Stop Putting Imaginary Pressure on Yourself

Stop your “this is the end of the world” thinking

My next book, The Stoic Path to Wealth, comes out on July 16. While it’s something I’m excited about, this milestone put a lot of imaginary pressure on my work routine last year.

I started thinking about the marketing strategy when I finished the manuscript with my editor in November 2023.

Here’s what my thoughts were like:

• I need to get started with marketing
• I need to do a podcast
• I need to do YouTube videos
• I need to do social media
• I need to reach out to people

And then, I would think, “If I don’t do this, the book won’t succeed.”

This type of “I need to do X (action) otherwise Y (bad outcome) will happen” thinking is a complete and utter waste of your energy. And yet, we all do it.

Through years of meditating and practicing Stoicism, I’m now able to quickly detect that unhelpful thinking pattern and stop it. I always go back to this quote from Epictetus from How to Be Free:

“If you want to make progress, dismiss this kind of reasoning: ‘If I neglect my business, I will have nothing to live on.’ It is better to starve to death in a calm and confident state of mind than to live anxiously amidst abundance.”

The truth is: You don’t need a lot to have happiness and peace.

The pressure you put on yourself is imaginary

We all put imaginary pressure on ourselves. Maybe your pressure comes from your parents, friends, or the desire to keep up with what you see on social media.

Just remember it’s all in your mind. All the things you think you should be doing are a figment of your imagination.

It’s a mental construct.

I don’t need to do YouTube or social media. Those things might help but are not the determining factor.