The Scipionic Circle 80: Embracing Weaknesses & Leveraging Strengths, The Six Diseases, and The Philosophy of Water

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

Hello, friend.

Welcome to another issue of The Scipionic Circle — I hope you find something of value.

In addition to this newsletter, I spend hours meticulously forging summaries for every great book I read to ensure I glean every nugget of wisdom concealed within their pages. If you would like access to these 'Compendiums' as I call them, please consider supporting this publication.

Food for Thought

---

I. Embodying the Philosophy of Water: Flexibility, Growth, and Self-awareness

"Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup; it becomes the cup. You put water into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. You put it into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. Now water can flow, or it can crash! Be water, my friend." — Bruce Lee

"At its essence, water flows. It finds its way around (or even through) obstacles. My father [Bruce Lee] would call this having 'no limitations.' Water is present to its circumstances and surroundings and therefore ready to move in any direction that allows it passage. That openness and pliability means it is in a constant state of readiness, but a natural readiness because it is simply being wholly itself. To be like water, then, is to realize your most whole, natural, and actualized self where you are living as much as possible in the slipstream of life as you forge your own path forward.

"That is the nature of water. We, however, get to choose whether to stop at the first obstacle or keep going, unlike water, which always chooses to keep going if given the opportunity."

“To grow, to discover, we need involvement, which is something I experience every day, sometimes good, sometimes frustrating.” — Bruce Lee

"If my mind is polluted with all manner of negativity or I’m snapping at people out of pure emotional reaction, then I am not responding—I am reacting. If I am not aware of how I am feeling or what thoughts are going through my head, then how do I change bad habits or find more happiness and personal satisfaction? I need to be able to observe myself in order to see what I need to amend. If I am paying attention, then I can see what’s happening all around and within me, and only then am I free to choose how I want to participate. You can’t choose a response if you can’t even see that there are choices to be made.

"There is perfection in the constant and imperfect unfolding of life, for every imperfection creates the opportunity for me to learn something that I can then grow from and put into practice. By practicing that which challenges me—practicing acceptance, practicing patience, practicing loving, practicing improvement—I will gain confidence until the skill I am practicing becomes second nature. Perfection as we typically think about it should be treated more as a way to focus our attention rather than a final accomplishment that we attain. To come to terms with this notion is to be able to view the imperfections of life as the perfect teaching tools and opportunities for our own growth and betterment, rather than a measure of our success."

"When man is living, he is soft and pliable; when he is dead, he becomes rigid. Pliability is life; rigidity is death, whether we are speaking of the body, the mind, or the spirit. Be pliable." — Bruce Lee

"To be like water is to adapt in response to your environment and your opponent. In other words, it is to be pliable.

"But how does this concept apply more broadly to living life? Being like water means to be 'in flow': first, be present and aware, then adaptable and mobile. In life, wouldn’t being able to maintain awareness in order to then flow around your problems be helpful when navigating what life throws at you? Though my father never explicitly used the more modern term 'flow state,' he talked about 'flowing' often. For him, being like water expanded far beyond a metaphor for gung fu to become a guiding philosophy for all of life—one that he applied to learning new things, overcoming obstacles, and, ultimately, finding his true path.

"My father used the concept of the flowing stream or the waves in the ocean often in his writings. As my father said, 'Like flowing water, life is perpetual movement.' Life is always in motion. It is never set. Even within our daily, concretized routines, there are subtle differences at play—our timing, our mood, our environment. Today you get out the door five minutes early; tomorrow you have a headache; you just had a fight with a friend; maybe it’s raining; or maybe you just fell in love. One day is never truly like the next, so to approach each day like it’s the same and not constantly changing and fluctuating (i.e., in motion) would mean not being present or conscious of our full experience, and thereby not being able to be fluid in response to our subtly shifting lives. Many factors affect us and alter our responses and reactions to even the most basic of our routines, so to create hard and fast rules or assumptions about how we live or about how life should be can get us into trouble fast, especially when life decides to throw us a curveball.

"In the words of Greek philosopher Heraclitus, 'No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.’ Each day, we are different, and circumstances are different. Even when a situation you have encountered before appears to be the same, it’s not. Nothing is constant. There are always subtleties at play. The complexity of life means that every single moment and situation and challenge is new, maybe only slightly so, but still worthy of your presence and pliability nonetheless." — From Be Water, My Friend: The True Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee.

II. Embracing Weaknesses and Leveraging Strengths: A Pathway to Success Through Objectivity, Adaptability, and Self-Management

"Successful people are those who can go above themselves to see things objectively and manage those things to shape change.

"They can take in the perspectives of others instead of being trapped in their own heads with their own biases. They are able to look objectively at what they are like—their strengths and weaknesses—and what others are like to put the right people in the right roles to achieve their goals. Once you understand how to do this you’ll see that there’s virtually nothing you can’t accomplish. You will just have to learn how to face your realities and use the full range of resources at your disposal. For example, if you as the designer/manager discover that you as the worker can’t do something well, you need to fire yourself as the worker and get a good replacement, while staying in the role of designer/manager of your own life. You shouldn’t be upset if you find out that you’re bad at something—you should be happy that you found out, because knowing that and dealing with it will improve your chances of getting what you want. If you are disappointed because you can’t be the best person to do everything yourself, you are terribly naive. Nobody can do everything well. Would you want to have Einstein on your basketball team? When he fails to dribble and shoot well, would you think badly of him? Should he feel humiliated? Imagine all the areas in which Einstein was incompetent, and imagine how hard he struggled to excel even in the areas in which he was the best in the world. Watching people struggle and having others watch you struggle can elicit all kinds of ego-driven emotions such as sympathy, pity, embarrassment, anger, or defensiveness. You need to get over all that and stop seeing struggling as something negative. Most of life’s greatest opportunities come out of moments of struggle; it’s up to you to make the most of these tests of creativity and character.

"When encountering your weaknesses you have four choices:

1. You can deny them (which is what most people do).
2. You can accept them and work at them in order to try to convert them into strengths (which might or might not work depending on your ability to change).
3. You can accept your weaknesses and find ways around them.
4. Or, you can change what you are going after.

"Which solution you choose will be critically important to the direction of your life. The worst path you can take is the first. Denial can only lead to your constantly banging up against your weaknesses, having pain, and not getting anywhere. The second—accepting your weaknesses while trying to turn them into strengths—is probably the best path if it works. But some things you will never be good at and it takes a lot of time and effort to change. The best single clue as to whether you should go down this path is whether the thing you are trying to do is consistent with your nature (i.e., your natural abilities). The third path—accepting your weaknesses while trying to find ways around them—is the easiest and typically the most viable path, yet it is the one least followed. The fourth path, changing what you are going after, is also a great path, though it requires flexibility on your part to get past your preconceptions and enjoy the good fit when you find it." — From Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio.

III. Understanding The Six Diseases: A Barrier to Authentic Self

“The Six Diseases are:

“The desire for victory

“I have to be the winner. If I don’t win, I’m a loser. If I win, everyone else is a loser.

“The desire to resort to technical cunning

“I rely on the power of my wits to show you how great I am. Who cares about people or their feelings as long as everyone can see how clever I am?

“The desire to display all that has been learned

“Check me out. I know lots of things. I can speak at length about anything. It doesn’t matter what anyone else has to say (especially if it’s dumb).

“The desire to awe the enemy

“I am a force to be reckoned with. Look out! I will wow you to get your approval even if I have to do something shocking and wild to get your attention.

“The desire to play the passive role

“I am so easy to get along with. Who wouldn’t like me? I am so unobtrusive and sweet. I will put anything that’s important to me aside to make sure that you see how likeable and wonderful I am. How could you not like me when I sacrifice everything just for you?

“The desire to rid oneself of whatever disease one is affected by

“I am not okay as I am. I will perform constant self-work and read as many books as I can and take so many classes to make myself good that you will see that I am always trying to be a good person even if I continue to do lots of shitty things. I know I’m not okay as I am. And I know you know that I know I’m not okay as I am, which makes it okay not to get truly better as long as it looks like I’m trying.

“Attachment to outcome is denial of one’s true commitment to self.

“The great mistake is to anticipate the outcome of an engagement; you ought not to be thinking of whether it ends in victory or in defeat. See that there is no one to fight, only an illusion to see through.” — From Be Water, My Friend: The True Teachings of Bruce Lee by Shannon Lee.

Quotes to Ponder

---

I. Søren Kierkegaard on deception:

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

II. Carl Jung on judgment:

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.”

---

Did you enjoy this email? Please consider supporting future issues:

Thank you for reading,

Matthew Vere