If you want to improve, you must be content to be thought foolish and stupid.

Personally being an introvert this hits home hard for me. It encourages me to keep asking questions and seeking guidance at the cost of appearing foolish and ignorant. Don't fret over what others might think of you. Focus on improving the self.

Epictetus, a Greek stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicropolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. Together with the Enchiridion, a manual of his main ideas, and the fragments collected here, The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love, and leaves an intriguing document of daily life in the classical world.

philosophy

Philosophy

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

books

Books

Contains The Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion 'I must die. But must I die bawling?' Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century AD. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were written down by Arrian, his most famous pupil. The Discourses argue that happiness lies in learning to perceive exactly what is in our power to change and what is not, and in embracing our fate to live in harmony with god and nature. In this personal, practical guide to the ethics of Stoicism and moral self-improvement, Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, illness and fear, family, friendship and love. Translated and Edited with an Introduction by Robert Dobbin

Epictetus

Discourses and Selected Writings

Two trends are believed to shape the world in the next 10–15 years:<ul><li>The Metaverse, and its proliferation on all aspects of society</li><li>Web3 and the democratization of the Internet</li></ul>And the arrival of both trends will firmly rely on the technology of NFTs in order to be successful.Let’s see why and how.

Understanding The Times

From <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse">Wikipedia </a>, the Metaverse, coined by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, is described as a “collective, shared virtual space that is created when the physical realm converges with the virtual realm, which includes virtual reality, augmented reality and the internet.”Think of humans in the form of avatars interacting with each other in a 3D world.The ethos behind the Metaverse is the creation of a digital space for us to live, socialize, and work — that transcends the space-time of our physical world.

What is the Metaverse?

Be it connecting with coleagues via zoom or using FaceTime with friends.Or be it playing a game of Fortnite over Discord.Today a lot of the activities done IRL are ported to the digital realm: working, networking, socializing, gaming, etc.

The Metaverse is Inevitable

Web 1.0 was the era of static webpages where content provided by the website developer was only meant to be consumed.Web 2.0 catapulted the world from simple static desktop web pages to interactive experiences, user-generated content, and marketplace economics that brought us tech giants like Uber, Facebook and Twitter. Web 2.0 was mobile-first, social-first, and cloud-only.Web 2.0 unlocked trillions of dollars of value for the global economy, but in doing so, we consumers gave up a lot of agency over our lives, in favor of the value of the services that a handful of companies provide us.

History Of The Web

Today, we hand over our individual freedoms in favor of centralized services.The big tech companies gather a lot of data from us: where we browse, where we shop, and even we are located in the physical world. They use this information to sell us products and nudge our behaviors to benefit their ultimate customer: the advertisers.More on this dilemma is expertly covered in the Netflix doc <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224">The Social Dilemma </a>.Moreover, we allow these companies to house our information — leading to a single point of failure in the advent of a security breach.

The Key Resource: Data

The new era of Web3 champions:<ul><li>“Open” — meaning built on open standards, by an open and accessible community of developers and executed with full transparency</li><li>“Trustless”— meaning participants can interact with the comfort that all information is correct and authenticated — without needing to trust a third-party to verify</li><li>“Permissionless” — meaning no one can be barred from participation, even from an authority figure like a government</li></ul>networks. Blockchain protocols like Etherium help build open financial systems where anyone can build and participate without the need of financial institutions.

Web 3.0

If the Metaverse were to exist in a Web 2.0 setting, centralized institutions like Facebook and Google can control our experience — living in their data centers that can be shut off by their whim, where they control what we see, and our data gathered in order to sell for profit or to be shared with authorities like governments.If you’re going to live a sizable chunk of your existence in the Metaverse, you may as well have ownership over those digital items.NFTs cryptographically prove that you, and you alone, are the owner of your digital items. And no one else can take them away from you.

NFTs are Digital Ownership

NFTs have cracked the <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/nft-emotion-as-a-market-force">problem of digital scarcity </a>, enabling creators for the first time ever to accurately price and safely distribute their works.As a result, NFTs allow artists to monetize their work in a new way, empowering them to cut out money-grubbing middlemen and forming direct relationships with their supporters and fans.Everything similarly clicks together when skilled professionals look to work directly with their clients in virtual workspaces.

NFTs As A Solution

These new and upcoming ideas could very well shape up how we interact and work with each other in the near future. It's good to have a basic understanding of these buzzwords.

They’re not only here to stay as a new form of digital art, but they’re also going to a foundational technology for how the world will operate in the future. It may sound like I’m being…

crypto

Cryptocurrency

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

The Metaverse, Web3, and the Inevitability of NFTs

<ul><li>Step 1: It’s okay to stumble (Forgive yourself). Everyone I know misses a workout here or there. It’s nothing to feel shame over. </li><li>Step 2: Have a plan! Without scheduling your week’s workouts, how do you even know if you’re being consistent or not?</li><li>Step 3: Have a backup plan! (Lose the “all or nothing” mindset). If your first plan falls through, nbd. Just move onto the next one. “Some” workout is always better than “no” workout. Do the best you can. </li></ul>

When it comes to working out consistently, remember to: 

<ul><li>Step 4: Make it fun. Your workout doesn’t need to be something you dread. If you like hiking, go hiking. If you like swimming, go swimming. Any movement is beneficial and should be encouraged. No one said you have to hate it. </li><li>Step 5: Find an accountability partner. Going alone is almost always harder. If you can find a friend or coach to team with, it will make working out consistently easier. </li></ul>

"Temptation Bundling" And Finding An Accountability Partner 

<ul><li>Step 6: Embrace “action” not “motivation.” If you have to wait around for motivation to start working out, you might be waiting for quite a while. You’ll become motivated after you act. </li><li>Step 7: Don’t find time, make time. Your schedule won’t magically free itself. Look at your calendar and start prioritizing.</li></ul>

Stop Searching For Time And Motivation

Step 6: Embrace “action” not “motivation.” If you have to wait around for motivation to start working out, you might be waiting for quite a while. You’ll become motivated after you act. Step 7: Don’t find time, make time. Your schedule won’t magically free itself. Look at your calendar and start prioritizing.

Newcomers to fitness can find it overwhelming and often times find it hard to remain consistent. This 2 minute read is a great help to learn tools to enjoy fitness and develop a schedule and consistency.

Can’t seem to work out and train consistently? You’re not alone, this is a common problem amongst our coaching clients. Luckily, we know how to help! So you’re having trouble working out consistently? I get it. Life is busy and hectic. You probably wear multiple hats in your life. Hopefully, one of them is a pirate hat: If you are having trouble exercising regularly, know that you aren’t alone. Not being able to work out consistently is one of the top […]

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

exerciseandfitness

Exercise & Fitness

How to Start Working Out (Consistently) | Nerd Fitness

“Everything - a horse, a vine - is created for some duty. For what task, then, were you yourself created?”

“All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike."

“In a little while you will have forgotten everything; in a little while everything will have forgotten you.”

“Since it is possible that you might depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.”

All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory. The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you. Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere. For what purpose then, have you been brought to this world?

Meditations is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy

Meditations

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”

Such a simple declaration about the relationship between our happiness and thoughts has us thinking deeply. We can observe the thoughts that we are having and then choose again if we need to. Making a commitment to choose thoughts that are of a good quality is essential if you want to be happy. Be discerning about the quality of thoughts you let run through your precious mind every day.  No-one else is responsible for our happiness. Only ourselves and our thoughts.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (a.d. 121-180) succeeded his adoptive father as emperor of Rome in a.d. 161-and Meditations remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. With a profound understanding of human behavior, Marcus provides insights, wisdom, and practical guidance on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity to interacting with others. Consequently, the Meditations have become required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. In Gregory Hays's new translation-the first in a generation-Marcus's thoughts speak with a new immediacy: never before have they been so directly and powerfully presented.

Meditations (Medieval Greek: Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, romanized: Ta eis he'auton, lit. 'things to one's self') is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations in Koine Greek as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. It is possible that large portions of the work were written at Sirmium, where he spent much time planning military campaigns from 170 to 180. Some of it was written while he was positioned at Aquincum on campaign in Pannonia, because internal notes tell us that the first book was written when he was campaigning against the Quadi on the river Granova (modern-day Hron) and the second book was written at Carnuntum.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known, noncontemporaneously, as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calmness and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD.

Discourses and Selected Writings

The Metaverse, Web3, and the Inevitability of NFTs

How to Start Working Out (Consistently) | Nerd Fitness

Meditations

Meditations

Om Athalye