7 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius That Will Change Your Life Forever

In a world saturated with self-help, discover the timeless insights that set Marcus Aurelius apart.

Over the last couple of years, I read dozens of self-help books. Most of them are just the same repeated all over again, while Marcus Aurelius and his works added an entirely new perspective. A perspective that changed how I see things.

Here’s what I mean.

Quote 1: “The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

Why do you stop kids from talking bad about themselves, but not yourself?

It isn’t the five people you spend most time, shaping you. It’s your thoughts. For me, it was a hard and long way, to change my thoughts in a more supporting and positive direction, but it’s the only right way to go.

Give yourself constructive feedback, focus on the positive things, and forbid any insults towards yourself.

Quote 2: “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

Save yourself time and pain.

In my past, I’ve always tried to convince people of my morals. I’d spend hours on it, only to come back demoralized, frustrated, and angry. Don’t be like that, be good.

You don’t need to “understand” how to be genuine, just be it.

Quote 3: “Our life Is what our thoughts make it”

It’s all about your perspective.

Why do you think we get humbled when go into a slum? Because we see, that often our problems are allures. When I went to a Favela in Rio de Janeiro, I finally understood that humans can be literally happy anywhere.

To feel happy, we need to allow it — no matter where we are, what we do, or how much we have in the bank.

Quote 4: “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.”

Change is the only constant.

When we resist it, we become resentful. A couple of years ago, I’ve always tried to fight change, finding the one right solution that works. But life isn’t like that.

The sooner you accept that life changes, the happier you’ll be.

Quote 5: “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”

What’s the point of postponing everything?

Sure, you could try to see the world when you’re 70 and old. But maybe you’ll never turn 70, or 60, or even 50. You never know what happens, and maybe you die sooner than expected, but if you truly live, you have nothing to regret.

Your dying age becomes irrelevant when you enjoy your life.

Quote 6: “Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if you will ever dig.”

If you keep adding and adding to the mountain of insecurity, guilt, and mistrust, you can’t be good. You need to explore yourself. Only when I started exploring myself, and my insecurities, I’d understand that you need to dig deep to release kindness.

Don’t fear opening Pandora’s Box, instead fear not knowing yourself.

Quote 7: “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”

Often, we take things too seriously.

We forget, that there is no universal truth. There’s always only a subjective view on things. When reading this, I realized how much energy and time I wasted to satisfy an objective view, that never was real.

Don’t fool yourself thinking there’s only one perspective and one truth.

Here’s a short recap, what you can learn from Marcus Aurelius:

• Give yourself constructive feedback, focus on the positive things, and forbid any insults towards yourself.
• You don’t need to “understand” how to be genuine, just be it.
• To feel happy, we need to allow it.
• The sooner you accept that life changes, the happier you’ll be.
• Your dying age becomes irrelevant when you enjoy your life.
• Start exploring yourself to reach new heights
• Don’t fool yourself thinking there’s only one perspective and one truth.