CXIV. Play to Your Strengths

A good person is invincible, for they don’t rush into contests in which they aren’t the strongest.

Aug 14, 2025

P.S: Most of you loved the entries on How to Deepen Your Friendships, Part I & Part II

Vincent Van Gogh, *Self-portrait with Bandaged Ear.* He painted this with the hope that it would help him confront and process his emotional turmoil and psychological distress, and the intense gaze suggests his unwavering spirit.

“A good person is invincible, for they don’t rush into contests in which they aren’t the strongest. If you want their property, take it—take also their staff, profession, and body. But you will never compel what they set out for, nor trap them in what they would avoid. For the only contest the good person enters is that of their own reasoned choice. How can such a person not be invincible?” — Epictetus

One of the quickest ways to slow yourself down is to keep chasing new tricks instead of using what already works. You don’t need Chemical X, like professor Utonium. Just keep doing the things proven to give you results, the basics - and perfect them. Cut out the habits that look impressive but don’t change anything. Go back to the basics. Make doing them easier, more efficient, faster. Build from there. That’s how and where progress begins.

Your courage is like the appendix - you have to use it or it becomes rudimentary. Every time you act even when you’re nervous, you make it stronger, you train yourself to go further and this confidence lets you take risks, try new things, and puts you where opportunities are replete. Endurance keeps you going when others give up, when they burn out. Patience stops you from rushing into mistakes and comforts you in the reality that you're a work in progress. Love, kindness and compassion win people over in ways pure ambition can’t. Even simple things such as how you look, how you stand, how you speak, how you carry yourself, can work in your favor if you use them well. Every deliberate use of your inner beauty, tastes and strength makes you a much better leader, partner, friend, and professional.

Your craft - whether you heal, build, teach, or create - should be more than a job. It’s where what you work at changes you in as much as you change it. If you stay calm and focused, you’ll see every challenge as a way to practice your humanity, your rationality. People and events are raw material. Craft teaches you to focus your time and energy on the few things that really matter, because there's so much to do and so little time. You learn patience, that although your current outcomes may seem slow and incommensurate to your effort, bricks consistently stacked up lead to great results.

Another overlooked advantage is your brain. Learn to remember things longer than others. Practice to fit ideas together faster. Stay clear-headed when the pressure is on.

Rational thinking is a strategic tool that has been used by the militia for millennia. Work hard, but also work smart. Think ahead. Know where the road you’re on is leading, visualize it in your mind’s eye, anticipate the obstacles and adjust when needed. Willpower keeps you going when you’d rather quit, cultivate it. Learn to find pleasure in discomfort, because most people won’t - and that’s what gives you an edge. The more you build these capacities, the more freedom, power, respect, and wealth you’ll draw from the world.

But remember, you're also your greatest enemy. The strongest battles are internal. Never give fear, anger, lust, or greed the power to control your life. Epictetus would tell you you're a grown up now. Share what you have - your ideas, your work, your gifts, your weird inclinations, giving them away makes you stronger. Use your openness and vulnerabilities to connect with others. What looks like weakness can be a source of strength.

Lastly, read more when you have the advantage of time, to fill your knowledge and wisdom gaps. Write, when your shift is slow instead of gossiping, so you can take a bird's eye view of things, vent your frustrations and reflect on your progress. Move enough, while you're still young or able, to build a body strong enough to handle the aging process. And most importantly, hold on to your fighting spirit - never stop rebelling against the tyrannical powers that be, against ignoble, egotistical actions, against the weaknesses trying to dominate you every day.

This path has no downside. It will make you smarter, tougher, kinder and harder to stop in the pursuit of the greatness that is truly yours. All I ask is, if you’re going to play to your strengths, do it with everything you’ve got. Don't be ashamed of your unfair advantages.

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