Sunday Self-Scaler 26
Sunday Self-Scaler 26
A phrase that can pull you through the worst of times, a wisdom-dense book I want you to invest in, and calling out all my fellow men.
Some of the worst weeks of my life were when I had lost my grandpa to COVID.
My fitness regimen had gone to the dogs. I had a fallout with my then-girlfriend. I had relapsed after 2 months of abstaining from porn. Mindless social media scrolling had become the norm and my productivity had hit rock bottom.
Well, with the pandemic around, nobody was/is having a great time.
In my country India, though, covid was raging up until recently — tens of thousands dying every day, lockdowns everywhere, a dire shortage of hospital beds and oxygen cylinders. To top it off, getting a vaccine slot had become a “fastest fingers first” game.
Given the highly unpredictable nature of life, adversity can strike when we least expect it to. There’s no way to magically erase hard times from our life but there are ways to find solace in them.
And a simple three-word phrase helps me do that every single time.
Bad Times Always Precede Good Ones
Life is like a sine wave that rises above the axis every time it dips below it. So every period of suffering precedes one of bliss.
The past two weeks were awful, but the two before them were some of the best of my life.
And the sine wave is again shifting, as today was an excellent day — I got in a superb workout, took a cold shower, had a wholesome intellectual conversation with a friend, and am now writing my second article of the day.
“Life is like a sine wave that rises above the axis every time it dips below it.”
What’s heartening is that — the longer and worse the dip of the sine-wave, the longer and better would be the coming peak or good time.
The bad times cannot and will not go on forever. And in hard times, the phrase that reminds me and can remind you of this is “This shall pass”
A Hugely Overlooked Benefit of Hard Times
What most of us wish right now is for the pandemic to end and get back to living a normal life. Yet, how many of us were happy with our “normal” lives 2 years back?
That’s the thing with hard times or adversity — they make us appreciate the good ones.
It takes a minus to appreciate the plus. A stale sausage after days of starvation, a clear head after a severe headache, a minor success after multiple failures, or being able to pee after holding it in for hours — they all feel like bliss.
As the saying goes, “It takes losing something to realize its value.” It takes being unhappy to understand what it means to be happy and going through bad times to appreciate the good ones.
And therefore bad times, suffering, and unhappiness are essential in life.
When the going is hard, take heart to the fact that it won't last forever and good times are just around the corner.
Say to yourself, “This shall pass!” and remember that it’s thanks to the harsh times that we can truly relish the good ones.
“It takes a minus to appreciate the plus.”
A Wisdom-Dense Book I Want You to Invest In
Naval Ravikant is one of the wisest men to have ever walked the planet. For those of you that haven’t heard of him, he’s an entrepreneur, angel investor, internet celebrity, podcaster, voracious reader, and a modern-day philosopher.
So much so that YouTuber Andre Kirby says he became a millionaire solely thanks to Naval’s viral tweetstorm on building wealth.
But with his stuff scattered as bits and pieces over the internet, it can be hard to assimilate them. This is where the book The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant comes in.
Curated by Eric Jorgenson, it includes almost every single profound Naval quote, interview excerpt, tweet, and podcast. Not to mention his reading recommendations.
Order a quality paper-back, read it, pop it on your desk, and revisit it from time to time.
Calling out All My Fellow Men
Not more than 5 years ago, I was a shy and wimpy skinny-fat weakling that stuttered and sucked at sports.
My journey from there to my present confident and strong self inspired me to start Ma(n)ximize → An inspirational all-around self-improvement newsletter for my fellow men.
Since then, it has grown into a loyal band of around 200 subscribers. Based on the high engagement it receives, the subscribers are surely loving it!
The beauty of it is → It is the home to my most honest and passionate writing. While I like writing on Medium and here, it’s Ma(n)ximize where my true passion lies.
So if you’re a young man, especially if you’re aged between 13 and 26, you’ll receive huge value from Ma(n)ximize → Aesthetic fitness, inspirational life lessons, and no b.s self-improvement tips.
Whatcha waiting for? Join asap, see you there!
Meanwhile, go conquer the coming week! And cya in the next Thursday’s talk thread.