An ancient philosopher's advice for a fulfilled life, even in dark times

“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems.”

Misery can be influenced by your circumstances, but it is largely indifferent to them because it grows from within. Most of us have everything that we need to avoid it, but our untrained brains are prone to create it through anxiety.

This concept is easy to understand but it requires consistent effort and application. Keeping your brain in check demands that you understand and internalize it into day to day conduct.

We only have so much time and energy, so it’s good to eliminate the meaningless things we do. And then spread your remaining time and energy across multiple sources.

Balance work with other hobbies or personal projects, increase the number of people you can rely on, etc. Over a long enough time, something will go wrong, and having multiple sources of fulfillment to rely on will save you from complete collapse.

Change what you can control, let go of what you can’t and expect unfairness, difficulties and pain. Everything in your life is your responsibility, and what makes a negative occurrence bad is how you deal with it, not the thing itself.

Accepting full responsibility rids you of excuses and lets you associate the issues of life with your inability to deal with them. It’s important not to be too hard on yourself, but this association leads to proactivity.