986. "To Recover Your Life Is In Your Power." Marcus Aurelius

This morning, I kept coming back to a line from Marcus Aurelius that won’t let go: “To recover your life is in your power.”

 This is a reminder that nothing external stole your momentum — complexity and complacency did.

 We talk about returning to the basics, cutting through the noise, and reclaiming agency in your faith, family, fitness, finances, and fulfillment.

 If you feel off track, overwhelmed, or like you’ve lost your signal, this episode will help you reset your perspective and refocus on what actually works.

 Your recovery doesn’t start with more — it starts with ownership.

Transcript

0:06

This morning I was reading out of Marcus Aurelius's book Meditations, and there was something that I just, it was specifically book seven. There was something I just, I kept coming back to it. I'm like, like, what does this mean? And the phrase I kept coming back to was to recover your life is in your power. Look at things again, as you used to look at 'em for in this consists the recovery of your life. And dude, I just kept coming back to this at, at first I wanted to just like copy and paste and run it through chat and be like, what does this mean? But I think you, I think you miss things when you don't struggle with the meaning a little bit and you don't just readily get the answer from. Uh, something else or someone else where you actually write it down and contemplate this. And this is why I, I'm so big on the morning ritual of, of reading things randomly and then something that snags your soul. You just write it down and you, you mentally tug at it a little bit. To recover your life is in your power. Look at things again as you used to look at 'em. For in this consist the recovery of your life. The recovery of your life is in your power. Like immediately I realized like, that's agency that's. A form of responsibility that's ownership. And it's also what, it's what creates freedom in your life. To recover your life is in your power. So when I read, look at Things again, as you used to look at 'em, the first thing I wrote down in my tablet was. It's always a return to basics. I mean, think about that. Look at things again as you used to look at 'em. And if you think about it, like whenever somebody gets off track, you know, whenever I get off track, first thing I'm gonna tell you bro, I gotta get back to basics. I got away from what worked. I got too complex, I added too much, and I couldn't sustain it. Complexity, sabotages, nothing else. If you, if you really look at things in your life, the things that have just knee cabbed you, it's the complexity. And the crazy thing is I end the podcast episode every episode with what? Keep it simple. Keep it simple, keep it moving. Never settle, stay tough. But the first one, keep it simple. Is the hardest one to maintain. Marcus Aurelius doesn't say, wait for better. He doesn't say hope. Someone comes by and rescues you, hope you hit the lottery. He doesn't say that. He says, to recover your life is in your power. That means the situation that you're in right now, in whatever area, your faith, your family, your fitness, your finances, your fulfillment, whatever feels all for you. Where you are right now may not necessarily be your fault, but whether you stay here or not is your responsibility. But I will preface that, don't go laying blame to someone else. You worked yourself into this position, but the beautiful thing is you can work yourself out of it. Circumstances may have put you here, but you don't have to stay here. And that's what's good. What got you here and what can get you out of here all is within your power. You worked your way into this position and you work, you can work your way out of it. And bro, that's not condemnation. That's, that's facts, Because if you did it once, you can do it again. I, I know this firsthand. Look, I've been bankrupt, I've been demoted, I've been homeless, I've been obese. I didn't stay that way. Those were seasons in my life, not because somebody came by and helped me out, it's because there wasn't some sort of magic swing for the fences moment. I just looked at the circumstances and like, look, there's no life raft. There's no perfect plan. I don't even know what the plan is. I, I just know the direction I want to head. I, I didn't wait for permission. I just. Used what I had, and this is why I always say like, start with what you have. Start with free and then just start chipping away at it. Because here's the thing, most people miss. You don't swing for the fences. You don't add a bunch of noise. You don't tell everybody about what you're doing. You just cut off all the negative narrative you didn't get here overnight. You're not gonna get out of it overnight, but it's the tiny decisions every single day. That's how momentum is built, but that's also how momentum is lost as well. Lemme talk about this.'cause momentum, bro is super sneaky when you're building it. Momentum feels slow. It feels like it's just never gonna kick back in. It's like non-existent, but when it shows up and you never know when it's gonna kick in, it compounds so fast. But that's the danger part to it also, because once things start going well for you, complacency creeps in complexity, sabotages. This is the reason why renamed the podcast. What's your problem? Because the three universal problems we all deal with, adversity, uncertainty, and complacency. Complacency is the one that's the, it is the quiet one. It's the saboteur. It's the one that does not announce itself. It's the one that whispers to you, bro. You can let up and that's when you lose the signal. Here's the thing I want you to hear. Keep it simple, does not mean do less. It just. It means be more impactful, be more efficient. Focus on the signal, do a couple of things that lead to the greatest impact and stay vigilant. Don't ever let your guard down because once you realize the momentum is gone, when you lose it, bro, it's gone. There is no all of a sudden, and that's what we think, man, all of a sudden, no, it was just a little bit every single time it looked like it didn't matter. But see, everything counts. And you always gotta remember that it's the simple daily anchors. For me, this is why I, I call it a 30 minute millionaire mindset. It is the millionaire part is just the freedom. That's what it is. I mean, anybody who wants to be a millionaire, what they're basically saying is, I don't wanna have to struggle. I want the freedom. And this is why I say you can be a 30 minute millionaire. Meaning you read 15 minutes every day and then you write about what you just read for 15 minutes. Normally that's a page or two. That's it. And this primes your mind, and then you go out there and you live it. This is what I've been doing since 2017. This is the thing that saved my life. This is the thing that got me out of bankruptcy. This is the thing that got me out of obesity. This is the thing that got me out of homelessness. This is the thing that K, that that kept me from staying demoted. The same place that I work at today. I rose to the top of the ranks. I sunk to the bottom of the ranks, and damn it, I'm back. Same place. I could have gone somewhere else, but I refused to run. I knew I still had something to contribute. And they were good people. They just had to make a tough decision and I own that. I appreciate that. It's the best thing that ever happened for me. That's it. The 15 minute of of reading, 15 minutes of writing, that primes your mind and then you go out there, damn it, and you go live it. And then at night, if you have time, a quick reflection all on your way home, what worked, what didn't work, then repeat it every single day. You do that long enough. I am living proof. Something changes. You think clearer. You think quicker, you speak better, you decide faster, and you stop gossiping and just start growing. You naturally stop hanging around people. Who, who ain't about that life, who all they wanna do is gossip. Fuck all that. Get away from that. Aurelius said this. He said, look at things again as you used to look at them. He ain't saying going backwards. He's saying, stop condemning yourself. Stop romanticizing the past asked, and use your experience as leverage. You're not 10 years younger. You can't go back 10 year. Well, back in the days I used to, no, you're not 10 years younger, but you are 10 years wiser. And so now you look at things with ownership, with simplicity and with clarity. What's the next thing? That's all you gotta, like what's the next thing? What's the most impactful thing? Just a handful of things every single day and cut off all the negative bullshit. No announcing, no explaining. No nostalgia tours. Back in the day, bro used to have it going. Lemme show you some pictures. No. Keep your mouth shut. Keep your head down. Do the work because to recover your life, it's in your power. Keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.