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Stoic Street Smarts

5 metaphors from physics and calculus on happiness

Published 3 months ago • 4 min read

I've figured out how to be a happy person despite dealing with setbacks. In today's newsletter, learn how to increase your happiness or get it back if you've been knocked down. But first, the news and a word from today's sponsor...

In the news for this week, March 1st starts the 5-day cohort/challenge I'm running to teach my method for quickly creating natural-sounding, highly engaging, content for multiple platforms using AI.

While I'll teach a few prompts, the cohort is specifically designed to teach writers how to think about using AI (ChatGPT, Gronk, Gemini, ClaudeAI, or whatever your platform of choice is.)

When I got my book deal, my publisher recommended I grow on Linkedin, but I didn't have time to create brand new content for yet another platform. Juggling a new baby, writing the book, and sending the newsletter was already kicking my ass. So I learned how to use AI to repurpose, research, and create content from scratch.

So I've packaged this method into a 5-day mini-course/cohort. Each day you'll get a video lesson, I'll be open to answer any of your emails that week, and there will be two live calls. This is perfect for anyone who wants to more quickly produce higher-quality written content.

  • Freelancers
  • Copywriters
  • Newsletter producers
  • Researchers
  • Any type of writer

For only $100, you can't go wrong. If you're interested in working with me more directly on your writing, shoot me a message. Otherwise, check it out by clicking here or on the icon below.


Today’s sponsor is a product I use often and have advocated for many times in the past. Greco Gum is a unique all natural gum made from the crystallized resin of the mastic tree, which only grows on one tiny island in Greece. It's been chewed for millennia because its powerful antimicrobial properties improve both gut health and oral health. It also happens to give your jawline a great workout, sculpting it so you become better looking.


That's a great benefit, but here's another one that MANY guys overlook: it makes you a better fighter.


I started chewing Greco Gum after I started sparring again. I know more about boxing now than I did when I was competing, and I wish I had been chewing it then. The workout your jaw gets from chewing the tough gum also makes you more resistant to getting dazed from taking a good punch.


That alone is worth it.
Definitely get a tin of Greco Gum here.


5 analogies from physics and calculus on happiness

No matter how tight your mental health is, you may fall prey to negative thoughts. Everyone, no matter how upbeat they are, will find themselves in a situation where they need to figure out how to be happy again.

The trick to being happy is to realize that you're not always going to be happy. This doesn't mean that you can't do little things that make a big difference in your ability to endure hard times without spiraling into a sea of helpless depression.

I had to learn how to take control of my happiness, despite facing many challenges in my own life that paralyze many people with depression and hopelessness.

I was born poor, so spending money on things to make myself happy was out of the question. I didn't have a lot of opportunities, so it wasn't easy to surround myself with positive people in the hope that some of their happiness would rub off on me.

I knew that if I wanted lasting happiness in my life–not just a quick buzz from getting drunk with people or endorphins from working out–I'd have to make some fundamental changes to my mindset, lifestyle, and the way I approached life.

Through the most difficult situations of my life, I learned how to control my level of happiness, regardless of what was happening around me. This newsletter will teach you how to increase your happiness and live a happier life, despite any setbacks, difficulties, or hardships that you face.

A positive perspective helps you see positive things

The best thing about studying physics is that it’s given me a framework to understand everything about the world. It gave me a new way to see the world, grasp subtle nuances about life, and get more out of my short time on this planet.

Making the connection between the external world and my state of mind improved my mental health, well-being, and satisfaction with life.

Physics helped me understand happiness—not because studying the subject makes me happy (it does, but it has moments that break your self-esteem and make you feel like an idiot), but because it provides interesting analogies for the “secret” to happiness.

There are no secrets, but thinking in terms of the calculus that drives physics has given me a valuable path and perspective for being happy.

Here are five of my favorite metaphors from Physics and Calculus that will increase your life satisfaction and help you figure out what to do when you're having a bad day.


Social media round-up


Cool things I read this week

  • This isn't something I read. It's a channel I found on YouTube called "PyschHacks." It's a balanced but unapologetic real explanation of intersexual dynamics, harmed with solutions rather than just complaints for outrage bait. It's rare to be able to say this, but anyone—male, female, young, old, single, or in a relationship—can benefit from watching this channel.
  • There's a fantastic Instagram account called "Forgoodcode." This guy collects some of the best little-known websites on the internet. From his latest post, I learned about a site that does anything with PDFs for free, a site that teaches hacking, and one that gives you a variety of recipes based on what you have in your fridge. Check him out.

Stoic Street Smarts

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