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NEGATIVE VISUALIZATION – Use Stoicism to Prepare for Life’s Challenges · Motivational Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Vain is the word of a philosopher which does not
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: heal any suffering of man. For just as there is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: no profit in medicine if it does not expel the
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: diseases of the body, so there is no profit in
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: philosophy either, if it does not expel the suffering of
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: the mind. The Stoic philosophy of life may be old,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: but it merits the attention of any modern individual who
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: wishes to have a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Although Stoicism is a philosophy, it has a significant psychological component.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: The Stoics realized that a life plagued with negative emotions,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: including anger, anxiety, fear, grief, and envy, will not be
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: a good life. They therefore became acute observers of the
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: workings of the human mind, and as a result became
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: some of the most insightful psychologists of the ancient world.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Who among us, after all, would not like to reduce
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the number of negative emotions experienced in daily living. The
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Stoics thought tranquility was worth pursuing, and the tranquility they
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: sought it will be remembered is a psychological state in
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: which we experience few negative emotions such as anxiety, grief,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and fear, but an abundance of positive emotions, especially joy.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: We should become self aware.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: We should observe ourselves as we go about our daily business,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: and we should periodically reflect on how we respond to
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: the day's events. How did we respond to an insult,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: to the loss of a possession, to a stressful situation.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: We should use our reasoning ability to overcome negative emotions.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: We should also use our reasoning ability to master our
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: desires to the extent that it is possible to do so.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: In particular, we should use reason to convince ourselves that
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: things such as fame and fortune aren't worth having, not
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: at any rate, if what we seek is tranquility, and
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: therefore aren't worth pursuing. Likewise, we should use our reasoning
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: ability to convince ourselves that, even though certain activities are pleasurable,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: engaging in those activities will disrupt our tranquility, and the
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: tranquility loss will outweigh the pleasure gained. The Stoics pointed
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: to two principal sources of human unhappiness in satiability and
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: our tendency to worry about things beyond our control. To
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: conquer our insatiability. The Stoics advise us to engage in
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: negative visualization. We should contemplate the impermanence of all things.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: We should imagine ourselves losing the things we most value,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: including possessions and loved ones. We should also imagine the
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  Speaker 1: loss of our own life. If we do this, we
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: will come to appreciate the things we now have, and
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: because we appreciate them, we will be less likely to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: form desires for other things. And besides simply imagining that
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: things could be worse than they are, we should sometimes
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: cause things to be worse than they would otherwise be.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: We should not bother about things over which we have
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: no control. Instead, we should spend some of our time
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: dealing with things over which we have complete control, such
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  Speaker 1: as our goals and values, and spend most of our
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: time dealing with things over which we have some but
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: not complete control. If we do this, we will avoid
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: experiencing much needless anxiety. We should be fatalistic with respect
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: to the external world.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: We should realize that what.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: Has happened to us in the past and what is
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: happening to us at this very moment, are beyond our control.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: So it is foolish to get upset about these things.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: If we live in accordance with stoic principles, we will
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  Speaker 1: have the best life. It is possible for a human
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: to have Stoicism understood properly. Is a cure for a disease.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: The disease in question is the anxiety, grief, fear, and
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  Speaker 1: various other negative emotions that plague humans and prevent them
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: from experiencing joyful existence. By practicing stoic techniques, we can
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  Speaker 1: cure the disease and thereby gain tranquility.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: A good technique to.
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  Speaker 1: Start with is negative visualization. At spare moments in the day,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: make it a point to contemplate the loss of whatever
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: you value in life. Engaging in such contemplation can produce
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: a dramatic transformation in your outlook on life. It can
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  Speaker 1: make you realize, if only for a time, how lucky
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: you are, how much you have to be thankful for,
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  Speaker 1: almost regardless of your circumstances. Negative visualization is to daily
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: living as salt is to cooking. Although it requires minimal time, energy,
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  Speaker 1: and talent for a cook to add salt to food,
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  Speaker 1: the taste of almost any food he adds it too,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: will be enhanced as a result.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: In much the same way.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Although practicing negative visualization requires minimal time, energy, and talent,
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  Speaker 1: those who practice it will find that their capacity to
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: enjoy life is significantly enhanced. You might find yourself, after
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: engaging in negative visualization, embracing the very life that a
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  Speaker 1: short time before you had.
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  Speaker 2: Complained wasn't worth living.
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  Speaker 1: By engaging negative visualization, we increase our satisfaction with our circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: But on gaining this sense of satisfaction, the natural thing
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  Speaker 1: to do is simply enjoy life. Indeed, it is decidedly
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  Speaker 1: unnatural for someone who is satisfied with life to spend
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: time thinking about the bad things that can happen. The stoics, however,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: would remind us that negative visualization, besides making us appreciate
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  Speaker 1: what we have, can help us avoid clinging to the
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  Speaker 1: things we appreciate. Consequently, it is as important to engage
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  Speaker 1: in negative visualization when times are good as it is
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: when times are bad. As a stoic, you will constantly
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: be preparing yourself for hardship by, for example, engaging in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: negative visualization or voluntarily causing your self discomfort. If hardship
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: doesn't follow, it is possible for a curious kind of
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  Speaker 1: disappointment to set in. You might find yourself wishing that
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  Speaker 1: your stoicism would be put to the test so you
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  Speaker 1: can see whether you in fact possess the skills at
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  Speaker 1: hardship management that you have worked to acquire. You are,
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  Speaker 1: in other words, like a firefighter who is practiced as
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  Speaker 1: firefighting skills for years but has never been called on
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  Speaker 1: to put out an actual fire, or like a football
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: player who, despite diligently practicing all season long, has never
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: been put in a game. When someone attempts to harm
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: a wise man, he might actually welcome the attempt, since
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: the injuries can't hurt him but can help him. So
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: far is he from shrinking from the buffetings of circumstances
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  Speaker 1: or of men that he counts even injury profitable for
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  Speaker 1: Through it, he finds a means of putting himself to
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  Speaker 1: the proof and makes trial of his virtue. We should
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: perform a kind of triage in which we distinguish between
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  Speaker 1: things we have no control over, things we have complete
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  Speaker 1: control over, and things we have some but not complete
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  Speaker 1: control over. And having made this distinction, we should focus
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: our attention on the last two categories. In particular, we
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: waste our time and cause ourselves needless anxiety. If we
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: concern ourselves with things over which we have no control,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: what can you do about the situation?
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Nothing? Then why are you worrying about it?
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: It is out of your hands, so it is pointless
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: to worry. Nothing is worth doing pointlessly. Practice internalizing your goals.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: By routinely internalizing your goals, you can reduce what would
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: otherwise be a significant source of distress in your life,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the feeling that you have failed to accomplish some goal.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Become a psychological fatalist about the past and the present, but.
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  Speaker 2: Not about the future.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Although you will be willing to think about the past
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  Speaker 1: and present in order to learn things that can help
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  Speaker 1: you better deal with the obstacles to tranquility throwing your
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: way in the future, you will refuse to spend time
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: engaging in, if only thoughts about the past and present.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: You will realize that inasmuch as the past and present
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: cannot be changed, it is pointless to wish they could
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  Speaker 1: be different. You will do your best to accept the past,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: whatever it might have been, and to embrace the present,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: whatever it might be. I know this sounds strange, but
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: one consequence of the practice of stoicism is that one
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: seeks opportunities to put stoic techniques to work. One of
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: the worst things we can do when other people annoy
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: us is get angry. The anger will, after all, be
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: a major obstacle to our tranquility. This is the problem
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  Speaker 1: with anger. It feels good to vent it and feels
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: bad to suppress it. Indeed, when our anger is righteous anger,
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  Speaker 1: when we are confident that we are right and whomever
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  Speaker 1: we are angry at is wrong, it feels quite wonderful
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  Speaker 1: to vent it and let the person who wronged us
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  Speaker 1: know of our anger. Anger, in other words, resembles a
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  Speaker 1: mosquito bite. It feels bad not to scratch a bite,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: and it feels good to scratch it. The problem with
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: mosquito bites, of course, is that after you scratch one,
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  Speaker 1: you typically wish you hadn't done so the itch returns intensifying,
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  Speaker 1: and by scratching the bite you increase the chance that
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  Speaker 1: it will become infected. Much the same can be said
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  Speaker 1: of anger. Although it feels good to vent it, you
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: will probably subsequently regret having done so. These feelings of
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: anger are pointless.
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  Speaker 2: They disturb me that have.
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  Speaker 1: No impact at all on the person at whom I
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: am angry. Indeed, if anything, they serve to compound the
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  Speaker 1: harm he does me what a waste. The more you
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: think about and understand anger, the easier it is to
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  Speaker 1: control it. Because anger has these characteristics, because it can
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  Speaker 1: lie dormant within us, and because venting it feels good,
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  Speaker 1: our anger will be difficult to overcome, and learning to
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  Speaker 1: overcome it is one of the biggest challenges a Stoic
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  Speaker 1: practitioner faces. Seneca, I am certain was right when he
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: pointed to laughter as the proper response to the things
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  Speaker 1: which drive us to tears. He shows a greater mind
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  Speaker 1: who does not restrain his laughter than he who does
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  Speaker 1: not restrain his tears. The Stoics advise us to cause
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  Speaker 1: bad things to happen as the result of our undertaking
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  Speaker 1: a program of voluntary discomfort. When doing things to cause
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: myself physical and mental discomfort, I view myself, or at
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  Speaker 1: any rate a part of me, as an opponent in
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  Speaker 1: a kind of gain. My other self lacks self discipline.
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  Speaker 1: Left to his own devices, he will always take the
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  Speaker 1: path of least resistance through life, and as a result,
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  Speaker 1: will be little more than a simple minded pleasure seeker.
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  Speaker 2: My other self is not my friend.
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  Speaker 1: I must establish my dominance over him. I must cause
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  Speaker 1: him to experience discomfort he could easily have avoided, and
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  Speaker 1: I must prevent him from experiencing pleasures he might otherwise
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  Speaker 1: have enjoyed. When he is scared of doing something, I
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: must force him to confront his fears and overcome them.
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  Speaker 1: Why play this game against my other self to gain
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  Speaker 1: self discipline? And why is self discipline worth possessing? Because
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  Speaker 1: those who possess it have the ability to determine what
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  Speaker 1: they do with their life. Those who lack self discipline
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  Speaker 1: will have the path they take through life determined by
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  Speaker 1: someone or something else, and as a result, there is
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  Speaker 1: a very real danger.
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  Speaker 2: That they will mislive.
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  Speaker 1: Seneca reminds us that even though it may be unpleasant
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  Speaker 1: to endure something, we will aren't successfully enduring it be
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  Speaker 1: pleased with ourselves. I am, in fact, engaged in a
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  Speaker 1: much more significant competition, the one against my other self.
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  Speaker 2: Why not just quit? Think of how good it will
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  Speaker 2: be by racing against each other.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: We are all simultaneously racing against ourselves, although not all
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  Speaker 1: of us are consciously aware of doing so.
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  Speaker 2: We must individually overcome.
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  Speaker 1: Ourselves, our fears, our laziness, our lack of self discipline.
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  Speaker 1: And it is entirely possible for someone to lose the
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  Speaker 1: competition against the other rowers, indeed to come in last,
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  Speaker 1: but in the process of doing so, to have triumphed
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: in the competition against.
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  Speaker 2: His other self.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: It is possible, through the practice of stoicism to.
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  Speaker 2: Gain a whole new light.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: A better life is possible, one containing perhaps less comfort
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  Speaker 1: and pleasure, but considerably more joy. The joy the Stoics
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  Speaker 1: were interested in can best be described as a kind
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: of objectless enjoyment. It is a delight in simply being
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: able to participate in life. It is a profound realization that,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: even though all this didn't have to be possible, it
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  Speaker 1: is possible, wonderfully, magnificently possible. They say that life is
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: more like wrestling than like dancing.