Getting Shit Done
Hey friends,
The first Stoic Hustle session happened today and it was awesome. We collectively got a lot of shit done.
Tomorrow’s events:
The Stoic Hustle Prototype #2. June 9th. Starting time: 10:00 AM ET. RSVP here.
The High Weirdness of COVID w/ Erik Davis. June 10th @ 4:00 PM ET. RSVP here.
Breaking the Frame w/ Travis Mann. Every Wednesday @ 7:30 PM ET. RSVP here. 60 mins.
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June 9, 2020
Work hard, play hard.
I always liked this cliche. I am writing this during a Stoic Hustle session, which are new sessions at the Stoa. These are experiences where we enter a Zoom room together, and set individual targets in the spirit of getting shit done, then we hustle in the presence of each other.
I strongly sense it is time to get my shit together. Yes, it was wildly fun, working like an inconsistent madman, and riding that daemon energy. I ended up doing some cool stuff with this approach, including launching the Stoa project, and giving it some presence, some status, some momentum, and most importantly, some potential. I feel very potent and I have also been writing with the spirit of raw truthfulness here everyday, which I find inspiring and which seems to be inspiring others.
The daemon is asking me now to get shit done in a way that gets my shit together. I require more structure, if this potency is going to create something beautiful. My thumos cannot be scattered, it needs to be honed, if it is going to be dangerous in the right way. In a way that helps to create a new world.
I am going to list my provisional practices here, practices that will help structure my day. I am somewhat worried about doing so, because I might not live up to them, but that is okay. I have the power of truthfulness on my side, which has a redemptive quality, and as a Stoic I welcome the opportunity to practice my Stoicism, and failure is always a beautiful opportunity to practice.
I often said in my previous mastermind groups: in order to own the day you need to own the morning. Waking up early, consistently, and doing something that is life affirming, is a powerful way to start the day. If I say to myself I am going to wake up at a certain time, and I hit the snooze button, I am eroding the real value of the currency of my word. If I do not trust my word, I do not trust myself. If I cannot trust myself, I will carry myself in such a way where others will not trust me. I cannot find beauty with others if trust is not present.
I will wake up at 6:00 AM ET every day without going back to sleep, fate willing.
What I do right after I wake up is important as well. Does owning the morning look like you crawling out of bed, then looking at your phone to check your email or Twitter notification? No. It does not. Indulging in the zombie scroll syndrome first thing in the morning is not training me to be a sovereign individual that deserves communitas. It is training me to be a zombie who can be easily hijacked by the cult state.
After I wake up I will engage in a Stoic Breath exercise followed by a cold shower, fate willing.
Writing these journals has been keeping me philosophically grounded, and I want to keep doing them, but if I do not do them early in the morning I risk not getting them done. Given this, after my morning practices I will sit down and write, ideally during the writing crew exercises that Daniel runs.
After my morning practices I will write to myself, fate willing.
I love my body and if you love something you will want to take care of it. I also want to look good naked. My spiritual personal trainer, Nicolas Benjamin, recommends working out everyday, in a loving way that does not burn yourself out. We have been working out for 20-40 mins during our sessions. I want to do this everyday.
I will workout after my journaling for at least 20-30 mins, fate willing.
Loving my body also includes putting food in it in a loving way. I have not decided what the best diet for me is but I am ready to figure this out. I am going to start by having a green smoothie in the morning, then engage in intermittent fasting, and have one big meal per day.
I will have a green smoothie in the morning, then intermittent fast until I have one meal per day, fate willing.
I strongly sense these will evolve. I also sense that this Stoic Hustle will be a good practice for now. I may need to implement a wise to-do list method and a good project management system. There is lots of shit for me to get done. I like working hard for focused hours, and I like playing hard for unfocused hours. A wise balance is needed, because in the spirit of romance, the daemon wants me to seriously play.
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