How to Control Your Judgements and Increase Mind Resilience · Letter #15
How to Control Your Judgements and Increase Mind Resilience
Hey friend,
—Epictetus
I came across this quote on Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday’s excellent project. It reminded me of an earlier time in my life when I had no control over my mind’s reaction to undesirable circumstances.
As is often the case with quotes on the internet, you need some context to remember them and apply their wisdom in your life. This is what Edge of Insight is all about!
Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher. Even though I’m more familiar with Eastern schools of thought, there’s considerable similarity between the two—ultimately they describe the same reality.
Buddhism in particular puts a lot of focus on the mind. It stresses that all phenomena are appearances in the mind of the observer (admittedly, in a more secular interpretation).
Essentially, this means that you experience not the phenomena themselves, but their projections in your mind, i.e. your mind’s understanding or interpretation of them.
To understand or interpret something means to put it in the context of a story. Every phenomenon, if it means something to you, has an inherent bias; it’s coupled with your beliefs and assumptions.
These stories are the “judgements” Epictetus talks about. What’s upsetting you is therefore not the phenomenon itself, but the story that your mind has attached to it.
The good news is that we can become aware of that story and discard it if need be.
When someone critiques your work, the story in your head might tell you that you’re a failure or not good enough at your job. Once you’re aware that this story is being told, you can view it in a more objective manner. Is it true? Is it useful? Instead, what if you choose to frame the critique as helpful feedback to make your work better? Isn’t that something to be grateful for?
Negative states of mind should become an internal alarm. When it rings, you can take the opportunity to examine the story in your mind and act appropriately.
When you do so, your mind becomes more resilient as more and more things lose the power to upset you.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts on this week’s letter. Send them to hi@chrisbasha.com and I'll address them in the next one.
Thank you for reading,
Chris
Edge of Insight by Chris Basha
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