Mōrena Readers,
I hope you have had a great week, and a well deserved break over the weekend. I want to thank everyone for all the positive engagement I have received recently. It means a lot. Hopefully I can continue to serve you in your morning brew reads.
To Be Rich
One of society’s greatest traps we fall victim to (as I have many times) is to measure our self-worth based on our position. Your position can be treated as how you rank in societies hierarchy. It is your status, your car, your job, the clothes you wear, or how much you earn. By allowing your well-being to be determined by shallow things, such as status and power, you soon find yourself in a very real, and very enduring pit of insecurity. You tell yourself, If I just had their title, or their lifestyle I would be accepted as successful. And by extension, you believe this would make you happy.
I know some billionaires who are miserable, and some people who work normal office jobs who are very happy. Your disposition is very difficult to change, but it is often easier then changing the world — Jimmy Carr
In order to achieve this level of status or (false) success, we often choose to sacrifice our well-being, and deep relationships in the process. To change our position, and reach the heights of those we admire (and believe are happy & fulfilled) requires an unsustainable level of investment both financially and emotionally. We forgo developing any understanding of intrinsic motivation — engaging in activities because of their inherent interest and satisfaction — and become so focused on earning more, owning more and being in snobby circles that we don’t realise how far we have fallen off the path.
Many rich people even today are rarely not thinking of money. How they can get more, and how they can give up part of themselves for it. Until you can turn this drive for greater position off, you can never be satisfied.
Look at any millionaire, they are some of the poorest people in Rome — Seneca
To Be Wealthy
Instead, we should focus on how we think about the world, and set our sights on choosing our disposition. It is best described as the underlying principles which guide our decision, our internal compass. It’s about how we view the world, and our attitude toward adversity. Our disposition is what we can control — if you remember Epictetus’ DoC — and it reroutes our energy towards our most important, and fulfilling goals. With an established direction, and a framework with which we engage with the world, we can live an extremely fruitful life, and often achieve the level of status and praise as a bi-product of our effort and attitude towards bringing distinction to our lives.
It isn’t about whether you are overtly positive and optimistic, or sour and negative. It’s about how you carry yourself. It is the light with which people see you in, and the energy you emit to them. It isn’t so much about directly striving towards extrinsic goals — a new car, nicer clothes etc. Rather that we understand that each day, when we show up for ourselves, and aim to bring distinction to whatever we do, it closes the gap between where we are now, and where we want to be.
Stop focusing on your position, focus on your disposition.
He who has enough, has attained that which has never fell to a rich man’s lot — a stopping point. — Seneca
🎓 Actionable Tips
Assign Correct Values
Developing a value system is the first step to transitioning from a paradigm of position, to a paradigm of disposition. It is the principles that underpin your life, which can propel you to greater success, or withhold you from actualising your potential.
Stop Seeking Recognition
If your security is determined by other people’s opinions and recognition, you will find yourself living someone else’s life. If you crave the praise of others, you start to live in accordance with what will make them happy, and you forsake living in accordance with yourself. Learn to be ok with people disliking you, it’s an indication that you’re acting exactly as you should be.
Just Be About The Work
Don’t talk about it, be about it. Real greatness is not found by comparing, or bragging, or fabricating stories of your own self-importance. It is found in the evidence of their application. Some people are so steeped in evidence of their greatness, they don’t even have to tell you. It is written all over them. Focus on applying yourself, instead of propping yourself up on falsehoods and empty ambition.
Be Willing to Learn & Improve
Skills and ability are necessary but not sufficient in rising to the very zenith of your field and achieving success. Tiger Woods was undoubtedly extremely talented. But he also hit ~1000 balls a day, every one of them with intention, in between two workouts. A greater determinant of your success and longevity is your willingness to learn and get better. It is therefore open to anyone willing to suspend their ego, and to commit to a hard work that can find success.
You cannot learn that which you think you already know — Epictetus
To be rich or to be wealthy?
Just Something To Consider.
🔗 Sources
Holiday, R. What Does It Mean To Be Wealthy? https://dailystoic.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-wealthy/
Chhanabhai, P. (2023). Your Disposition Counts More Than Position: The Power of Your Attitude. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-disposition-counts-more-than-position-power-prajesh-chhanabhai-ep0oc?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&utm_campaign=share_via
Jeffress, R. (2019). Not Your Position But Your Disposition. https://ptv.org/devotional/not-your-position-but-your-disposition/