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The Happiness of Your Life Depends Upon The Quality of Your Thoughts

The Happiness of Your Life Depends Upon The Quality of Your Thoughts

“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts” – Marcus Aurelius

When it comes down to happiness there are many different opinions and strategies on its attainment.

From the acquisition of skill to the accruing of scarce resources and the validation from others.

"I'll be happy when I get 100,000 YouTube subscribers"

"Once I get that Mercedes C63 parked in my driveway I'll finally be happy!"

"My life sucks, if only I could get that girl I'd be happy"

Sound familiar? I'm sure you've heard friends make similar statements, hell... you've probably even made them.

I know I did. that's how I used to think.

There's 2 big issues with this thought process...

1 - It's not sustainable

The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.

This concept dates back centuries, to such writers as St. Augustine, cited in Robert Burton’s 1621 Anatomy of Melancholy: “A true saying it is, Desire hath no rest, is infinite in itself, endless, and as one calls it, a perpetual rack, or horse-mill.”


Consumerism is all about stuff, buy this, buy that, upgrade that… you’re lead to believe what you currently have is never good enough.
When you buy something new you’ll get a brief hit of happiness, but this doesn’t last long and once it’s gone you revert back to your baseline level of happiness, which creates the never ending cycle. You buy more and more and more. Each time you buy a new object you get that hit but it never lasts, you soon find yourself with barely enough room to store the shit you wasted your money on that’s now cluttering your house as well as your mind. Just like fight club, eventually your stuff will own you if you follow this path.

See also
30 Marcus Aurelius Quotes To Get You Through Tough Times

We all think that winning the lottery or acquiring that Ferrari you’ve been dreaming about day in day out is the key to finally being happy and having what you deserve, but it’s not. After a little while of cruising the coast and feeling ecstatic in your new prancing red pony your happiness level will do as the hedonic treadmill says and return to their (low) baseline levels, leaving you swearing you’ll be happy when you get the new upgraded model…

2 - You're banking on things outside of your control 

The opinion of another individual, the weather, the traffic....

These are all outside events.

You cannot control them. There's literally nothing you can do.

Focus on what YOU can control.

as Marcus Aurelius said in Meditations, “You have power over your mind"

Your thoughts, your reaction to the situation at hand - these are the result of your mind.

Think & You Will Become

If you think you're unhappy you'll be unhappy.
If the ball is in your hands with seconds remaining in the game and you think and see yourself missing the shot... then you will miss the shot.
You cannot dismiss your thoughts, as they're the #1 tool (and the only tool!) you've got complete control over.
The ancient Stoics weren't the only ones that understood and followed this approach to happiness, look at top tier athletes like Conor McGregor - his rise from nothing to everything was not far more than his ability to fight and market himself well.
“All that matters is how you see yourself. If you see yourself as the king, with all the belts and everything, and no matter what no one else says, as long as you see that, and really believe in it, then that’s what’s going to happen” - Conor McGregor

What's Your Take On The Quality Of Your Thoughts? Let Me Know Below! 

Scott J.
Scott J.https://ignorelimits.com
I’m SJ. I’m a fitness enthusiast and published author. I transformed my body from a skinny fat 135lbs with 18% body fat to a solid 192lbs at 8% body fat. I became qualified in a field I was passionate about. I founded several online businesses that allow me to pursue ideas and projects in my life that I am passionate about without having to constantly worry about money. I published several eBooks explaining the training and dieting techniques I used to achieve the body I have today. I learnt a plethora of new information on dieting and fitness by reading and applying what I read, to find out what does work and what doesn’t work, because as I’m sure you’ve noticed the health and fitness industry is full of non-sense claims and BS. I found out what was true and what worked for me and applied that knowledge. And you bet I had fun during the whole process.

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