • Marcus Aurelius during plague selling palace items
   • CEO taking paycut; athletes renegotiating contracts
   • Opposite of 2022 corporate/political leaders
2. ANOTHER PATH IS ALWAYS OPEN
   • Not stuck; impediment to action advances action
   • We control how we respond
   • Stoics say we always retain ability to choose and change
3. TAKE IT STEP BY STEP
   • Do it today
   • Marcus Aurelius: "You could be good today instead you choose tomorrow"
   • Discipline of action
   • Take the first step
4. DISCARD YOUR ANXIETY
   • "I escaped anxiety. No actually I discarded it because it was within me." - Marcus Aurelius
   • Anxiety is caused by you, not by things in your life
5. WELL BEGUN IS HALF DONE
   • Marcus Aurelius gets up early
   • "Concentrate like a Roman. Do this as if it's the last thing you're doing in your life."
   • Start day with morning routine
6. BE STRICT WITH YOURSELF
   • "Tolerant with others. Strict with yourself." - Marcus Aurelius
   • Purpose is to make you better master of yourself
   • Self-discipline
7. DON'T RESENT PEOPLE
   • Marcus Aurelius didn't like people but says obstacles are the way
   • People are frustrating but also the way
   • Don't resent people - use them to become better
8. ASK YOURSELF IS THIS ESSENTIAL?
   • Marcus Aurelius: "Ask yourself with everything you do and say - is this essential?"
   • Most of what we do is not essential
   • Double benefit of doing fewer things better
9. REMEMBER THESE MANTRAS
   1. Amor Fati - it didn't happen to you, it happened for you. Fate chose this for you. Accept it. Embrace it. Bear it. Make something of it.
      • Marcus Aurelius says: "A fire turns everything into fuel and brightness."
   2. It's about what you do for other people.
      • Marcus Aurelius says: "The fruit of this life is good character and acts for the common good."
      • The Stoics weren't studying this philosophy to make more money for their own sake; it was about what they do for other people.
      • Do you contribute to your community? To your country? Are you moving the ball forward for humanity?
   3. Memento Mori - Latin for "remember that you have to die"
      • This puts the other two in perspective.
      • You could leave this life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. Life is short.
      • Do everything as if it was the thought or action of a dying person, Marcus says.
      • Life is fragile. The pandemic has reminded us of this.
      • Live while you can. Seize the day.