Focusing on the Daily Stoic Meditation for June 24, as outlined by Ryan Holiday in the bestseller 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art Of Living.
“The beautiful and good person neither fights with anyone nor, as much as they are able, permits others to fight . . . this is the meaning of getting an education — learning what is your own affair and what is not. If a person carries themselves so, where is there any room for fighting?”
— EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.5.1; 7b–8a
Conserve Your Energy
What?
Conserving your energy simply means embracing the things that provide energy and removing the things that drain your energy.
You have to be ruthless and you have to be vigilant — ensure that the things in your life provide energy and help you become the best version of yourself.
There’s energy wasters and energy givers.
Energy wasters, naturally, take your energy and leave you feeling drained, upset and angry.
Energy givers, on the other hand, provide fuel; they uplift you, motivate you, and provide you with the energy you need!
Cultivate your life so that you remove energy wasters and you embrace energy givers.
Remove Energy Wasters
Do everything you can to brutally remove the things that waste your energy.
It will require ruthlessness; you might have to cut out some draining friends or stop watching excessive amounts of Netflix, if those are the things that waste your time and energy. You cannot make excuses.
You might hurt people, if you’re cutting out friends and family for example — this temporary, short term pain, however, is worth it for your overall health and happiness.
If you want to prioritise yourself, grow and become the best version of yourself, you cannot allow things in your life that drain you — the only option is to brutally remove them.
Embrace Energy Givers
It’s also important to embrace and encourage energy givers.
Welcome into your life and actively implement those things that bring you happiness and joy!
- If exercising, for example, helps you feel energetic and happier, make it a priority.
- If spending time with healthy and caring loved ones provides you with energy, make it one of your priorities to see them and talk to them!
Why?
Conserving your energy is crucial! It’s important if you want to find peace, be happy and succeed, in all areas of life.
A couple of reasons as to why conserving your energy is important;
- If you save your energy in one place, you can use that somewhere else! Rather than wasting your energy arguing, for example, you can save that energy and use it to talk to clients or make friends. Or, you can use that energy to study or work on your business.
- It helps you retain a calmer, more tranquil state of mind.
- It helps you be happier all around!
I’ve found that the people who carefully conserve their energy tend to be much happier, productive and compassionate! For they have the time and energy to do the things that matter to them.
How?
As seen, conserving your energy is massively important within life.
The truly educated, beautiful and good people, conserve their energy.
How can you do that?
- Perhaps you can conserve your energy by prioritising an undisturbed morning routine. Prioritise a morning routine in which you only focus on yourself, and you don’t check your phone.
- Maybe you could conserve your energy by walking away from unnecessary and tiring debates or arguments.
- You could conserve your energy through carefully selecting your friends and those around you, ensuring that you surround yourself with people who uplift and support you!
There’s a range of ways!
The best way to figure out what works for you is to simply try things out, see how you fare and then make necessary alterations or changes.
All that matters is that you carefully cultivate your life so that you waste as little energy as possible on the things that don’t matter. This allows you the time and energy to focus on the things that do matter.
Who Do You Surround Yourself With?
The people you surround yourself with are more important and impactful than they may seem.
It’s important that you cultivate your close, inner circle with people that are good to you;
- Find people who motivate you to work harder and be better.
- Find people that you can trust and confide in.
- Find people that are working towards similar, if not the same, goals.
You need to surround yourself with people that give you energy, not drain you. This is important in all aspects of life — work, school and personal life.
If you find that you’re surrounded by people that are taking your energy, people that are always engaging in petty arguments or causing you stress, you have to cut them out!
The Link To Stoicism
How does all of this talk about conserving your energy link to the Stoic meditation?
Holiday and Epictetus focus, without explicitly saying it, on conserving your energy.
The lesson in the meditation is that the people who correctly conserve their energy do not have the time or the desire to fight, argue and engage in conflict.
Rather than fighting, they take a step back and they breathe — they reflect on whether the battle is even worth it, and when they realise that it isn’t, they simply move on.
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Take time to work on conserving your energy.
Do not engage in unnecessary fights and battles. You do not always have to be right.
Conserving and protecting your peace is always better than being right.
