How did the most powerful man on earth deal with anxiety?
We got access to his private journal to learn from him
Every Sunday I share what I learn about health, money and business. Here is what I learnt last week:
How did the most powerful man on earth deal with anxiety?
How do you deal with what other people think of you?
Can Zinc help prevent and treat the common cold?
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) How did the most powerful man on earth deal with anxiety?
How did the most powerful man on earth deal with anxiety?
How did he deal with success, failure, loss, and power?
Marcus Aurelius ruled Rome for nearly twenty years. His rein was marked with peace and good governance. After he died the Roman empire quickly descended into civil war. He used to journal. He never meant this journal to be made public but we all have the good fortune of reading the internal thoughts of one of the most powerful men on earth.
I have read Meditations, his journal, thrice. They are short chapters that give you an insight into human nature and Stoicism. I have been practicing Stoicism for the past twenty years, ever since Tim Ferriss introduced me to Seneca and Ryan Holiday. Stoicism is practical philosophy. It teaches you the development of self-control as a means of overcoming destructive emotions.
Here are notes I wrote based on this video from Ryan Holiday titled "The daily routine that build Marcus Aurelius". It helped me come back to the questions which mattered, to the things that I can control. I hope it helps you too.
Can you prove yourself worthy of all the responsibility placed on you?
Start the day with a conscious choice to work. Carve out a little time for stillness and reflection. Avoid the phone early in the morning. This ensures that you are proactive not reactive. That you are not putting out fires from the time that you wake up.
Ask yourself: How can I be patient, understanding and deliberate about all the kinds of people I will deal with today? If you expect everything to be rosy, you will be clearly disappointed.
Never be overheard complaining, not even to yourself. What do I have to do today? What are my responsibilities? What are my jobs? Do the work. Winnow your thoughts. Don't let your mind wander. Don't get distracted. Focus. Do deep work.
When someone tells you that you're wrong, they are not harming but helping you. Listen to them. Correct your thoughts if they require correction.
It's not about you wanting to do it. It's about you having to do it. It's your responsibility. People are counting on you. You need coping mechanisms to deal with the stress. Journal. Read stoicism. What you're trying to do is stay calm. Stay centered. Avoid destructive emotions. To not be reactive. To be intentional.
See every obstacle as an opportunity to practice virtue. See everything, small and big, as an opportunity.
Read and write. Stay longer on the works of the masters. Never be satisfied just giving the gist of things. Be diligent about your understanding. Do it to learn and get better.
Put yourself up for review at the end of each day. What can you do better? How can you do better? What went right? What went wrong? Where can you improve? You have to be accountable to yourself. Fight to be the person philosophy tried to make you. It's in the evening that the lessons can be learnt.
You can leave life right now. Let that determine what you do or think today.
Don't rush through moments. Be present. This time may never come back.
Success can go to your head. Busyness can make you feel important. Being at the centre of things can make you feel like you're the centre of the universe. But you're not. Zoom out. Get perspective on how small you really are.
Death isn't something which happens in the future. It's something which happens now. You're dying every minute. Dying everyday. The passage of each day is a kind of death. How can you not take your time for granted?
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
(2) How do you deal with what other people think of you?
What other people think of me does impact me.
But I have become pretty good at shutting off the noise in my mind to almost 0. I always go through an internal tussle in which I remind myself of a few powerful lessons I have learnt:
(1) Everyone reading this will be gone by 2100. The clock is currently on the year 2024. No one will care who said what to who. I find this thought liberating because it makes me realize that all this drama I am creating is only in my head. No one gives a shit. No one is thinking of me. I am not as important as I think I am. This allows me to snap out of any negative thinking process. Hell I don't even remember what was said or felt a month ago. The trivial things disappear.
(2) Do without expectations. The minute I remove the "expectation" piece from the equation, I remove any power anyone has over me. If I never expect, how can I get upset if someone does not provide? Likewise any positive responses which do come also need to be taken with a pinch of salt. Both the good and the bad should have no power of me. I aim for equanimity. This is hard to do but it is not impossible. It just needs repetition and practice.
(3) The secret to lifelong happiness is progress. I remind myself to just keep getting better everyday. To never stop working. The word "retirement" does not exist in my vocabulary. We are meant to work till the last day. Of course the nature of work may change. We as humans are multi-dimensional. Our work forms a big part of our identity. But so do our interests. And our communities. And our families. The word "progress", no matter how minuscule, is the secret to staying away from purposelessness, loneliness and despair. I am always trying to get better because I know that in my lifetime, I will never know it all.
(4) The intention behind the action should be right no matter how it is perceived. If I take money from someone. Give money to someone. Add someone to a group. Send someone an email. Leave behind a hand written note. Or tell them that I like them or believe in them, the intention behind my actions are always positive. I find joy in giving rather than taking. I get a high in creating win-win scenarios. I remind myself that I am doing it for the right reasons.
Despite these coping mechanisms there are days where I just cannot help but feel overwhelmed and anxious. I am sensitive to what other people think. I do not want to let other people down? I strive to meet the expectations other people have for me? I work to show other people that their trust, their reliance, or their investment in me is justified?
The good thing is that the progress filled well intentional days are many more than the negative days.
How do you cope with the ebbs and flows of public opinion?
(3) Can Zinc help prevent and treat the common cold?
Recent research analyzed 34 studies to understand if taking zinc can help prevent or treat the common cold. Here's what they found: Zinc doesn't seem to lower the risk of catching a cold, but if you already have one, zinc lozenges and nasal sprays might shorten the duration of your illness by about 2.4 days. However, they can also cause side effects like stomach upset.
What Was Studied:
Researchers wanted to see if zinc could help in two main ways:
Preventing colds: Can zinc stop people from getting a cold in the first place?
Treating colds: Can zinc help those who already have a cold get better faster?
They also looked at any negative side effects from taking zinc, such as stomach issues, and whether zinc could reduce complications from colds, like pneumonia.
Who Participated:
The studies involved 8,526 people, with a mix of adults and children (65% adults, 35% children), and nearly equal numbers of men and women (56% women, 44% men).
How the Study Was Conducted:
This analysis reviewed 34 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from different countries. Participants took zinc in various forms: lozenges, tablets, syrups, nose sprays, powders, and capsules. Zinc gluconate was the most common form used, with daily doses ranging from 45 to 276 mg.
The trials took place in countries like the U.S., India, Indonesia, Iran, Turkey, Australia, Burkina Faso, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Tanzania, Thailand, and the U.K.
Key Findings:
Preventing Colds: Zinc didn't significantly reduce the risk of developing a cold. This was based on 9 studies lasting from 5 days to 7 months, and the evidence was considered low certainty.
Treating Colds: For those already sick, zinc reduced the duration of colds by an average of 2.4 days compared to a placebo (a substance with no therapeutic effect). This finding came from 8 studies lasting from 8 to 21 days, and the evidence was of low certainty.
Side Effects: Zinc increased the risk of non-serious side effects like taste disturbances and stomach upset by 34%. The risk was higher with doses above 85 mg per day and when using lozenges compared to nasal sprays.
Symptoms: Zinc helped reduce the duration of several cold symptoms, including nasal congestion, sneezing, muscle aches, headache, nasal drainage, cough, and sore throat, by 0.5 to 1.8 days.
Conclusion:
While zinc supplements won't necessarily prevent you from catching a cold, they can help you recover a bit faster if you do get sick. Just be aware of potential side effects like stomach upset, especially with higher doses or lozenges. This information can be useful for those looking to manage their cold symptoms more effectively.
If you want to dive deeper into the specifics of this research, you can check out the full study on PubMed.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
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