Let me paint a picture for you.

One man walks in the evening. He’s in a war; pitched battles have battered, bloodied, broken and have even killed both his men and his countrymen. He’s seen the wounded, the altered, those whose lives have been shattered and others whose lives have been changed forever.

He’s received reports from all over. His entire empire is crumbling. He’s fighting to keep things together.

The conditions he endures are enough to break anyone today but day after day, evening after evening, when it comes to matters of state, Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome retires to a tent in the mud…to simply write down his thoughts, remind himself of what it means to live a virtuous life and how to remain a stone amidst a storm of blood, steel and anguish.

Let’s consider for a moment that Aurelius was no run-of-the-mill emperor. He wasn’t just some schmuck that got picked up off the Sunset Strip, handed a crown, an empire that was falling to pieces and told “Keep it if you can” no, this man was the right man at the wrong time.

By the time Aurelius assumed the title of Emperor, much of what he wrote about, he’d spent his life inside. In terms of his mental, physical and spiritual health, Aurelius could be thought of as privileged until you start to understand that Aurelius could have deviated from anything he was taught at any time. He could have done the convenient things that many heads of state do, raise taxes, fund huge projects, vanity projects even but he didn’t do that. Instead, he literally sold Imperial property to raise money to fund his wars. He later offered to buy those things back and some things just didn’t come back. His response? “Meh, let ‘em keep it. They didn’t sell it back. They bought it. It’s theirs now. We had to know that was gonna happen!”

He just…let things go like that.

He fought wars and then, at night, when the warring had stopped, he was in a tent in the mud in conditions no one ever wants to find themselves in, by the light of a single candle, writing down his thoughts, dissecting them, analyzing them and that was an exercise to simply steady himself. This was a man who didn’t get the privilege of stopping. This was a man at war literally, figuratively, mentally, spiritually and he was constantly reminding himself of which side he was truly on.

I promised you Meditations. Here’s where I fulfill that promise but, I know I’m fond of saying “I don’t owe X people Y” but I do owe you an explanation on the delay. I’ve kept you waiting for weeks and, for that, I do apologize. There was, however, good reason.

Reason being, life got in the way. Here’s the thing, I tend to do this exercise right after work. The workplace, historically, for me has been the source of a lot of frustration and the added chaos of a multitude of duties on one person, you can understand. My philosophy used to be “Well, this is why they make violent video games…” True, but only to an extent. The problem with the venting is you still spend a lot of time in it because you gotta get all of that out and honestly, you want it all…out.

By the time it’s over, you’re in a bit of a depresh until you get to the point of apathy and we know that as the dreaded B word; Burnout. The problem from there, life still goes on and you still have to deal with that.

Guess what? That’s not changing on your account, bucko.

That’s a fact of which we should all become very aware. I can’t remember who said this but it stuck with me and it’s a brilliant quote worth consideration when it comes to life and all of its little fun times:

“You can take the ostrich approach and stick your head in the sand but your ass is still in the air and the tornado is still coming, isn’t it?”

-Author Unknown

Some of that may be paraphrased and the main idea is there. Now, you’re the only one you can do anything about. That’s another fact you need to get very snuggly with because when you pair these two together, you find a key that opens doors for you and that’s not a joke in the least.

This is a part of your tradition-agnostic practice that you can take and do, you’re not compromising anything with the MindCraft practice and that’s the beauty of it because before I go on, I conclude my rambling with the biggest reason I had to delay.

I finally completed this section last night, which would be September 8, 2026. You’re getting this weeks later and yes, I needed the time because I had to get through these three books and there had been some nights where I went back to MindCraft: Basic Training because I felt it was needed. Every night that I had to go back to basics was a night that delayed the next section with which to sit and because I’m telling all of you that this is something you should do…then, hey Rev…practice what you preach. Yeah? That’s why.

Let me put it this way. What you’re essentially dealing with in your own mind is a petulant, undisciplined child. That child has called all the shots, got whatever they wanted and went unchecked for however long. It doesn’t take long to establish the fact that you’re taking control, the place is a mess and you’re cleaning it up finally. That’s what the basic stuff does and sometimes, you need to keep it in your back pocket because you never know…the child will still act up because that’s what it knows.

Through the first thirty days, you should be noticing shifts in your thinking, your actions, your words and some of the things you do.

Honestly, read Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince. You can get a copy for like, ten bucks in print, listen to the audiobook on your library app, take notes…whatever you do. I’ll tell you why. Because it teaches you about how one should properly and pragmatically wield power. It teaches you a thing or two about thinking strategically, what you just spent 30 days doing, that allows you to read Machiavelli’s book just as you’ve been reading your own thoughts; as data.

Machiavelli isn’t telling you to screw people and crush people underfoot to rise to the top, he’s instructing you on how to use discernment to your advantage. Just because he instructs you, doesn’t mean you have to completely crush someone. It means that sometimes, someone who is terrible for you needs to be ghosted silently for your own good.

He’s showing you that life can be brutal and you can still be quite likeable but carry an air about you that it’s best to stay on your good side. You carry that and, if you would rather never use it, that’s fine.

Read it as well. This is about taking your power back regardless of what anyone else thinks, including me.

On to Meditations, finally. My goodness if you’ve read that wall of text, thank you, you have earned this.

The exercise is simple. Same notebook or journal. Same trusty pen. Those two bear the scars and the mud and the nasty from the initial of getting the child under control.

The answer to the question why is a simple one. It’s because you’ve spent a lot of time in the noise, now it’s time to reinforce that which you’ve built and if reading a diary written by an Emperor literally out there with his men for the battles he calls to be fought isn’t the right call for reinforcement, I really don’t know what is.

I mean, you can see here in this very article why I recommend doing this. Now we get to methodology.

First, take your notebook and get a copy of Meditations. You can find a decent hardcover for less than $12. However you get a copy, get a copy, preferably physical.

Open the book, have a bookmark like a receipt, a business card or something to mark your place.

Open your notebook. On a blank page, mark today’s date, Title this one however you want. Every night that I read Meditations, I simply titled it Reflections and went on. That’s exactly what you’re doing.

Opening Example:

9/9/26: Reflections.

B1:S1

There it is. That’s what you write at the top of your page. Now, read Book One, Section One. Read it as many times as you need to. Think about what it meant to you. What did that mean to you. Summarize.

Opening Example:

9/9/26: Reflections.

B1:S1

Book & Section Summary According To You.

Okay so now you’re off to the races. Here are some rules I put into place for you.

1. Do not use any assistance. No looking anything up. No AI Chatbots, no Siri, nothing. You, The Book, The Section, The Pen, The Paper…that is the relationship and it’s only for 5 to 10 minutes a night. Put the device away.

2. Tell no one. You’re keeping this for yourself and Machiavelli teaches you to keep your plans to yourself and let the results land hard. Don’t overexplain. Hell, don’t explain at all. If anyone asks what you’re up to, “Oh, not much. Doing great. How ‘bout you?” Over time, you’re going to mean that. It’s a habit you need to build.

3. Keep the notebook and the contents of it private. This rule still stands but it needs to be restated. This goes back to Rule #2. Tell no one. This is your secret project. At some point, someone will point out the differences between you now and you from a few months ago, several months ago, a year ago. You’ll be hearing that from other people.

With those rules in mind, let’s keep going.

Once you have that summary from that section after sitting with it, think of a parallel to your life. When Aurelius talks about other people who have taught him things, who taught you things that benefitted you and who tried to teach you things beneficial to you? Guess what? If you haven’t been taking that advice until now, now you can start. You’re not dead and that’s the good news. It’s only too late when you’re dead. So let’s not get any more stains on the old Ghost, right?

So let’s look at what we have so far:

Opening Example:

9/9/26: Reflections.

B1:S1

Book & Section Summary According To You.

A Parallel Event, Thought, People, Concept In Your Life.

And here’s the kicker…remember all those discipline wins that you started stacking up? Keep stacking them mentally but now you’re confronting your Shadow differently because you’re going to hear that Shadow version of yourself say something about that event, thought, those people or that concept in your life. Record That Verbatim. Every word. No matter how ugly.

Then you’re going to craft your response. This should be cold, clinical, factual and unassailable. This is what you’ve been training for. I’ll give you one example that popped up. This is personal but it’s one I think to which we can all relate. Your response should close this thing out. You’re letting The Shadow know your doubt, your fears, your fuckin’ problem, pal.

The Shadow: “No one’s paying attention anymore. No one fuckin’ cares.”

Me: Then there’s no one to offend but you and we already see how that’s working out.

That’s it. It needs to happen in the moment because now, The Shadow is attempting to test the walls to see how strong they are. You close it coldly and clinically and in your own style. For me, that was me saying “Magnusson, Out” because I’m letting that thing know, you’re not dealing with the one happy to stay small for your comfort anymore. Wanna keep it up? Cool. I’ve got all life, asshole…

Completed start to finish, this is what it would look like

Opening Example:

9/9/26: Reflections.

B1:S1

Book & Section Summary According To You.

A Parallel Event, Thought, People, Concept In Your Life.

The Shadow: Quote

You: Response Meant To Foster Understanding That You Drive Whether Or Not It Speaks.

Close.

Now you close that book out. Your sections take a minimum of five minutes to write but the entire exercise may take some extra time because of the time you’re giving yourself to just sit with what Aurelius says and think it over. Pretty soon, you’ve done all three of the first books this way, then you can move on and that’s where it gets specifically-tailored to you. We’ll get there, though, I promise you. I’ll take you with me. Not through mine…yours. Now, for some of us, the end of the tunnel is finally within sight.

Until then, we walk through the mud and blood with an emperor and find out that sometimes, even one with all the power in the world, we all share at least two things in common.

When you see that, you will begin to understand why this work was so important for you.

Now, enough yapping. Get to work. See you in another thirty days.