The inner traits of a Stoic.

Most of us love to live inside the comfort zone. We are so afraid to struggle, to suffer, to feel pain. Every one of us seems to talk about the good life and a good future. Yes, it is indeed a pleasure to think about good life rather than struggling life. But the truth, a fruitful life never comes after the harsh condition. There is a saying “ A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”. These are the traits we see on every stoic, from Elon Musk to David Goggins.

Master your emotions

These are the thing that is upon us. It’s the nature of every living being to express their emotions. In fact, “Emotions make our lives exciting, unique, and vibrant”. We get happier when we achieve something and feel depressed at a loss. It’s your right to celebrate your success, but it’s worth celebrating. You’ve just undiscovered a peak in your life, yet there are still undiscovered peaks. Get ready for the new one.

Elon Musk would have retired after selling his company Paypal. He was already a billionaire. He had a chance to retire, live a luxurious life and not bother about anything at all. Perhaps, what he did was celebrated for a day, and from the next day, he was already into his larger project.

Over the period of our time, we come over so many things that we get easily attached. Obstacle makes us emotional, and also losing our attachments but the only way we’ll survive or overcome them is by keeping those emotions in check — if we can keep steady no matter what happens no matter how many external events may fluctuate. This is not the first failure or success, yet there are many more. Our emotions should be constant.

Practice Persistence

Remember and remind yourself of a phrase favored by Epictetus: “persist and resist”. Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder.

There’s no need to seat this or feel rushed. No need to get upset or despair. You’re not going anywhere — you’re not going to be counted out. You’re in this for the long haul.

Doing new things invariably means obstacles. A new path is, by definition, uncleared. Only with persistence and time can we cut away debris and remove impediments. Only in struggling with the impediments that made another quit can we find ourselves on the untrodden territory — only by persisting and resisting can we learn what others were too impatient to be taught. It’s okay to be discouraged. It’s not okay to quit.

Live the present moment

The implications of our obstacles are theoretical- they exist in the past and the future. We live in the moment. And the more we embrace that, the easier the obstacle will be to face and move.

No matter what type of storm you have survived, no matter how much you’ve been hurt. No matter how many times you’ve failed over the years. No matter what you’ve gone through, or what you’ve lost. Leave the past in the past. Live the present. Stay aware of what you are doing right now, are you trying to improve yourselves, educating yourselves, or following a routine for your negative habits. “Yesterday was a history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift” — A. A. Milne

Focus on process

We are so focused on the product, that we often find ourselves expecting much more. But when the reality doesn’t matches with the expectation we get hurt depressed, bored, and quit.

The process is about finishing. Finishing games, Finishing workouts. Finishing blocks. Finishing drives. Finishing reps. Finishing plays. Finishing blocks. Finishing the smallest task you have right in front of you and finishing it well.

Whether it’s pursuing the pinnacle of success in your field or simply surviving some awful or trying ordeal, the same approach works. Don’t think about the end- think about surviving. Making it from meal to meal, break to break, checkpoint to checkpoint, paycheck to paycheck, one day at a time.

And when you really get it right, even the hardest things become manageable. Because the process is relaxing, Under its influence, we needn’t panic. Even mammoth tasks become just a series of component parts.

Learning a new skill is painful, if you are into learning skill within a day, you will get burnout. Whether it’s driving, learn to code, reading a book, or learning to play the piano. You’ve to do it step by step. It will take time. Rather focusing on when I will master it? Focus on the process.

The Discipline of Perception

In the Panic of 1857, a massive national financial crisis originated in Ohio and hit Cleveland particularly hard. As businesses failed and the price of grain plummeted across the country, westward expansion quickly came to a halt. The result was a crippling depression that lasted for several years.

John D. Rockefeller could have gotten scared. Here was the greatest market depression in history and it hit him just as he was finally getting the hang of things. He could have pulled out and run like others. He could have quit finance altogether for a different career with less risk. But even as a young man, Rockefeller had sangfroid: unflappable coolness under pressure. He could keep his head while he was losing his shirt. Better yet, he kept his head while everyone else lost theirs.

And so instead of bemoaning this economic upheaval, Rockefeller eagerly observed the momentous events. Almost perversely, he chose to look at it all as an opportunity to learn, a baptism in the market. He quietly saved his money and watched others did wrong. He saw the weaknesses in the economy that many took for granted and how this left them all unprepared for change or shocks.

He internalized an important lesson that would stay with him forever: The market was inherently unpredictable and often vicious.- only the rational and disciplined mind could hope to profit from it.

Within twenty years of that first crisis, Rockefeller would alone control 90 percent of the oil market. His greedy competitors had perished. His nervous colleagues had sold their shares and left the business. His weak-hearted doubters had missed out.

For the rest of his life, the greater the chaos the calmer Rockefeller would become, particularly when others around him were either panicked or mad with greed. He would make much of his fortune during these market fluctuations- because he could see while others could not.

What is up to us?

• Our emotions
• Our judgments
• Our creativity
• Our attitude
• Our perspective
• Our desires
• Our decisions
• Our determination

What is not up to us?

Well, you know, everything else. The weather, the economy, circumstances, other people’s emotions or judgments, trends, disasters.

We always wish we would never struggle, we do our best to avoid trouble. What great people do is the opposite. They are their best in these situations. They turn personal tragedy or misfortune — really anything, everything- to their advantage.

But this crisis in front of you? You’re wasting it feeling sorry for yourself, feeling tired or disappointed. You forget. Life speeds on the bold and favors the brave.

We sit here and complain that we’re not being given opportunities or chances. We always complain that life is unfair. God has done unfairly to us. We compare with others success. Yet we disappoint ourselves.

Is this your last obstacle?

Whether it is a problem at our work or a problem at our home. We go through a lot of problems in our life. Our mind is always passive on the obstacle, honestly, our brain never wants to meet with a new problem again.

Whether it is the boss in the office, who constantly pressures you even on your day off. Or a stupid friend who always bothers you with his awful task.

So, somehow we managed to escape the problem. So what now? Is this the last obstacle?

Of course, not you are not aware of your future. The more we try to focus we find ourselves distracted by someone or something. These are the things that are not in our hands, but what’s in our hands is the ability to solve the problem.

Our life is like a stock graph. There’s high and there’s low. In every low, we should keep moving no matter what we lose.

Get moving

Our mind is so vulnerable. We are so weak and afraid of changes, we want to live inside a comfort zone forever. Yet we don’t realize every year a tree has to tolerate various seasons from cold to scorching hot to obtain greenery and be able to produce fruits. We expect so many things yet we get so little. We judge our stories with others. We feel the victim of not getting what we want. Thus, we argue and criticize for getting less.

There is an old Zen story about a king whose people had grown soft and entitled. Dissatisfied with this state of affairs, he hoped to teach them a lesson. His plan was simple: He would place a large boulder in the middle of the main road, completely blocking entry into the city. He would then hide nearby and observe their reactions

How would they respond? Would they band together to remove it? Or would they get discouraged, quit, and return home?

With growing disappointments, the king watched as subject after subject came to this impediment and turned away. Or, at best, tried halfheartedly before giving up. Many openly complained or cursed the kind or fortune or bemoaned the inconvenience, but none managed to do anything about it.

After several days, and alone peasant came along on his way into town. He did not turn away. Instead, he strained and strained, trying to push it out of the way. Then an idea came to him: He scrambled into the nearby woods to find something he could use for leverage. Finally, he returned with a large branch he had crafted into a lever and deployed it to dislodge the massive rock from the road.

Beneath the rock were a purse of gold coins and a note from the king, which said: “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition”

The river never stops its flow, whether it is blocked by a giant rock or a tree. Even if the path is destructed, the river will always make its own way.