Out & About With Month-End #RandomThoughts

Our team has compiled the following #RandomThoughts, featuring insights from Machiavelli, Leo Tolstoy, Rumi,  Seneca (courtesy Ryan Halliday of the Daily Stoic), and Gandhi, as we look forward to continuing our service across our network throughout the upcoming quarter. 

​ In one of his letters, Seneca said that the path to becoming wise was acquiring one piece of wisdom every day—a quote, an idea, an insight, an answer to this or that question—"that will fortify you against poverty, against death, indeed against other misfortunes." Notice the choice of the word will. Some day, misfortune will strike. A decision about the future will land on your desk. There will be a moral dilemma you didn't see coming. You will find yourself in a confusing situation or near a hidden opportunity. In these moments—big or small—the wisdom you need will either be there…or won't. The experience, the knowledge, the insights, the understanding will have been accumulated…or not. The work to fortify yourself will have been done…or won't. It’s in those moments that we discover why you can’t spell learned without earned. Wisdom is a lagging indicator of the work you did long ago. The fruit of the seed planted long ago. You can’t reap what you haven’t sown. Every good decision, every right action, every wise response in a complicated situation has a prologue titled preparation. Nothing comes from nowhere. Everything is a lagging indicator of whether the work was done—or wasn’t. And nowhere is this more true than with wisdom. PASSAGE OF THE WEEK: Life is a thinking person’s game. If you want to beat the strong, the rich, and the powerful…get smart. Better yet, get wise. Read the full meditation here: This Is How The Weak Beat The Strong YOUTUBE TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK: ​ In a recent video on the ​Daily Stoic YouTube channel, Ryan Holiday shares the magic behind the habit of walking, beginning by discussing how it clears your mind for the day ahead: “In relationships, walks are magic. If you’re a creative, walks are magic. Whatever you’re dealing with, whatever you’re going through, walks are magic. Seneca said that the mind must be given over to long, wandering walks or it’ll break the that the hammer eventually breaks against the anvil. We go for walks, we get outside, we get moving, and we’re amazed at the problems it solves.” Watch the full video here: 1 Habit That Will CHANGE Your Life Subscribe to Daily Stoic YouTube ​ PODCAST TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK: ​ In a recent episode of The Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan Holiday speaks with historian and biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin on why Lincoln stands above the rest, how ambition can be twisted toward selfishness or greatness, and how history breeds her optimism: “All of the times I’ve written about, whether it was the Civil War or the Great Depression or the early days of World War II, were very fraught times—and they turned out alright. So, my optimism is encouraged by looking back at these times….I really believe that history gives you that solace and hope, because we somehow managed to get through very hard times before all this.”