My Philosophy

My personal philosophy is not so dogmatic as a lot of the people that I have met and talked with, rather it's in semi-constant upheaval, and I question my own beliefs as much as possible. Currently, I subscribe to a range of Stoic principles, Buddhist, as well as following my own morals and ethics. So here below ill give some examples and why I choose to follow these, simply for the sake of sharing my perspective to help others. 

Stoicism

One key message in Stoicism is that we are not in control of the external events around us, we are only in control of our own thoughts, actions and reactions. So we shouldn't try to control everything in our lives, nor should we allow ourselves to react strongly when something we don't like happens. Especially if its outside of our control. 

The way I see it, if the weathers shit today and I let it ruin my mood, then I have become a slave to all the things I don't have control over, thereby losing control over myself. This applies in countless situations, you should make the best decisions you can, and not be upset by the outcome. If you know that you made the best decisions you could at every opportunity and the outcome is bad, it's not your fault in the slightest, there were simply external forces that led to an outcome you didn't approve of. 

This leads me to another Stoic principle that I stumbled upon long before finding out it was based in Stoicism. 

Complaining is stupid.

I hate complaining. I really do. 95% of all complaining is completely and utterly useless. There is only one reason I can argue in which I believe complaining has any benefit and that is when your complaining or ranting for emotional relief. The rest of the time however, it's useless, heres why: 

Whenever someone complains, there are 2 possible scenarios. Either your complaining about something that someone or something else did that you have no control over. In which case your complaining does nothing to change the thing your complaining about. Or your complaining about something that you yourself have control over, In which case rather than complain about it, you should take action to change whatever it is your complaining about. 

Progress not perfection.

This principle doesn't require much explaining but is definitely worth mentioning. The idea that "perfection" is what everyone strives for strikes me as strange because I don't think that perfect exists.

 There is always something better, some improvement that can be made. So I don't think anyone should strive to be perfect all the time, rather they should aim to simply improve. To improve consistently and constantly and to be able to effectively learn from your own experiences is of much higher value than striving towards a single goal. 

Buddism 

I recently had the honor of visiting a couple Buddhist monasteries during a service trip in India. I got to talk with a Monk and learn about some aspects of Buddhism and found a lot of their principles resonated with me. 

The most important of these are the 5 main Buddhist precepts, of which any Buddhist must follow. 

There is of course a whole lot more to go into about Buddhism than just these 5 precepts, there is a rich history and culture that Monks spend their entire lives studying. One thing I can say for certain from my short visit and interaction with the Monks is that kindness & openness seem to be an unspoken 6th precept here, because all of the Monks and Buddhists I've met embody those traits on top of these. 

These are basic ideas and thats the beauty of them. They are simple enough that anyone can follow. 

My favorite quotes (and why) 

Playing to win the video game of life

I love this quote because of the way it frames Life. People often take things way too seriously and I think taking a more lighthearted approach such as this promotes kindness and a general goodness that I think everyone should strive for. 

You'll do best taking life one step at a time.

"Life is like a bumpy dirt path. The further down the path you focus, the more likely you are to stumble or fall from all the bumps. But when you stop looking so far down the path and pay attention to the step that you're on you'll find that you can both avoid the bumps much more easily and actually appreciate all the beauty on the path along the way. You never ever know which destination is actually best so you might as well pay all of your attention the the only step you have any influence over which is this one." - Andrew Murnane

Perspective makes all the difference in life, simply changing the way you look at anything will change your experience. So use this to your advantage, make decision's when you have the most information available, and don't waste energy thinking about all the various what-ifs. Take a positive outlook on life, help others and assume positive intent. Make the game of life as enjoyable as possible, not just for yourself but for everyone around you as well. 

My philosophy is a mixture of all these things - Playing to win, focusing on factors in your control, complaining, and practicing kindness - spending your days doing the unorthodox, breaking the status quo. Not just once, but at every moment. Taking risks and having fun. Because yeah you could spend your time taking life oh so seriously as far too may people do. Or you could choose to be different, to actually experience what there is to experience and to be as you as you possibly can in the process. If your feeling a little scared along the ride, that means your doing it right. 

And once you realize that you'll never get to where your going, you'll find that you can go just about anywhere, do just about anything and enjoy your journey more than ever.