Philosophy Talks

How do we define success? How does our desire to succeed in life shape us?

The definition of success carries more weight than we personally imagine. During this session, it became clear that we need to elaborate on this. There is the expectation of being successful in the eyes of your parents, family or even neighbours.

In this context, so much came to the surface: success is relative to each person. True success is not about being busy; it's about having social and temporal wealth. The belief and idea of success has an impact on us; we are all influenced by social media.

The portrayal of success on social media is particularly constructed, and it influences young students. There is pressure to be successful. Can you resist it and choose your own path? There is so much to consider here, so we have split it into two episodes.

Let's think about this afterwards, it's such an impactful topic for your life!

Time is the resource that can be converted into everything. It is both precise and, at the same time, wasted many times. In this episode, we discuss a podcast listener's idea, not only addressing the main question, but also delving deeper into whether time is the most valuable asset.

If time the most valuable asset or is it focus?

1. Should the focus be on the collective or the individual, or on a single goal? Neither approach is inherently good or bad.

The emerging pattern is less “be maximally productive” and more: make ordinary life feel manageable, aesthetically satisfying, financially possible,and personally meaningful.

“Do less by default. Choose what matters. Make room for areal life.”

The heart and the mind something of such great impact and meaning. The heart is there at your most happy moments. But why are we so bad in listen to the heart. The heart allows to see so much more and capture so much more brilliance:

Perhaps slightly controversially; if mind was capable ofunderstanding everything the heart wished to share with it, humanity would have already gained full access to so much great information's.

The mind however, is not very good at listening to the heart and does not want to. Its attention is either taken up with things relating to the outside world

 Can we imagine unifying the heart and the mind?

At first thought, a strong character seems to be one thing, but reflection reveals that it is not. A truly strong person is not necessarily dominant; a strong character is tested by experience and shaped by life. A strong character is built around verdicts.

This podcast combines definition and reflection, building on a previous exchange of thoughts around the question: what constitutes a strong character?

01 Accept (if it cannot be reversed) and make the best of it.

02 Reflect: calibrate your actions with your virtues.

03 Encouragement.

04 Be convinced that you have a choice (the opposite of one of the weak charactertraits).

05 Protect: stand up for your inner beliefs (virtues).

06 Be willing to support others and give up something to do so.

07 Empathy: Be able to see things from another person's perspective.

08 Do not prevent 'growth pain'.

Almost a year ago, we asked ourselves this question, a claim countless times repeated. It all centred on the fact that you just need to have the right perception. But is this really the case?

We gave it thought, now be more aware. Defining it much more nuanced, perception is not everything. It is only a slice, a small filter of the bigger picture. But in the same time, it was as well not as bad as previously assumed.

It is our identity, certain perceptions demonstrate your being. Fully aware means not being, not human, perhaps just a machine. We can convert;

"I think, therefore I am," René Descartes, so eventually I own a perception, I am a human.

We are delving into the philosophy of finance. How would we define this philosophy in the context of finance? How can we apply the laws of finance to our daily lives?

The law of finance covers time value, expectation, risk and return and to invest in values. Finance is our daily companion. Understanding the laws of finance can give us so much mental freedom.

Is there a connection to the ancient Greek idea of philosophy?

At first, it seems difficult to connect with ancient Greek ideas, but the Stoic principle is to focus on what you can control and remain indifferent to what you cannot.

We reiterate that, in financial terms, wealth can be achieved by managing, controlling and understanding costs. Take control of the pace of your life.

"Peace begins when expectations end." - Buddha