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Stoic Morning Practice: Start Before You Feel Ready · The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Some mornings you might have noticed you wake up and already the day feels like it's too much.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing has gone wrong, right?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: You've just woke up.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: But something is there.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's waiting.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can't find the part of yourself that you need to meet it.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: The motivation is gone.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what this morning practice is for.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So sit up if you can, spine tall, shoulders back.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Even if inside you're not convinced, just for now I give you permission to go through the motions.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Breathe in through the nose and out slowly.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Again in and out.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Marcus Aurelius wrote a note to himself about this exact problem.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: He was emperor.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: He had every reason to get up, and still, at dawn, he had to argue with himself to leave the bed.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: His note went something like this At dawn when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself that you have to go to work as a human being.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Then he asks himself a question that does a lot of work.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Were you made for this, he says, or for pleasure?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is this really what you were put here for to lie warm under blankets?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Notice what he does not do.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: He does not tell himself the day will be enjoyable.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: He does not manufacture enthusiasm.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: He just reminds himself what he is for.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is the stoic move.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: Motivation is a feeling and feelings come and go.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Purpose is a decision, and it holds when the feeling does not.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So let's find yours.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not a grand one, but something that is true, that is real.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Bring to mind something in your life that would be worse if you did nothing today.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it is work you are building slowly.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And today is one more brick.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is a person, someone who is easier for having you around.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is simply that you have decided what kind of person you are trying to become, and that person gets up.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever came to mind, just hold it there for a second.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Notice it is not exciting and it does not need to be.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's be real.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Today, like most days will have some friction in it, something you have been avoiding, maybe a conversation you would rather not have, a task that keeps sliding to tomorrow.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let one of those things come to mind now.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: The blocked road forces a new road, and walking the new road is the new work.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your obstacle today is not the thing stopping the day from being good.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's the thing that today is made out of.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Picture yourself meeting it, not enjoying it, not winning easily, just walking towards it and beginning.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: You do not have to feel ready.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody does.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to start.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So take a breath in and let your spine lengthen a little.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've got up on harder mornings than today.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not trying to motivate you.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's a fact, right?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you look back at your track record, you'll know if it's true or not.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: One more breath.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: If it helps, say this to yourself quietly.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: I know what I am for today.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: I will start before I feel ready.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Bring some movement back.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: Fingers, shoulders, jaw, and open your eyes when you're ready.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing about today has changed, but you have.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Slightly.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's enough.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Come back to this tomorrow, especially if tomorrow is another flat one.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: The practice works best on the mornings you least want to do it.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Go well.