49 Hurry less, play dumb, and refocus

No. 49 – 10 Nov 2023

Welcome to the 49th edition of the True Progress Newsletter, a weekly newsletter on building resilience.

Article

Use these 2,300-year-old Stoic meditations for managing your pain.

— Read more​

Quote

Virginia Wolf, on being authentic:

"No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anyone but oneself."

Insight

Ever tried being dumb on purpose? Socrates, the founder of Western philosophy, did it all the time. It means talking to people and pretending you're ignorant of whatever topic is being discussed. Here are 6 hardcore benefits to doing it and unlocking your full potential:

1/ You practice numbing your fear (and feeling) of humiliation

The more you feel an emotion, the more familiar it becomes. The more you run away from an emotion, the more formidable you make it.

2/ You learn more

When you speak less, you listen more. You observe a person’s facial expressions, cues, gestures, words, and so on. You gain more information to help you make better decisions.

3/ You practice taming the ego

The ego wants to puff out its chest. It wants to let other people know how much it knows. Staying quiet teaches the ego that it doesn’t have to show up every time.

4/ You improve your empathy

Less talking provides you with an opportunity to do more intentional listening and understanding. The effect is newly learned perspectives.

5/ You improve your self-awareness

You can observe what’s around you. Things slow down.

6/ You adopt a beginner’s mind

The difference between a white belt and a black belt in martial arts is that a black belt never stops learning.

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:

Overwhelmed

Definition | To have a strong emotional effect about something.

Powerless

Definition | Without ability, influence, or power.

Question

Setting priorities on what needs your focus and what doesn't is one of the most underrated ways to beat overwhelm and thrive, not just survive.

What steps can you take to ensure that you're focused on the right things at the right time?

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