Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a prominent Roman philosopher and playwright who published several

essential works about Stoicism. He counselled Emperor Nero, and is often credited with rendering

Stoicism more accessible to a larger audience. His letters, writings, and thoughts have influenced

centuries of thinkers. His widely popular collection of writings, Letters from a Stoic,

contains his view of what the good life is — and how to attain it. So here are 10 important

lessons that we can learn from Seneca.

1. Exercise your mind daily Seneca says “As long as you live, keep learning

how to live.”

Developing our inner selves is a lifelong process that we must always work at. Determining

ways to improve our selves and finding happiness were among the aims of Seneca for humanity.

We always put off self-improvement practices because we believe we don’t have enough

time. We often find the thought of meditating more stressful than usual when we are busy.

Seneca insists that these are not worthy excuses. We should treat working on our inner self

is a full time job, not something we should ignore in favour of other tasks. One of the

first steps to improving ourselves is recognizing our own flaws. None of us are perfect, and

identifying which areas of ourselves we need to work on is crucial. Sometimes, as people

go through their journeys in life, their perspectives and beliefs change. This particularly happens

when someone proves that his previous beliefs were based on erroneous or false pretences.

From then he can improve and move on. As long as we live, we are learning — either unconsciously,

or consciously. Your mind is the most important and the most enduring tool that you have,

hence you always can and should make the time for your mental health. No matter what phase

you are in life, you can start learn a new skill, take a new class, meditate or read

improvement books. These books are written by experts that provide an array of selections

to express and share their knowledge and knowhow. Exploring these highly recommended materials

can enrich your own need to learn and grow. Exercise your mind every day by doing things

that stretch you.

2. Heal Yourself Seneca tells us “Two elements must be rooted

out once for all - the fear of future suffering, and the recollection of past suffering; since

the latter no longer concerns me, and the former concerns me not yet”.

According to Seneca, the two biggest causes of suffering include fearing the future and

regretting the past. Our future is uncertain, nor is it in our

control and fearing too much about our future will only bring us dread, anxiety and suffering.

The truth is whatever happens you will have the strength to survive, and even become stronger.

So the next time something horrible happens to yourself, tell yourself: “Perhaps this

sorrow might one day bring delight.” We regret the past because we want to avoid

those mistakes in the future. Instead, we should just reflect on the past, learn our

lessons, and move on. The problem is too many of us have something like a virus in our brain.

Imagine the space we hold all of our baggage in as a glass and you will realise that most

of us have a crack in that glass. These cracks come from sad life experiences or abusive

relationships and dysfunctional relationships that have caused us some kind of trauma or

pain. And since none of us enter into our adulthood in the most ideal way, we all have

some sort of a crack. These cracks act like viruses that keep replaying these horrible

memories from our past in our minds. We need to repair these cracks or else we cannot move

forward in our lives. The good news is that this mental virus could

be cured by seeing a therapist, studying philosophy, or by reading books. If we avoid regretting

our past, and don’t not fear the future we will become indestructible.

3. When Hungry Eat, When Tired Sleep In the words of Seneca “True happiness is

to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future”

The undisclosed reality of physical and mental wellbeing is simply to live in the present

time prudently and with enthusiasm. But how often do we rush to finish something so that

we can then rush to work on the next thing on our list? How often do we spend an evening

worrying about tomorrow, instead of relaxing? How often HAVE YOU CAUGHT YOURSELF in the

middle of a perfectly wonderful moment thinking about what you’re going to do next? In the

book, Out of Your Mind by Alan Watts, Watts shares this conversation between a zen master

and his student in which the student once asks a wise zen master how to achieve zen.

The master replied, “eat when you’re hungry, and sleep when you’re tired.” The student,

completely confused, responded, “isn’t that what people do already?” The zen master

replied, “no, people don’t just eat, but think of 10,000 things, and people don’t

just sleep, but dream innumerable dreams. We let our mind wander off to the next big

thing or the memories we hold onto from years ago while missing out on all of the things

happening around you right now. The next thing you know, you’re living that moment you

were thinking about so longingly yesterday, but your mind has moved on to tomorrow or

is stuck in a moment from two weeks ago. So challenge yourself to start living in the

present, starting now.

4. Seek your own Applause To quote Seneca “Be your own spectator;

seek your own applause”

As humans we seek the approval of others. We live in a society that has a “somebody

or nobody” mentality that makes it so that many people have an inferiority complex. The

problem is that the more we desire the approval of others, the more we become a slave to them.

No matter how hard we try we can never please 100% of others. Instead we need to seek to

please ourselves. We need to live a life according to our own personal code of ethics and morals.

We need to act as if you were part of nature. There are no rich or poor trees in nature,

but just balance. By all means, set big goals, have role models, and strive to achieve greatness.

But remember if you spend just one minute thinking about what others think about you,

you’ll end up feeling like the poorest man on Earth. Foster the kind of self-love and

respect that makes it possible for you to be comfortable in your own company - to be

your greatest self, and to be happy with who you are. You can do this by looking at yourself

in the mirror. Are you pleased with the person you’re looking at? If so, keep moving forward,

if not, see what you can change in your life to become the person you strive to be.

5. Learn the art of contentment According to Seneca “It is not the man who

has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”

Seneca was one of the richest men in the entire Roman Empire, yet he mostly lived the life

of a pauper. He kept his wealth, yet he imagined everyday like it could disappear. This allowed

him to have freedom to philosophize on life, yet prevented him from becoming a slave to

his wealth. The fact that you are watching this video

means that you are probably living in a modern or a developing society where the basics like

a decent place to live, basic clothes, an internet connection, a smartphone, a laptop,

and food is easily attainable. But yet we want more. The biggest disease we have in

today’s society is the desire of luxury. We believe if we have more, and that we can

have more time, the things will be better. Doing things we love will be easier. Raising

our kids will be simpler. Spending time with our loved ones will become effortless.

While that sounds practical, in truth, that isn’t how the world works. In reality, it’s

the other way around — most super rich people have miserable families, full of anxiety and

stress, and every facet of their life has become more complex than ever. There comes

a point when material success becomes a hindrance rather than an advantage because earning a

lot of money takes a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of mental and emotional

space. The moment we want something else, we suddenly lose appreciation for what we

already have.

6. Live for others As we learn from Seneca “You must live for

your neighbour, if you would live for yourself”

Ghandi. Mandela. Mother Theresa. None of them ever said “I wish I could have spent more

of my time living for myself.” The purpose of their life was to empower others. We too

can help out our friends, people in our community, and especially those who are weaker and less

fortunate then yourself. Many individuals out there are sad, miserable, and lost. They

need your love. When you perform good deeds for people, then you shouldn’t be asking

for payment even in the form of gratitude. The act of giving back is an indirect way

of giving to ourselves. We become the true recipients of living for others, and it’s

a win-win for everyone. Regardless of your situation in life, you

can always help others. You can help others by giving them advice, by giving them a listening

ear, or giving them a hug, or words of encouragement. You can donate items that you don’t use

anymore, whether it’s clothes or household appliances. You can also donate your time

and effort by volunteering at places all over your city. Often the way we can help others

the most isn’t through our money or resources, but with our heart.

7. Boldly face the struggles of life Seneca says “He should put his whole heart

into fighting against them. Let us overcome all things, with our reward consisting of

moral worth, strength of spirit, and peace that is won forever once in any contest adversity

has been utterly defeated.’” Seneca tells us that how we perceive our suffering

is far more important than the suffering itself. It rains on everyone. It’s what you do about

it that matters most. In our personal lives, and on a global scale, we face challenges

like injury, illness, unemployment, grief, divorce, death or even a new venture with

an unknown future. The truth is majority of us let these problems defeat us through our

feelings of anger, fear and anxiety. These negative approach makes us too paralysed to

move forward and take a step in resolving the problem. On the one hand you can see a

setback as a failure. On the other, you can take it as a lesson and use it as fuel towards

greater effort in the future. You can see a long line as an inconvenience. Or you can

see it as an opportunity to practice patience. You can see a rejection as a permanent mark

of your inability. Or you can see it is a stepping stone in your journey to greatness.

When you have the right attitude, nothing can stop you. When you have the wrong attitude,

almost anything can.

8. Find an anchor, be an anchor In the word of Seneca “Associate with people

who are likely to improve you. Welcome those whom you are capable of improving. The process

is a mutual one; men learn as they teach”

Seneca urges us to choose a role model to provide a standard to live by. There is something

powerful in having such an anchor because he can open your eyes to what’s possible.

The person of your choosing can provide you with principles that can help you navigate

even the most difficult and treacherous circumstances as well as standards against which you can

judge your behaviour on a day-to-day basis.

Likewise, when you find people who are genuinely eager to grow, and you can help them, help

them. Be an anchor for them. At any phase of your career, you will always find someone

asking for your wisdom. You will always have someone to inspire. It could be your own kid,

your junior at work, your friend, or someone who wants to get connected to you for your

experience. This will develop your leadership skills as well as help others learn, grow,

and improve their skills. It will be personally fulfilling experience for you that you've

directly contributed to someone's growth and development. Seeing your mentee succeed as

a result of your input is a reward in itself.

9. Don’t just live long, live wide As we learn from Seneca “So you must not

think a man has lived long because he has white hair and wrinkles: he has not lived

long, just existed long”

In his moral essay, On the Shortness of Life, Seneca, offers us an urgent reminder on the

non-renewability of our most important resource: our time.

Seneca believed that life was long for those who did not squander their time. Most of the

time, we are not actually living life but simply existing — allowing life to happen

to us rather than taking the reins to live the lives we want to live. We only live long,

not wide because our lives are filled with business and stress. We often get obsessed

and addicted throughout our lives with things that bring us short-term pleasures. We get

greedy for power, fame, money, prestige and status. Seneca urges us to examine these problems

that result in life seeming to pass by too quickly. He is essentially prompting us to

question our lives and ask: What proof do I have that I’m really alive? Many of us

are living what might as well be considered a life of mere existence: lazing around and

wasting our potential. The truth is life is moving through its course, whether you like

it or not. Your time is valuable, and it’s the only thing that you cannot ever get back.

But life can be long if you use your time deliberately and carefully. Life can be fulfilling

if you invest your time in actual living, which is by studying philosophy, being in

control of yourself, working towards goals that are important to you and not putting

off the enjoyment of life for the future.

10. Create your own philosophy And finally for this video Seneca teaches

us “When a mind is impressionable and has none too firm a hold on what is right, it

must be rescued from the crowd; it is so easy for it to go over to the majority”

Every day you spend too much time on social media or being around people that tell you

how you should think, what you should believe, how you should act, and what you should do

with your precious time. It’s up to you to protect yourself from this influence — the

influence of the masses, as Seneca called it.

Just because most people do something doesn't mean it’s worth imitating.

Many people spend too much money in buying luxuries they don’t need.

Most people aren’t grateful for what they have.

Most of them spend a lot of time in life’s trivialities and get nothing done.

If you wish to have same results as everyone else, then by all means, be a follower. Or

you can be a student, decide what to believe, and create a path that is yours alone. Seneca

recognized that if we are to live well, we must be constant students of the greatest

subject of all - life itself.

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