How to ascend: Part 1

Emperors and kings. (And you.)

William James was known as the “father of modern psychology.”

One year, the American Psychological Association invited James to speak at its annual conference.

The topic?

“Everything we've learned in the last 100 years of psychological research."

Thousands of people traveled across the United States to hear James’ thoughts.

On the day of the keynote address, the room filled.

Excitement bubbled.

Anticipation buzzed.

James walked on stage.

He looked at the crowd.

“By and large, people become what they think of themselves,” he said.

Then, he walked off.

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Martin Lloyd-Jones was the minister at Westminster Chapel in London.

In 1964, Lloyd-Jones published a book, “Spiritual Depressions,” a collection of 21 of his sermons.

In “Spiritual Depressions,” he wrote:

“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?”

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James Allen was a British philosopher. 

In 1879, Allen’s father was murdered. Allen’s mother couldn’t read or write. To support the family, Allen had to find work at age 15.

He became a celebrated writer and the pioneer of the self-help movement.

In one of his most popular passages, Allen wrote: 

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."

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Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor. 

His writings, titled “Meditations,” cover his life from 121 - 180 A.D. and are regarded as a cornerstone of Stoic philosophy.

In “Meditations,” Aurelius wrote:

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

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King Solomon was a monarch of ancient Israel.

Sometime around 950 B.C., Solomon wrote a few books of the Bible.

In Proverbs 23:7, he wrote:

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” 

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You’re you. 

And since you’re human, a lot of your life hinges on improving external perceptions. 

You want to be seen as smarter. Stronger. Kinder.

You want to be more attractive, more successful, more selfless.

You want to be more of something to someone else — almost always.

But the funny thing?

To improve those external perceptions, you don’t have to be more of anything to anyone else.

All you have to do is be more to yourself. 

In the previous five sections of this blog, we covered about 2,900 years.

We covered psychology, religion, and philosophy. 

We went to the U.S., to Wales, to England, to Rome, to Israel.

We heard from kings and emperors, academics, and preachers.

We heard the world’s greatest, most impactful, longest-standing ideas.

And they all said the same thing:

You are who you decide to be.