48 Hemingway's advice, gratitude, and power of relationships
No. 48 – 3 Nov 2023
Welcome to the 48th edition of the True Progress Newsletter, a weekly newsletter on building resilience.
Article
Tips on toughness, focus, and mastery from Nobel prize winner and one of America's most influential 20th-century writers.
— Read more
Quote
Epicurus, on being grateful:
"Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for."
Insight
The Harvard Study of Adult Development is one of the world's longest running longitudinal studies. Since 1938.
Most important finding: if you want to live a happy & long life, the quality of your relationships matters most. Here's how to do it:
The most emotionally intelligent people don't ignore their emotions or allow them to drive their actions subconsciously. They employ the WISER model. It stands for: watch, interpret, select, engage, reflect.
WATCH
If you want to respond well to an emotion, you first need to take a pause, name it, and understand what triggered it.
INTERPRET
Look for assumptions made and any factors (e.g., from earlier events) contributing to your emotion.
SELECT
Select a course of action to guide you to your desired result.
ENGAGE
Take action on the course of action you selected.
REFLECT
Reflect on what went well and what didn't so you can improve your response next time.
Emotion Signpost
Neuroscience and brain-imaging research shows that properly naming an emotion is critical to managing and taming it.
It's key to building resilience, becomes a pause for reflection, and increases understanding of yourself and others.
Here are 2 to explore:
Confident
Definition | Feeling or showing confidence in oneself; self-assured.
Origin | Late 16th century: from Latin confident- ‘having full trust’, from the verb confidere, from con- (expressing intensive force) + fidere ‘trust’.
Respected
Definition | To be admired (someone or something) deeply, as a result of abilities, qualities, or achievements.
Origin | Late Middle English: from Latin respectus, from the verb respicere ‘look back at, regard’.
Question
When was the last time you were very angry over something or at somebody and how did you channel this emotion?
Aristotle said, “Anybody can become angry—that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”
If you’d like to share this newsletter issue via text, social media, or email, just click here then copy and paste the link from your web browser.
Till next week,
— Carlos & Stef
