It gives us a feeling of control. Marshal Goldsmith explains: People who believe they can succeed see opportunities, where others see threats. They are not afraid of uncertainty or ambiguity, they embrace it. They take more risks and achieve greater returns. Given the choice, they bet on themselves. Successful people have a high "internal locus of control." In other words, they do not feel like victims of fate. They see their success as a function of their own motivation and ability — not luck, random chance, or fate. They carry this belief even when luck does play a crucial role in success. — Marshal Goldsmith(resource) Eric Barker, Barking Up the Wrong Tree
Deepak Chopra, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
The source of all creation is pure consciousness, pure potentiality seeking expression from the unmanifest to the manifest.
And when we realize that our true Self is one of pure potentiality, we align with the power that manifests everything in the universe.
In the beginning there was neither existence nor non existence. All this world was unmanifest energy. The One breathed, without breath, by Its own power Nothing else was there ~ Hymn of Creation, The Rig Veda
The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil?
Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own...
You are always free to choose. In the long run, no one forces you to think, feel, or behave the way you do. Rather, you choose your emotions and your behaviors by the way you choose to think about the world around you and about what is happening to you.
Here's a way to think about what the masses regard as being 'good' things. If you would first start by setting your mind upon things that are unquestionably good- wisdom, self-control, justice, courage- with this preconception you'll no longer be able to listen to the popular refrain that there are too many good things to experience in a lifetime. —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.12 (resource), Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic
Rafael Gurkovsky, Life Hacks: Bet You didn't Know It could Do That: Life Hacks that'll Blow Your Mind
So let's say you just can't help yourself from constantly checking your Facebook and Twitter account. There are ways to temporarily block these websites and stop you from procrastinating your day away. Some programs that can help include LeechBlock, Focus Booster, Self Control, Nanny for Google Chrome, Keep Me Out and Stay Focused.
As for me, I would choose being sick over living in luxury, for being sick only harms the body, whereas luxury destroys both the body and the soul, causing weakness and incapacity in the body, and lack of control and cowardice in the soul. What's more, luxury breeds injustice because it also breeds greediness. — Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 20.95.14-17, (resource) Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
