Everyone wants better performance.
That’s why people buy new apps.
Read productivity books.
Or consume energy drinks.
But the biggest performance upgrade we’ll ever get is completely free.
Almost nobody uses it.
Seneca figured it out 2,000 years ago.
Here’s the upgrade.
Let us stop believing every thought we have.
Just because our mind says we are failing…
doesn’t make it true.
Just because we are upset…
doesn’t mean that we should be emotionally paralysed.
Just because we are afraid…
doesn’t mean that the danger is real.
We are seldom limited by unassailable obstacles.
We are mostly limited by our exaggerated emotions.
That’s the real obstacle to better performance.
Here’s what Seneca did differently.
Whenever something happened, he asked one question:
What do I have to do exactly to improve my situation?
The obstacle is not the economy as a whole.
Nor our personal history.
Not other people’s opinions.
The real obstacle to better performance is our own beliefs.
But the moment we stop our exaggerated emotions,
…we get all our energy back.
That’s a performance upgrade no supplement can give us.
And here’s the controversial part.
We are probably avoiding the very things that would make us better.
Reaching out and making new friends.
Starting new projects.
Going through the learning curve and experiencing temporary failure.
These aren’t real obstacles.
They’re the necessary steps to improve our performance.
The people who achieve a high performance are persistent.
They have trained themselves to cool down their emotions and stay rational.
That’s why Seneca’s advice beats most modern self-help.
Seneca wasn’t trying to make life easier.
He was trying to make us stronger.
And stronger people perform better—in business, in relationships, and under pressure.
This is the recipe for a free performance upgrade
The only price to pay is giving up our exaggerated emotions and our excuses.
If you are interested in applying rational ideas in all sorts of situations, I recommend my book “The 10 Principles of Rational Living.”