Becoming Antifragile

Lessons from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.

The Prophet is a collection of 26 prose poetry fables that deal with love, children, friendship, freedom, charity, time and death. The Prophet is one of the most translated books.

Kahlil Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and artist. He was born in 1883 in Bsharri, a village in northern Lebanon. He wrote in both Arabic and English, and his works reflect his influences from various spiritual and philosophical traditions. He is best known for his book The Prophet.

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00:00 - Excerpt

02:35 - Gibran’s influence on culture

05: 44 - The Prophet’s synopsis

06: 40 - Unify your reason and passion

09:56 - How to prepare for death

11:30 - How to love deeply

15:30 - How to treat your children

19:00 - How to give with joy

25:55 - Embrace both suffering & joy fully

30:00 - How to work

34:40 - Giving thanks for your food

39:40 - How to seek knowledge within yourself

41:00 - Find solitude always

46:00 - The path is made by walking

50:50 - Challenge

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Lessons from the Book of Five Rings and ⁠Dokkodo⁠ by Miyamoto Musashi. Miyamoto Musashi (1585 -1645) is a sword-saint, poet, artist and legend.

The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) contains strategies of warfare, single combat, and most importantly the Way to finding enlightenment and meaning as a warrior. And the The Dokkodo (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness) is a list of 21 precepts for living a life of honesty and honour.

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00:00 - Excerpt on Miyamoto Musashi’s life

02:55 - What is the Way of the warrior?

05:55 - Significance of The Book of Five Rings for modern life

07:25 - Become action-oriented

08:50 - Strengthen your mind by doing difficult thing, some examples

11:00 - How anyone can become a warrior using pen and sword

14:30 - What are the four types of people?

18:40 - To live the Way you must act

20:50 - Believe in yourself, there is always strength within

25:00 - Study all the arts

27:44 - Why the greatest control themselves

31:45 - If you follow the Way, you have to transcend categories to reach enlightenment

37:27 - The moment you know your enemy, you will love him but you must destroy your enemy

39:35 - The Dokkodo, the 21 precepts for living in this chaotic world

46:50 - The Book of the Void and the mystical experiences

50:20 - The challenge

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Lessons from the book of Proverbs.

Attributed to King Solomon, Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings, parables and poetry that teaches the importance of getting wisdom and understanding. Proverbs is one of three wisdom literature in the Old Testament.

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00:00 - Excerpt from Proverbs and short background

04:20 - Why read Proverbs

05:40 - Embrace Lady Wisdom

07:30 - Avoid the Temptress

09:40 - Overcome and slay your lower man

15:35 - The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom

17:45 - Gaining wisdom is a long-term play

18:30 - Proverbs = probability

20:05 - What is more valuable than gold?

21:15 - What is the path to wisdom?

24:25 - Control your tongue

25:20 - Be action-oriented

29:00 - Gaining immortality

30:00 - The Queen’s secret lesson for kings

32:00 - Self-control & sobriety movement

34:50 - Why patience is required for wisdom

36:05 - Lady wisdom vs. Lady Folly (the Temptress)

38:10 - Challenge

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from Finding Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He was a professor of psychology and education at the University of Chicago, and he's the author of the bestselling Flow.

Finding Flow is a guide to reclaiming ownership of our lives. And a call to dedicate our lives to increasing our capacity for flow states through complete engagement to achieve higher satisfaction levels.

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00:00- What is flow?

04:43 - Why you want flow states in your life?

06:20 - Psychic entropy

08:00 - Industrial revolution and the desire for leisure time

09:47 - The difference in work styles of the West and tribes

12:10 - Workaholic vs. craftsman

14:50 - Happiness requires flow states

16:25 - Do activities that give you purpose and dream big

19:10 - Why having a goal is a perquisite for achieving flow

20:25 - Don’t let genetics or environment determine your life

23:48 - Meditation as an example of getting into flow

27:00 - The opposite of flow is hell

30:15 - Active vs. passive leisure activities

41:02 - The killer of flow states & embracing solitude to increase your capacity for flow

46:00 - Autotelic individual and doing work that decreases entropy

51:05 - Challenges

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from studying Be Useful by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In Be Useful, Arnold reveals his tool kit for how he achieved all his dreams, and why he believes you can use the same tool for your life.

Arnold is the world’s greatest bodybuilder, highest-paid movie star, and was leader of the world’s sixth-largest economy. He achieved all this by following a process of clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and giving back. His father taught him one lesson: be useful. He never forgot it

Freya India's article - No, not everyone needs therapy.

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00:00:00 - Why Arnold wrote Be Useful

00:03:24 - Having a vision for your life

00:05:20 - How Arnold achieve all his impossible dreams

00:08:05 - Your 85-year-old self time travelling to you

00:10:45 - What is vision?

00:13:20 - The discipline of staying consistent even with the little habits

00:15:00 - The power of visualization and emotionally charging them

00:18:45 - Pain is temporary & characters are built amid pain

00:20:00 - The problem of suffering

00:22:00 - Amor fati, Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence

00:24:50 - “Wenn schon, denn schon” & why James Cameron inspired Arnold

00:28:20 - Don’t let the doubters, the haters, stop you from achieving your vision

00:30:15 - There is no plan B! Plan B is to succeed at plan A

00:34:00 - Believe in yourself!

00:36:00 - You only fail if you quit, so don't quit

00:38:20 - Victim mindset leading to unhealthy therapy culture (Freya India)

00:40:00 - Don’t be a victim of your circumstances

00:43:00 - “Two ears, one mouth” and why you should never stop reading and learning

00:46:30 - Don’t let your curiosity turn into a brittle brick

00:49:00 - Finding the greatest meaning in helping others

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from The Dhammapada by The Buddha. A collection of sayings/teachings from The Buddha on how you can master your mind, how to not let outside events affect you, and how to achieve enlightenment.

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00:00:00 - Control your mind, find happiness

00:03:50 - On dying well

00:06:55 - The impermanence of life

00:09:10 - Chasing world desires vs. Enlightenment

00:12:57 - How to control your mind

00:14:50 - How the Buddha became the Buddha

00:19:00 - Live a life of moderation not overindulgence

00:23:57 - Self discipline = freedom

00:28:00 - Hedonist life vs. virtuous life

00:28:40 - Protect your mind from the monsoon rain

00:31:30 - Practice what you preach

00:34:10 - Reflecting on your life

00:35:40 - Moderation is the key to happiness

00:37:10 - How to become wise

00:38:40 - No-one has a monopoly on truth

00:40:00 - Attaining nirvana, keep bad company away

00:42:00 - Better to live a short virtuous life than long mediocre life

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from The Manual (Enchiridion) by Epictetus.

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lesson from Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz.

Psycho-Cybernetics is a well-known self-improvement book. Its author, Maxwell Maltz, was a plastic surgeon who discovered that his patients frequently needed more than surgery to improve their self-image. In the book, Maltz details techniques for cultivating a positive internal goal, which he believes can lead to positive external outcomes. The book draws on the works of Preston Lecky, Norbert Wiener, and John von Neumann.

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00:00:00 - A new self-image

00:06:35 - What is Psycho-Cybernetics

00:08:15 - “You” are not a machine

00:10:43 - Zig-zag servo-mechanism

00:12:00 - “You” are not a failure

00:14:30 - Your current identity is built by your past narratives

00:16:23 - What stories are you telling yourself

00:21:00 - Get the “winning” feeling

00:23:55 - Make your inner reality more real than your external environment

00:25:50 - How Conor McGregor became the most successful athlete

00:31:40 - Integrate your emotions into your vision

00:33:00 - You already self-hypnotize unconsciously

00:38:15 - Why do you need goals for your creative-mechanism to function

00:39:44 - Viktor Frankl and why you need higher purposely goals

00:42:10 -Why knowing your purpose is crucial

00:43:45 - Trust the process

00:47:50 - Act as if you've achieved your goal

00:52:40 - Forgiveness = getting an emotional facelift

00:57:00 - The S.U.C.C.E.S.S. acronym

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a French pioneering aviator, author, and poet. He saw flying as a way to discover the world and human solidarity. Saint-Exupéry died in 1944 when his plane was shot down in Marseille.

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00:00:00 - Taming the Fox

00:04:10 - Overview of the Little Prince

00:06:04 - What is friendship

00:11:09 - The thief of joy

00:13:07 - Time, the price you pay

00:14:11 - The dichotomy of life

00:16:03 - Rekindling love in your 70s

00:18:58 - The King’s Planet

00:22:00 - Babao trees

00:23:30 - The planet is your mind

00:24:40 - Don’t lose your dreams

00:26:00 - The Conceited Man’s planet

00:26:50 - Having a community

00:28:00 - The Drunkard’s planet

00:29:25 - The Business Man’s planet

00:30:10 - Not losing focus on the important things

00:30:43 - Health is vital

00:32:45 - Know when enough is enough

00:33:46 - The Lamplighter’s planet

00:35:08 - CEO of your own time

00:37:00 - The Geographer’s planet

00:38:10 - Walking in the way

00:38:48 - Travelling to Earth

00:40:00 - Meeting the Snake

00:41:25 - Friend of death

00:41:55 - Finding water

00:43:15 - In the simple life is depth

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Lessons from Tribe by Sebastian Junger.

Sebastian Junger is a New York Times bestselling author, long-time war correspondent and filmmaker. Sebastian's debut film, Restrepo received an Academy Award nomination, and he won the Grand Jury Prize for the film at Sundance.

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00:00:00 - Why humans need a community

00:06:50 - Dangers of isolation

00:07:20 - Lifestyle difference between American Indians & America

00:10:00 - Henri Bouquet

00:12:06 - 1612: Why American Indian tribes attracted settlers

00:14:15 - Effects of Liberal societies

00:16:14 - Egalitarian society

00:19:50 - Freedom = controlling your time

00:25:35 - Daycare

00:27:45 - Common good

00:30:10 - Loneliness and solitude

00:33:40 - Side effects of affluence

00:36:00 - Infants bonding with stuffed animals

00:41:40 - Seeking strong bonds

00:42:24 - Disasters creating tribal-like communities

00:48:10 - Who would you die for?

00:49:07 - Warriors

00:50:44 - Cleansing rituals to help warriors after wars

00:51:15 - Gregory Gomez & sun dance ceremony

00:54:00 - Importance of having rituals

00:55:00 - The power of being present

00:57:32 - Altered states of consciousness

01:00:00 - Society vs. modern warriors

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IJ Makan is a philosopher, designer, and martial artist.

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Social & Website

Instagram ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ijmakan⁠⁠⁠

Twitter ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/ijmakan⁠⁠⁠

Website ⁠⁠⁠https://becomingantifragile.com⁠⁠⁠

Newsletter ⁠⁠⁠https://ijmakan.substack.com