Happy Wednesday, Wise Owl Nation!

This week's theme is loosely based on how you can be nicer to yourself. I struggle every day with self-criticism that is unhelpful.

Anger, self-criticism, self-loathing, limiting beliefs -- These are all time and energy wasting mindsets that we all get stuck in. How much better would life be if we could avoid these mindsets and emotions and stay focused on becoming better versions of ourselves?

That's what I try to discuss this week.

Let's get into it.

You can find all past issues (including this one) here.

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Question of the Week:

If you keep living life the way you have been, what will your life look like in 20 years?

Is it patience that you need, or action?

Wisdom Thought of the Week: Anger is useless

COVID-19 has gifted me with many opportunities to learn from anger. Basically the last six months have been far angrier than most of my life. It was a great learning experience for me as I hadn't expected to be unable to control and dismiss that anger.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes on why anger is absolutely useless.

"Anger is the hot coal you hold in your hand while waiting to throw it at somebody" - Buddhist saying

"Anger is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die" - Anonymous

Pro tip: When you do "get angry" say to yourself "I am not angry, I am just experiencing anger."

What this does is separates your from the feeling of anger. Once you make that separation in your mind, you don't self identify with it anymore and it is much easier to let it go.

As for the person or thing that made you angry? Who cares.

• If someone betrayed you, good. Now you don't have to spend any more time on them.
• If you stubbed your toe, good. Now you know to pay more attention and stay in the present.
• Someone else got a promotion and you didn't? Good! Now you can focus on being better and improving yourself.
• That person got a job because of political reasons? Good! Now you know your job doesn't align with your ethics. Get a new one.

Anger is wasted energy. Your time and energy are too important to waste on rage. You're better than that.

Health Thought of the Week: Treat Yourself Better

The fact that this is a "health tip" is pretty funny to me. Funny in the "oh wow why is that so true!?" kind of way.

We treat our pets much better than we treat ourselves. Why is that? Why is it so easy to make choices that hurt ourselves in both the long and short-term.

After all, doctors can't make you healthy, awesome newsletters won't make you rich, and teachers won't make you smart. In the end it all comes down to you.

It is up to you to take responsibility for yourself and make the right choices for you. No one in the world knows you better than you do. No one in the world is going to be better at being you than you are. So love yourself with passionate intensity and do what is right for you.

Only you can save yourself.

Wealth Tool of the Week: The Navalmanack

Naval Ravikant is a brilliant human. He has one of the most famous tweet storms in history, a great podcast, and now all of his insights into money and happiness have been distilled into the "Navalmanack."

The best part? You can read it for free. You can also buy a hard copy if you want, but all digital versions are free.

You can read it here.

I've been following and learning from Naval for a few years now, and his thoughts have sent me down the rabbit hole of my own mind quite a few times.

Some of my favorite nuggets of insight:

• Find and build specific knowledge - "Specific knowledge cannot be taught, but it can be learned."
• Play long-term games with long-term people - "Intentions don't matter. Actions do. That's why being ethical is hard."
• How to Think Clearly - "Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves."
• Happiness is learned - "Don't take yourself so seriously. You're just a monkey with a plan."
• Every desire is a chosen unhappiness - "Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want."

The book is a collection of wisdom, so it can be read in any order at any speed. You have nothing to lose by jumping around and cherry-picking the nuggets of wisdom you want to experience.

Quote of the week:

More Resources

I will be adding to this section over time as we find resources that will help you all.

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