Marcus Aurelius, a philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180), journaled often. Meditations is a collection of his journaling, thoughts, and questions. Marcus asked many questions that people find themselves asking today. A relatable series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and a profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written.
Remember, with each episode, we will provide a helpful Deep-Dive infographic where we break down the entire book on to 1 page! And we have a convenient link for you to find all of them! Visit invictusmultifamily.com/notes to find all of the sophisticated investor notes!
Here are our top 5 takeaways:
- Let It Go (09:00)
- Choose How You Feel (10:30)
- Interpretation Is Key (13:30)
- Manifesting Thoughts (14:30)
- Superior Mind (17:00)
- Focusing On Now (22:00)
- Obstacles = Opportunities (25:30)
- Interpretation Shapes Problems(28:00)
- Nobody Is Perfect (30:00)
- Do Less Better (35:00)
“Not objects and events, but the interpretations we place on them that are the problem.” – Anthony Vicino
“That’s what a lot of people do, the really successful people in just about anything in life will just course correct. Quickly. Get back on track, move on.” – Dan Krueger
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** Transcripts
Meditations
[00:00:00] Anthony: Hello. Welcome to multifamily investing made simple where we believe everybody should own a piece of real estate. And we’re here to show you how Dan
[00:00:24] Dan: can’t just Dan, add a new tag line. Be be here with me now. 300 episode in
[00:00:27] Anthony: did we did. Just like that. What do you think? I mean, it’s not bad. I just, I’ve been, we’ve been toying around with like new intros over the last, like 10, 15 episodes.
Right. I will
[00:00:36] Dan: say this was the, uh, one of the first times in a long time that we haven’t had like five false starts with the intro. Nailed it this time. It just had one and done. So
[00:00:45] Anthony: that’s, I think that’s a sign that that’s the intro that we just need to run with from now. okay. I mean, do, do you, do you agree with the message?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Own some property own some property. We’ll show you. How do I don’t know, listeners, what do you guys think? Would you [00:01:00] prefer to go back to the old intro? What do you think about the new intro? How about no intro? You got a better intro. Uh, you know, let us know. So what do you say? We, what he said, we get into the topic right away.
We don’t even like mess around, get right’s to, I mean,
[00:01:13] Dan: there’s a lot of content in this book that
[00:01:17] Anthony: possible today. This is a mini deep. and if there’s one takeaway from this book that I could leave us all with it’s that life is short. So stop fucking around that. Get after it was not one of my take, is that not okay?
That it was considered almost technically not
[00:01:31] Dan: on mine either. Yeah, but what, what book are we talking
[00:01:34] Anthony: about either? Okay. So the, this book preface is, uh, the book that I have recommended and gifted. More than any other book in the world. It’s my favorite book of all time, even
[00:01:47] Dan: more gifted than passive investing, mid simple.
Cause I feel like we’ve gifted the hell
[00:01:51] Anthony: out of that. That’s really, that’s a good point. I, we have gifted a lot of, a lot of passive investing, mid, simple. Okay. Second, most, uh, the book that I have recommended and gifted the [00:02:00] most that I don’t have any personal, um, vested interests in. There we go. This is a fantastic book.
I think. It’s great for people, regardless of where you are in life. You there’s a message in there that can serve you well. Um, and it’s really interesting timing that we’re doing this right now, because I didn’t suggest that we do this. You did, and you did not know this, but I have been reading the biography of the author of this book.
It’s like 400, 500 pages. And, uh, it’s interesting, but it’s not as good as this. of Marcus
[00:02:33] Dan: or the guy who did the translation.
[00:02:35] Anthony: Marcus. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So diving into, so for the listeners, you guys know what book this is, you guys saw the title, unless you’re just like blacked out binge listening to us.
And which I highly recommend highly up to a certain point. I think like Netflix, where they, they, they check in on you after like two episodes. Like, are you still there? You still good. Go to bed. Maybe you wanna get up and stretch your legs a bit. Um, I do recommend getting [00:03:00] up and stretch. Your brain a little bit after each of these episodes.
But, uh, the book that we’re gonna talk about today is meditations by Marcus Aures. And so I’m, I’m, I’m reading the biography on them. It’s really interesting. I’m reading the biography of Marcus arres while simultaneously listening to the biography of genghis khan. Who do you think is Wilder? ?
[00:03:20] Dan: I would say wild would probably be genghis khan.
Interesting. Probably Marcus. I mean, I GU I’m sure they’re both interesting, but I guess. After reading this, uh, which is why I recommended it or recommended that we do it because I’ve known it’s been your favorite book for a long time. I’ve, I’ve read little snippets, but I’ve never actually sat down and actually read it.
So this was like, okay, let’s actually read this thing plow
[00:03:40] Anthony: through. Yeah. And it’s one of those books that you don’t really need to read through. Exactly. It’s, it’s kind of like just open up every day to a new line and read a line digest. It it’s kind of like a daily, uh, meditation. Hmm. Interesting. But, but, but here’s the thing.
I so going into the biographies, um, and this is gonna be largely due to who’s writing them, right? Like the [00:04:00] skill of the biographer matters and what, sorry, I don’t I’m sorry. Sorry. I just, I just wanted to talk about genius con for a second, maybe. Well, yeah, I was gonna
[00:04:07] Dan: ask, like, when he lived, I was wondering, did
[00:04:08] Anthony: they overlap?
Oh no. And that history a really good question. No, not even, I don’t think even close
[00:04:15] Dan: Marcus was like around one or 200 ad. I think somewhere in there.
[00:04:18] Anthony: Ish. So J con was, was not far off of that. He was also like in the one hundreds. Okay. So maybe they did, um, I’m gonna have to do man if their stories cross, I don’t know.
Um, and if few listeners are like historians and you’re like that, these two idiots,
[00:04:33] Dan: there’s thousands, please bear with us years, separating them. But what
[00:04:35] Anthony: I will say is like, okay, so if these two books I went into meditation, uh, or I’m sorry, into the biography of Marcus aureus with really high expectations.
Cause I he’s one of my favorite thought leaders. Uh, I went into genghis khan. Truthfully. I started listening to it in the dead at night because I was having a hard time falling asleep. And I was like, well, listening to a biography, that’ll probably put me to sleep. And then it was so buck wild. I couldn’t sleep.
Jing con is a crazy dude. His life is [00:05:00] madness. Um, but he’s not the, he’s not the, the point of the story today. We’re we’re gonna talk about our favorite stoic emperor of Rome. Mr. Marcus. Arius.
[00:05:13] Dan: Yeah. Yeah. And I guess something that people should know about, well, first off, we should probably give them some guidance because there are like a million different versions of this book.
And if you just, just go and type in meditations on Amazon and just buy the first one, you’re probably gonna get a weird, uh, translation because this was written a couple thousand years ago. And so the original writings of Marcus would not be intuitive at all for the majority of, of, of, of people reading this today.
And there’s been a ton of, uh, translations over the years because this is widely popular throughout history. But, uh, I think it’s Gregory Hayes. That’s the one you told me to get, which is the one that’s probably maybe the most comfortable for, uh, modern folk. Yeah.
[00:05:50] Anthony: For, for reference, if you wanna hold that up to the audience.
So if you guys go to YouTube into the channel, multi-family investing made simple. You can see the cover that you should buy. It’s the one with the Crow it’s black and [00:06:00] red and has a white feather on it. Uh, I do think this matters a lot. I think Gregory Hayes did a fantastic job in the transla. And everything’s very poetic and beautiful.
A lot of times these old books really depend on who’s translating it. Some of ’em don’t read very well, but this, this was pretty fantastic. Yeah. I was trying to
[00:06:16] Dan: find an audio book of this for a while, uh, a while back, and I couldn’t find the Gregory Hayes translation, and I got to hear some of the other ones and I’m like, okay, this sounds like old English.
Like I have no idea what they’re talking about. Yep. This would be really difficult.
[00:06:27] Anthony: Hundred percent. Um, on the same note, cuz we’re gonna be talking about a stoic emperor. Um, another stoic philosopher that was very influential in Marcus with Seneca and Seneca, um, has his writings that Tim Ferris helped produce a number of years ago.
He has two volumes. There’s a ton. And I used to listen to those while working out in the mornings. It’s also very, very good. So this, this book, what I find so interesting about it is it’s not a book with a narrative. It’s the journal of the emperor of the known world at that. And it was his [00:07:00] musings and his meditations on what does it mean to live a good life?
What does it mean to be a good person to be a good man to, and I think a lot of the questions that he wrestled with back then are still questions we wrestle with. Now. We haven’t solved them. Right. That modern society hasn’t changed the fundamental questions of like, what’s it mean to what what’s life all about.
And so that’s really cool, but it’s also really neat to be able, like the way he. Takes these concepts and distills them very, very simply in a lot of cases I found just remarkable for, I, I guess I always assume people who were around 2000 years ago were kind of stupid right. Like we have,
[00:07:39] Dan: I think there were, from what he was saying.
Yeah. Generally source of a lot of frustration forms.
[00:07:44] Anthony: People are idiots. Yeah. But he was pretty smart and like, yeah,
[00:07:47] Dan: like way ahead of his time, way ahead. Um, but, uh, something that people should be aware if they’re gonna go pick up this book, uh, and read it. It’s, it’s not something that, that was written with the intent of like, I’m gonna publish a book for, [00:08:00] for an audience to read.
This is just his journal. So there’s just gonna be stuff that’s kind of written in here, like a, like a quote or something with not a lot of context, he just wants to remember something. So it’s not really gonna read like a traditional book. So what you’re gonna want to do, if you do pick this up. I’d suggest checking out the sophisticated investor notes.
Not gonna lie on this. There’s way more than 10 takeaways. There’s so many, you can’t do it fully justice, but if you do read this, just kind of read it, not like you would read a traditional book, uh, read a passage and kind of think about it, unpack it because it’s not written with the intent for you to read it.
It’s just his journal. Mm-hmm , it’s supposed to be private.
[00:08:32] Anthony: I’ve I’ve read this book every year for like the last six years. And what I like to do is at the beginning of the year, I every morning, I have a practice of reading, just like a couple pages of a inspirational book. And I start the year with meditations and I’ll read one or two pages.
And then that takes like a couple minutes. And then I just kind of sit and let I’ll pick a pick a line that really inspired me. And then I’ll just reflect on it, like during my own personal meditation. And I found that to be a [00:09:00] really cool practice. Mm-hmm um, just, uh, cuz some of this stuff you really need to chew.
It doesn’t mean that you have to agree with it all, but yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s
[00:09:07] Dan: heavy. Yeah. There will be like a statement. And then it’s, it’s not really explained it’s up to you to kind of unpack and interpret. Okay. What was he thinking about? What does it mean to me? Mm-hmm but, um, let’s get into it. Let’s do it.
What, what do you wanna go first? Sure. I pulled out like six. I gotta decide what you only get five. You only get five. Okay. Okay. Well, five of ’em I, I pulled out quotes for, so maybe I’ll stick with those. Uh, the first one I pulled out was, um, Uh, the concept of what to do when you encounter, um, unkindness.
And, uh, the quote I pulled out from the book in this piece was, uh, no matter what anybody says or does my task is to be good. And what he’s basically saying here is there will always be evil and unjust people. Uh, you know, don’t retaliate the Nobles kind of retribution is to not become lake. So [00:10:00] basically there’s gonna be shady people.
There’s gonna be people that, um, do bad to you that that hurt you, or, you know, aren’t good. And you have to kind of let that go. You can’t get too worked up. You can’t waste your, your mental bandwidth or your energy, uh, becoming like them and let them take that, take you down to their level. You’ve gotta just kind of be okay with other people’s shortcomings and move on.
So, and I think this is something that is applicable. 2000 years ago, as much as it is today. Cause there’s a lot hazer
[00:10:30] Anthony: haters out there. Yeah. And this is, this is, um, a consistent theme I would say throughout the entire book is which, which is we get to choose how we respond to stimuli in that. Um, you know, I’ll just go into this, this one, which kind of ties into it, which is choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed, don’t feel harmed and you haven’t.
And so it’s like if you choose to be upset and to be offended and to feel slighted, well, that’s a [00:11:00] choice. It’s an emotion that you’re choosing and you could just as easily choose not to be offended or triggered or upset by the thing. And I find this concept to be so powerful and yet people fight against it.
Mm-hmm like people will fight for why they feel slighted or why they should be. By somebody’s actions not realizing at the end of the day that there is no good. There is no bad, there is merely how you interpret and you get to choose the interpretation. And that’s been really helpful to me cuz I, you know, I, I get, I get up on my high horse.
I get offended just like anybody else, but it’s also really helpful to walk away and be like only reason you’re offended is cuz you’re choosing to be offended. You just as easily choose not to be.
[00:11:45] Dan: Yeah. Yeah. I think there is some kind of emotional release that people. Um, when they’re upset and then they express that, or if they get to play the victim card, um, I think I know a lot of people who are kind of extreme examples of this, where it’s like, [00:12:00] there’s always something wrong.
There’s always, uh, something they’re complaining about. Uh, the universe is against them. Right. And, um, I, I think some people honestly kind of thrive. In that mm-hmm for whatever reason, it seems like an, an awful way to live. But, um, those are kind of the extreme examples, but I think we all kind of fall into that to some degree, at least sometimes.
So it’s a good kind of, um, you could think of this book as just chalk full of like mental models and little rules of thumb. Yeah. So like keeping this concept in mind. I think is wise. So if you find yourself getting kind of emotionally charged or like, oh, you know, so upset about this, like just kind of stop yourself and be like, I’m choosing to be upset.
I can also choose
[00:12:40] Anthony: to be happy. I, I think this is really helpful in business and investing as well, where a lot of things are not gonna go how you anticipated them. Um, be careful not to say like, not going well, because. The, whether it’s going well or going poorly or well poorly, it’s, it’s a matter of interpretation.
And so you can use that in the [00:13:00] moment, I think to gain a lot of, uh, distance from the thing. And I think when you have distance from, uh, the stimuli, it’s less likely that it’s going to affect you trauma dramatically, and you can then maybe move forward in a systematic, intentional. Responsive way rather than a reactive way.
And I think business investing calls for that a
[00:13:22] Dan: lot. Mm-hmm I agree. My next one, I think we could probably do pretty quick here because it’s almost the same thing, but, uh, everything depends on how you interpret it, basically. Oh
[00:13:33] Anthony: God. I think we have the same one. Yeah.
[00:13:35] Dan: that’s funny. Your mind will, uh, your mind will take shape of what you frequently hold in thought for the human spirit is colored by such impressions, which is basically saying you are what you think.
If you walk around thinking negative things all day, like I kind of mentioned those people that are perpetually having a bad day. Like that’s all they think about. So that’s what manifests and I, I don’t like tease learn manifest here because it makes it sound kind of, kind of woo woo. But you know, if you think about good things and [00:14:00] positive things, you’ll probably have more good and positive things happen to you than if you walk around thinking about how bad everything is.
So it’s just, it’s really just kind of a mindset thing. Um, which I think, again, we can all take something away from some people more than others. Uh, some people really need to adjust the, the lens. They’re looking at the world through cuz some people are just Debbie downers and um, you have control over this.
I think that’s the main thing people need to realize you control what your mind’s thinking about, which is gonna control what, uh, your life ends up.
[00:14:27] Anthony: B, this is a really good one. Um, it was so good that in fact I have it as well, but mine is written differently. You probably wrote it in multiple places. His, this one says the things you think about determine the quality of your mind, your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.
And I, I like the word manifest because if you go back to like it’s root and what it, what it really um, means is to reach from the, the physical, through the veil of mystery, into the world of thought. And polling from that world of thought [00:15:00] into. Reality into physical reality, it’s manifesting it’s polling from idea into reality.
And I, I think that’s a really interesting framework to think about this because we know from a neuro like a neuropsychological perspective, the reason this is so profound and true is that. As you think things like the language that you use in your mind is very important in how you speak to yourself, because as you have those thoughts, those, those pathways, those neurono pathways become hardwired to continue having those thoughts.
It becomes more efficient because. Of the, my nation that occurs within your brain to like turn your pathways into like super highways. And so the more frequently you think a thing, the easier it becomes to have that thought in the future and your thoughts become and dictate your actions and your actions become your, you know, reality.
And so. You have to be very careful about what thoughts you allow to circle and swirl around your head. So to be careful because you are, [00:16:00] regardless of what you’re manifesting, you are manifesting it. So
[00:16:04] Dan: mm-hmm, , I agree a hundred percent. And we’ve talked about that kind of stuff a lot in the past as well.
Uh, especially as how it relates to like the subconscious stuff. Like those conscious thoughts will become the subconscious, which becomes your just. Ongoing narrative that, you know, you’re not consciously thinking of it’s still in there and it’s still impacting how you behave. You know, a good example for me would be for the majority of my life, walking around, uh, telling everybody I’m an introvert.
It’s like, yeah, I, I am in certain circumstances, I don’t dig small talk, but if I go into every social situation, uh, telling myself I’m an introvert, I’m gonna act like an I.
[00:16:39] Anthony: yeah. For, for the, that’s a great example for the longest time. I, I did a very similar thing where, but instead of saying I’m introverted, I just said, I’m not a people person.
I don’t. And I would say like, I don’t like people and it was so ingrained that I never even questioned that. Like, that was only true because I allowed it to be true. And then when I became [00:17:00] aware that it didn’t have to be true, I was like, is this serving me? Is this a belief that serves me? No. And so get rid of.
Yeah. Yeah. I think
[00:17:08] Dan: it’s, for me, it was just kind of an excuse. Yeah. Like this is my, uh, get outta jail free card. This is how I’m gonna opt out of participating because I’m introverted. Um, and, uh, it’s interesting in this book as well, he says a lot of, because again, this is a journal, right? So he is gonna say a lot of the same stuff repeatedly as these thoughts kind of come to him.
So like we had basically the same idea here, but kind of phrased a little bit differently based on where it was in book. I think mine was somewhere around chapter. Or book five, I think so kind of early on, but I don’t even remember where this one was at. Uh, are we on me? Yeah. Number three. Sure. Uh, yes.
Number three. Uh, your mind should sit superior to your body and its sensations. So, uh, quote for Mr. Aureus here, do not allow pain, drowsiness fever, loss of appetite to alter your behavior. Ooh. Yeah. Good luck. That’s [00:18:00] hard. so if you have the black. Deal with it, deal with, suck it up. when you’re bothered by things like that, remind yourself I’m giving in pain.
And what he’s basically saying here is that, um, you don’t want to give into physical sensations and let your, your body influence what your mind does. Um, And there was a, I wanna say it was in book five, somewhere where Marcus was kind of almost debating with himself or, or talking himself outta bed in the morning, like saying, okay, you know, I’m, I’m in bed.
I didn’t write this part down, but he’s basically kind having the, um, the back and forth with himself saying, you know, I, I should really get up. I’ve got a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of things that I’m responsible for, but you know, it feels really good. Uh, to be in bed right now. It’s really cozy in here.
You didn’t use the word cozy, but he’s kind of having this dialogue back and forth where like he knows the right thing to do. He’s emperor of Rome. He’s got a lot of responsibilities. He’s gotta get up to get to work. He feels really good in bed. He’s like, well, if he feels good to be here, is this aren’t supposed to [00:19:00] be, does that mean I’m just supposed to be seeking pleasure all the time.
And so he kinda has this back and forth with like the, the sensations that you crave, whether it’s, um, Alcohol or smoking or, you know, some sort of like physical sensation versus what, you know, you ought to do. Um, and so I think the point here was that. Your mind needs to be, uh, the priority, not your physical state.
So don’t let the physical state drive what your brain does because your brain knows what to do. Your body’s gonna try to pull you in different directions with different urges and, and desires.
[00:19:32] Anthony: And this is, this is a really interesting one from the perspective of your body is always just trying to survive, right?
Like it’s a biological mechanism. Who’s only, uh, directive is don’t die. Don’t. And so it’s seeking out comfort. It wants the warm bed, it wants all those, those sweets. Um, and when you let your body rule you, that is when you, you, you become overweight, you become lethargic. [00:20:00] It gives into pretty much all of like the seven deadly sins, right?
It, it, those are really rooted in the physiological. And we were talking about this earlier, like the difference between surviving and thriving. When you live on the level of the mind in pursuing like that goal of self actualization, or like what would be best for you and living a life of purpose rather than just a life of comfort.
Right. I think a lot of people think they want a life of comfort when, and when, when you see what that leads to, if you look at really, really wealthy kids who like grew up in that world, they just have a life of leisure and comfort. Like they don’t necessarily have high degrees of, uh, life. Right. So I think that’s a, that’s a good one.
Good job. Uh, Marcus always connecting with me on the deep, deep, personal issues of getting outta bed.
[00:20:49] Dan: I gotta tell you it’s, it’s kind of nice seeing, I mean, this guy was the most powerful man in the world at the time. And I would say at that time, the, the difference between the Roman empire and like everybody else was, [00:21:00] was, was vast with, with how much control there was.
So this doesn’t even compare to like the president of the United States today or Vladimir Putin. This was like next level. Uh, power. And he, he has the same thoughts in the morning that I do like, oh man, this feels good. I’m gonna hit snooze one more time. So I’m like, I
[00:21:17] Anthony: can relate. Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s the coolest part about this book truth.
Very relatable. It’s the fact that it’s like, man, this guy had, he was at the top, the top of the top of the top same issues. Same shit. Doesn’t wanna get up. Same shit different day.
here’s, here’s one. Uh, this is another recurring theme in Marcus’ writings and in stoic philosophy in general, which is forget everything else. Keep hold of this alone. And remember it, each of us lives only. Now this brief instant, the rest has been lived already, or is impossible to see. And it’s the whole mindfulness and like living in the moment and all we have is now.
And. [00:22:00] I know in the last like decade, there’s been much more emphasis on mindfulness. I think in the general population, people are becoming aware of the benefits of meditation and like the, the benefits, both pH physically and mentally, that that practice has for me. So much of it is just rooted in the fact that so much of my life is spent reacting to things coming at.
Or living in reflection of things that have already passed. And very, very little time is spent really in the moment grasping this instant in time, cuz this is in fact all we have. And so instead of planning and always being wrapped up in what you’re gonna do in the future. And instead of always thinking back on the things that happened to you, both good and bad in the past, wherever you are is where you are.
So be there. And I, I find that to be a message that [00:23:00] I constantly have to be reminded
[00:23:02] Dan: of. Mm-hmm yeah, I think it was, uh, echo totally in power. Now that was talking about, um, you know, if you’re thinking about the future, that is, uh, or if you’re thinking about the future too much, that’s probably going to lead to anxiety.
Or worry about what’s to come. And if you’re thinking about the past too much, that’s probably gonna lead to some form of depression. Cause you’re worried about things that have already gone by and, and then, you know, for him, obviously, based on the title of the book, the key to being happy is to be present in the moment, cuz you’re not concerned about what’s to come or what is past, you just are and you’re peace.
So, so much easier said than done a
[00:23:42] Anthony: hundred percent and that’s a can’t stop the future. I think this is why a lot of people rebuke. Uh, belief systems or like these, these frameworks, these philosophies is because a lot of this sounds like, oh, that’s great, but practically speaking, good luck takes a lot of practical and it’s yeah, [00:24:00] that’s the thing is like these are ideals to be, to, to, to move towards not necessarily to obtain.
And I, and I think when you look at it from that lens, you have more grace for yourself. And the fact that you’re gonna fall short of all of. principles that we’re talking about here, but that it’s in moving closer towards it. That, uh, yeah. You know, humans are all about growth and like moving forward. And
[00:24:20] Dan: so, yeah, I mean, reaching Nirvana effectively is not just gonna happen.
If you just stop thinking about the future in the past, you’re actually be like, oh, I’m here. It’s all good. Oh no, it’s a lifelong practice if you ever get there. But
[00:24:31] Anthony: it does feel good if you find it. at times, I, I know for myself like the flow state and the hyper-focused state when I’m like, so wrapped up in the thing that I’m doing, that the, the, the, what’s it, the trans, uh, uh, I can’t remember what part of the brand it is now.
Um, there’s a part of the brain that’s responsible for tracking time and your relation to, um, it and universe and that part shuts off. And so you in a very real way, lose sense of time. And also you lose sense of your unique. [00:25:00] In separation from the universe. And that’s a very pleasurable feeling. Um, I wish there was a, like a literal drug you could take that would put you in the flow state.
And that would be like the ultimate happiness pill.
[00:25:13] Dan: Yeah. It’s great. Until you realize you’re like an hour late for something, and then it abruptly ends as you run out the door,
[00:25:18] Anthony: you ripped, you ripped outta that pleasurable state.
[00:25:21] Dan: Yes. Uh, are we on me? Yes. What do you think? Yes. Uh, I’m about to do number four.
You’re about to do,
[00:25:28] Anthony: yeah. Okay. Bring that,
[00:25:29] Dan: bring it. All right. The obstacle is the way. Oh, that’s a good
[00:25:35] Anthony: one. Is that your number four? No, it wasn’t actually, but it’s a good book.
[00:25:38] Dan: Okay. Uh, the mind adapts and converts to its own purposes. The obstacle to your, to, to our acting, the independent in to action.
Vance’s action. What stands in the way becomes the way
[00:25:57] Anthony: none of that made any sense. Let’s try again.
[00:25:59] Dan: let’s [00:26:00] take that point. You might have had a few titles in there. What he’s basically saying is, um, you could look at obstacles as opportunities or problems. It kind of comes back to, um, your percept, your, your perception of the world, whether you wanna be positive or negative.
So when you encounter some sort of speed bump or some sort of issue in your life, you can look at this as like, oh, this is a problem. This sucks. This is horrible. Or you can look at it as an opportunity to learn and grow and become stronger. So the obstacles are the entire journey, I think is basically what he’s trying to say with this one, which I like, I try to have that mindset with things.
I enjoy problems. I like solving problems. If something’s incredibly easy, that’s almost, um, worrisome because I know I didn’t really learn. So I like, I like some friction.
[00:26:48] Anthony: There’s a good book on this by Ryan holiday called the obstacles the way it’s very good. The, I think it’s a good guiding principle for when you’re trying to figure out which direction you should go in life.
You should. [00:27:00] I always say you should move towards your fear, cuz your fear is usually, uh, manifested because it’s outside your comfort zone. It’s outside your known levels of competency and. fear is a good compass because it’s in that direction that you’re gonna grow. And, you know, you might have a different value system in life.
One of my highest values is the growth like personal development and just trying to be better each day than I was the day before. And so fear is a, is a very good, true north. And thinking back on the example of, uh, Marcus sitting in his bed and being like, ah, this is so comfortable, that bed is the obstacle.
And like that comfort, that is the obstacle and the way forward is for him to deal and understand that comfort and its role in his life, whether it’s moving him forward or holding him back mm-hmm um, man, I love this book every time, every time I go through any of these concepts, I’m like, it just starts like spawning, so many [00:28:00] aspects of my own life where I’m like, Hmm, I need to, I need to deploy this better in, in this area or in that area.
Yeah. It
[00:28:06] Dan: makes you kind of. Everything honestly, like what you think and what you approach things. Um, it’s very valuable. Yeah. And so this
[00:28:15] Anthony: one, my number four, it turns out is very, very linked to ones that we’ve already talked about previous. So we probably won’t go to, to in depth here, but it is in other words, not objects and events, but the interpretations we place on them that are the problem.
Our duty is therefore to exercise stringent control over the faculty of perception. With the aim of protecting our mind from error. And it goes back to, again, like there is no good or bad object or event, it’s all just a matter of interpretation. The part of this note, I, I, I like I like thinking about though, is that it’s our duty to exercise stringent control over the faculty of perception.
And man, it’s super cool and empowering to realize that it’s your perception of [00:29:00] events or people or the universe that is dictating. the, what you’re feeling. And you could just as easily choose a different perspective. It’s like that classic cartoon of two men, they’re both standing face to face and on the ground, there’s a letter or there’s a number written on the ground in front of them.
And to one guy, it looks like a six to the other guy. It looks like a nine and they can argue to the death and they can both be right and they can both be wrong. And it would just be a matter of changing your perspective that you then realize like, we’re looking at the same thing just from two different places.
And that is, um, I don’t know, maybe the secret to peace on earth if there ever was such a thing is to learn, like to, to shift our perspectives.
[00:29:47] Dan: Yeah. Good luck. Getting everybody else on board with that, but I will say it’s so we’re doing one
[00:29:52] Anthony: listener at a time today. so
[00:29:54] Dan: listener, that’s you, you and me Reed.
I think Reed’s on board with it. We got at least three. Uh, Reed’s been shaking
[00:29:59] Anthony: his [00:30:00] head like side to side. He is like, mm-hmm entire upset. Mm-hmm
[00:30:04] Dan: no, I think I like that, that concept so much because it, it puts control into the hands of whoever’s living life. You know, you, me, whoever it lets you decide it lets it puts you in the driver’s seat to say this is gonna be a good thing or a bad thing.
You don’t just have to deal with what the universe throws at you. You get to decide good or. um, and I’m, I’m a control freak, so I wanna have control, uh, number five. This is my last one. Better be . I actually have the baldest one. We could probably hit on if we need to, but, uh, practice getting back on track.
Um, really? Yeah, that’s interesting. I like this one because, um, even mark Cerus emperor Rome, most powerful guy in the world at the time. Um, Falls back into bad habits makes mistakes and, um, pulled a quote out here. Hopefully there’s no typos in this one. This will actually make sense, [00:31:00] uh, not to feel exasperated or defeated or despondent because your days aren’t packed with wise and moral actions, but to get back up when you fail to celebrate behaving like a human, however, imperfectly or fully embrace the pursuit that you’re embarked on, basically saying like, no, one’s perfect all the time.
If. If you screw up and, um, you’re supposed to be on a diet and you, you had a bad day, um, just get back to it, get really good at getting back on track and don’t get emotionally caught up in, um, you know, a downward spiral and say, oh, it’s all for not, I, I screw it up this thing today. It’s I just, you know, all that progress is gone.
Screw it. I’m done. That’s what a lot of people do, the really successful people in just about anything in life will just course correct. Quickly. Get back on track, move on. Not forget about it, but don’t, don’t dwell on, on, on slip ups. Basically.
[00:31:53] Anthony: This is a really interesting one. Uh, as I think back in my life where, when I was younger, thinking about [00:32:00] specifically the habit of writing, I can look through this lens.
So when I started writing my first novel, I said, I’m gonna write every single day. Um, and for the next year, and I was gonna write 3000 words every single day. And I was maniacal about staying. Keeping the streak alive and waking up at the same time, like at the, at the crack of Dawn at 5:00 AM and, and writing every single day, even if I was on vacation or on a climbing trip or just out in the woods, like every single day.
And I remember having a conversation with somebody they’re like, Hey, you know, and if you like one day, like we’re on, on a trip and it was getting, it was like 11 at night. And I was like, oh, I need to, I need to write, I haven’t written. I need to get it in. And they were like, what’s, what’s the big deal.
Like, just go to bed. It’s like, you can do it in the morning. You can make it up. It’s not a big deal. And I was like, no, you don’t understand if I don’t do it now I know me. I know me. If I don’t do it now, I’m gonna fall off the horse and I’m not gonna get back on the horse. I know it. And cuz this is, is a pattern of [00:33:00] behavior for me.
When I have a habit. If I break the streak, I don’t get back on it. I, it, one day turns into like three. Every single time, regardless of what it is. And so I have the habit of never breaking the streak, but I’m very, very bad at this of okay. Once you’ve broken, just get back on as quickly as
[00:33:16] Dan: possible. Yeah. I noticed back in the day when I was doing the coaching stuff, that that was a really big factor in whether or not somebody was successful, if they could avoid getting emotionally distraught over a slip up if they were, uh, and no, one’s good a bed to fold, but if they could get good at just saying, okay, screw it.
Move on back on track. Uh, they’d be good. But it’s a slippery slope. I think when you’re kind of type a, like I am, and you probably are too, like, you can get overly obsessive with certain things like that. And I did it with dieting, like logging food in my fitness pal and getting so dialed in on every little gram, getting everything weighed out.
If anything wasn’t weighed and measured perfectly. I was like really worked out mm-hmm this is stressful. And that is not a good place to be. You
[00:33:58] Anthony: don’t wanna be there. Yeah, you’re a slave. [00:34:00] Yeah. You’re SU suddenly a slave to the pro. Like I was a slave to my habit. Alex Ormo talks about this, where he like doesn’t really have routines and habits and everything, and doesn’t believe in them because like the millionaire habits that people have in the morning, it’s like, what’s your routine.
And he is like, I just wake up and I get to work. He’s like, if you, if you have to go through a routine before you’re mentally prepared and able to do work for the day, he’s like, that’s a liability. Mm-hmm . And I think that’s an interesting perspective. Um, also I know my, my psychology in ADHD, like the structure and routine is helpful for me, but I think it’s also.
It can’t be slipper pretty slope. Yeah.
[00:34:32] Dan: Like it’s, it’s good to a certain extent, but it can very easily start to have a negative impact in your life. Mm-hmm and start to take over. So, I mean, now I’m balanced with that stuff. Like, I don’t weigh anything. I don’t track anything, but, um, like there’s a nice kind of happy medium there where you’re, you’re cognizant of what it is, is like, well, use the dieting stuff that I was talking about.
Like, uh, you could do pretty good. And I used to say this clients all the time, like if you could just, you know, be on point like 80% of the time. For like years, you’re gonna be good to go, but if you’re striving for a hundred percent, [00:35:00] like nobody can maintain that for long periods of time. It’s like almost impossible unless you’re like a robot or something, but if you’re okay with 80%, uh, for very long periods of time, then you’re gonna do way better than most everybody else.
80 percent’s
[00:35:15] Anthony: doable. I can do 80%. All right. Here’s my last one. Let’s do it. And this is, this is my, um, maybe not my favorite one, but this is when I think. a lot, probably, maybe the most of any, any markets there really it’s that to live a good life, do less better. I thought I had that surprised you don’t it’s so it’s so simple poignant, but I did, I deleted it for me.
It’s it’s just true. That app life, as you pursue success and status and wealth and business, whatever you’re doing, like there’s this ACU. Of stuff, not just physical things, but just, you know, psychological relations, just so, [00:36:00] so much stuff starts to aggregate. And the purest joys, you just, you go back to being a child and think about like what makes a kid happy and it’s not terribly different than what would make you as an adult.
Happy in a lot of ways. It’s. What you need to survive and even thrive and like move with purpose through life is a lot less than you think. And that’s just such good reminder, especially for like type a success driven hard drivers. If you’re listening to this, you might be one of them that, uh, you don’t need to do more to, to live a good life.
And in fact, you’d probably be better served by just trying to strip. the unnecessary for qualities. Get down to the bone of like what really matters and then spend more
[00:36:54] Dan: time on that. Yeah, it aligns with what, uh, Hermo was saying about the morning routines. [00:37:00] Mm-hmm like, just get up and get to work, get more, just do it.
So just do the thing. Um, no, I like that. I think it’s a good reminder for people to keep in the back of their head because there’s just so much these days. I could only imagine what, um, Marcus would, would think. The world that we live in now with just the, the massive amounts of information and data and messages and distractions all over the world like this, I think is, is more, um, appropriate now than ever to just kind of embrace less.
[00:37:32] Anthony: One of the things I found interesting reading this biography of Marcus releases is that he would like every single day dictate 30 letters. And he’d be like constantly sending out letters to friends, mentors, senators, everybody, because that was like how people communicated back then. So it was like, there’s just so many letters going everywhere all the time.
And these things take a long time to get to where they’re going. And I was like, man, he that’s his form of social media. Really? You really think about what that [00:38:00] is like, that’s him texting or on the phone.
[00:38:02] Dan: It’s really slow takes like weeks.
[00:38:04] Anthony: Yeah. As like Molly
[00:38:06] Dan: moly for like a response. So, but yeah.
[00:38:09] Anthony: That’s is that all of them?
Well,
[00:38:12] Dan: we do, it was only one I was gonna throw in that was just kind of like a consistent overarching I can throw in. It’s not a takeaway. Just, I thought it was kind of interesting that he, Marcus seems to, um,
seems to always wanna be reminding himself, cuz again, this is a journal. That, uh, you should be stricter on yourself and more accommodating for others. Cause I think a lot of people are really, uh, judgemental and, um, uh, critical of other people, but not nearly as, as judgemental and critical of themselves.
So you can kind of flip flop that like you give everybody else a pass, just kind of assume, okay, most people are good. They’re just stupid. They don’t know any better. Look at the mirror. And, and that’s where your, your criticism’s really better spent. So instead of looking at others and [00:39:00] hating. Talk smack, like, look at the mirror and say, okay, what can I fix?
What can I do better? I thought that was kind of an overarching theme. Just like go easy on everybody.
[00:39:07] Anthony: There there’s another line in meditations, which is kind of like the inverse of that, which is we care more about what others think of us than what we think of ourselves. Yeah. And that’s a, that’s
[00:39:20] Dan: a that’s.
[00:39:21] Anthony: That’s wrong. That’s yeah. Right. Like we, we do, we spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think of us. And at the end of the day, like the only opinion of you that matters is the opinion you have of yourself. And
[00:39:32] Dan: it kind of sounds arrogant at first, when, when I read that, I was like, oh, that sounds a little cocky.
But at the end of the day, it makes a lot of sense. Mm-hmm why would I care what somebody else thinks about me? Like, what does
that
[00:39:43] Anthony: matter? Yeah. I mean, if you hold yourself in high regard, you respect yourself and, um, like that. It’s at, um, it’s not about being cocky, you know? No, it’s about, it’s about loving yourself.
[00:39:54] Dan: Well, I mean, he’s basically saying like your opinion’s the only one that matters and that’s part, I was like, huh? I mean, it makes sense. [00:40:00] But at first, at first glance I was like,
[00:40:01] Anthony: oh wow, he’s talking about my opinion. Right. Mine’s the only one that counts,
[00:40:04] Dan: right? Yeah. He, Anthony casino’s opinion is really the only one that matters little
[00:40:08] Anthony: known fact about Marcus is, um, he was also prescient.
He, he could look into the future. He knew I was coming . Nope, that did not happen. Okay, guys. That’s good book check that’s meditations by Marcus. Really? That’s our book. Deep dive. If you have made it this far and you want to get the sophisticated investor notes, just remember you go to Invictus, multifamily.com/notes, and you can download ’em all for free.
There’s all. Golly, 2021 at this point from all the books that. Deeply doven into . So go get that. It’s free. Don’t even need to give us an email address or nothing. Just go get it. And, uh, any partnering words of wisdom from Mr. Daniel? Kruge
[00:40:54] Dan: yeah. Um, nine times outta 10 on these things, we say that, uh, you could read the [00:41:00] sophisticated investor notes and not have to read the book, but this is worth it.
Uh, I think our takeaways are good, but there’s so much golden here. Go
[00:41:09] Anthony: read the actual book too. I agree. A hundred. So that’s gonna do it for us guys and gals. We appreciate the heck out of you. I don’t know who appreciates them more. Me. You, what do you think you wanna fight about it?
[00:41:20] Dan: Hmm, I think it’s me
[00:41:22] Anthony: probably.
You’re bigger than me. Wait, how much do you weigh? Uh, I don’t know. I know. Just kind of make, I always think you’re shorter than me, but then I think we’re the exact same. We’re exactly the same. Yeah. Like 1
[00:41:33] Dan: 78,
[00:41:33] Anthony: 180. Oh, beefy boy. I know. Yeah. We’re about the same. How is that possible? You carry, like, I carry my weight.
Like trunk, you carry ’em in your biceps. So pecks yeah, those little bird legs, dude. I got
[00:41:48] Dan: there’s nothing on the bottom here. It’s all weird.
[00:41:51] Anthony: anyway, that has nothing to do with anything that we spent the last, uh, little bit here talking about. So hopefully feels was like to end on a weird note though. You gotta end on a weird note.
So on that note, [00:42:00] Two two, the trains leaving the station.
