00:00I know that a big part of the reason why
00:03you clicked on this video was because
00:06that sentence called out to you in the
00:09title and you'll be amazed to know that
00:12that um very insightful and um very
00:19sentence is 2,000 years old and it comes
00:22from the ancient stoic philosopher
00:26senica in fact um these are his letters
00:30and I recommend that you not only read
00:33senica but you that you get this
00:36University of Chicago
00:38press translation of it because it's a
00:41one I used to read um the penguin
00:44version which is only a
00:47selection which is fine and it's it's
00:49much cheaper than this one so if you can
00:51only afford that it's worth
00:53getting but senica throughout his
00:56letters has this style that really calls
01:04and of course that's because Human
01:07Nature has not changed one bit in that
01:12time and this question of his why do you
01:16postpone yourself calls out to us
01:20because we know for a fact that we're
01:25this we all want to become more WI wi we
01:30want to become smarter maybe we want to
01:32become Kinder maybe we want to spend
01:35more time with the people that matter to
01:38us or spend more time on things that
01:41really matter to us and so we think that
01:46we can only achieve this through only a
01:51way that we first have to work very hard
01:55possibly at a job that we don't like
01:58that much or that we like the money of
02:01but not much else of to then eventually
02:04one day get to a point where we can
02:08enjoy ourselves where we can finally be
02:11happy where we can where we can simply
02:13have the time to do those things that
02:20happy and when I think of this um Henry
02:24David tho comes to mind he sort of had
02:26this gripe with the ing Railroad and and
02:32how it was infiltrating the entire
02:34country and really Changing Life at a
02:37rapid Pace because all of a sudden you
02:38could go to all these places much
02:42easier but he talks about how people
02:46think that they're going somewhere much
02:48quicker and easier by paying the ticket
02:52to get get on a train and that they
02:55don't consider the time they spent to
02:58make the money to buy buy that
03:01ticket and he says something along the
03:05lines I really travel faster by foot
03:12because the time that it took you to
03:15make that amount of money also factors
03:17into the journey and when you factor
03:19that in really traveling by foot is much
03:23quicker and we do the exact same thing
03:26in in many other ways when we say oh I
03:32read but for me to spend a large amount
03:35of the day reading I need to become in a
03:38position where I have all that time
03:40meaning I have to make a lot of money so
03:45relax and have my time to
03:48read so what we do is we put the first
03:52thing last and we can observe this in
03:55our days as well make a list of your
03:58principles make list of your
04:04at the the flow of your day what is the
04:08first thing on your list of principles
04:10and what's the first thing that you do
04:12in your list of activities on the
04:14day I can guarantee you that the first
04:17thing on your list of principles is not
04:19the first thing that you do um first
04:22thing in the day what you do is most
04:25likely at least at some point in your
04:27life you sleep in as much as you can
04:30and then when you finally do wake up the
04:32first thing that you do is grab your
04:34phone and do the exact last thing that
04:38you want to be doing which is looking at
04:41other people's lives comparing yourself
04:43to them and feeling all kinds of
04:47negative emotions and that's how you
04:49start your day and then what else the
04:52next thing you do is get ready for a job
04:55that's only a means to an end the end
04:59being your happiness and the job
05:01supposedly being the means that will get
05:04that and so at the end of the day when
05:09work you went to work
05:12but really the work of life you haven't
05:16put in a single minute on your list of
05:19principles which is which are your goals
05:22in life which are what you want to be
05:24who you want to be who you want to
05:26become and what kind of life you lead
05:28that's the work of life
05:30and in that work you haven't done
05:33anything yet but naturally you're
05:36exhausted it's the end of the day you're
05:39tired you want to eat and you want to go
05:41to sleep or maybe you want to relax for
05:43a few hours and then go to
05:47so the very first things on your list of
05:50principles on your list of
05:51goals came last if even at all and most
05:58days we just and and not having done a
06:01single thing for ourselves not having
06:03done a single thing for the work of
06:06life and that's exactly what senica
06:08points out in his letter to his friend
06:11says you postpone yourself because you
06:15want to avoid avoid um Financial
06:19insecurity and that's why you dedicate
06:20your life to start a
06:23business and get it up and running so
06:25that it can provide for you in your
06:27passive time without being active
06:31and so you postpone yourself you delay
06:35life you say you will start living
06:38someday at some point when these Earthly
06:42profane goals of yours such as money
06:46wealth Etc um have been fulfilled and
06:50until then you delay your happiness you
06:54life and if you and I already know that
06:59some people are thinking right now well
07:01we need money we need a
07:03living we need to make money to do
07:08anything and if it gets in the way if I
07:10if I I need money and if I don't have it
07:13then well I need to go and make it and
07:15everything else comes after that no
07:18matter how much I would like them to
07:21first and while that's partially true
07:24and and no one's here telling you to
07:30and more so think about the fact that
07:33yes most of us need to have a car and
07:37cars cost money but almost no one needs
07:42the kind of car that they right now have
07:47I mean if you think about it car
07:48payments are I believe for most
07:51Americans car payments are the second
07:54biggest expense they have each month
07:56after perhaps a mortgage and some people
07:59don't even have that so some people
08:01their biggest expense is their car
08:04payment and do they really need that
08:06kind of car no M no matter what it is no
08:08matter how much utility it gives them
08:11it's certainly several levels above in
08:14in comfort and and luxury and
08:17performance than they would ever need
08:22it and senica also says hunger is cheap
08:28the pallet is what's
08:30expensive and that's exactly what we
08:33find here if we would forgo such
08:42forwent other things that we simply want
08:47ourselves of having when we were a child
08:50when we imagined our adult life um we
08:53don't need the kind of car that we
08:55imagined then we don't need the car the
08:57kind of house and the kind of partner in
09:00the kind of so-called Social Circle that
09:02we desired and admired back then but
09:07people still cling to those
09:10fantasies and they try in their adult
09:12life to live up to a child's
09:17fantasy and in theory we know that this
09:21is ridiculous but we all have done this
09:26lives we have put what should come first
09:37yourself true list of your priority and
09:41make what comes first on that list come
09:44first on in your day too and in your
09:49general if you want to spend more time
09:53with your friends friends that are
09:56really good for you actually good for
09:57you that further your mind that you have
09:59conversations with that make you into a
10:05person then you don't need to work to
10:08buy your time to do that you need to
10:11just want less and buy less and desire
10:15less and the less you desire the more
10:19money you will have without making more
10:21money without having to go and spend
10:24your life spend your time making more
10:26money to fulfill those extra mostly
10:30luxury additional desires
10:35wants and it's down to you to deny
10:39yourself those things that are not
10:43necessary not needed by you in any way
10:47but just desired to identify them to see
10:51them and to get rid of
10:54them senica also says throw everything
10:57away whatever keeps you from
11:01want um untie the knot or cut it off all
