232: John Vespasian on Rational, Self-Reliant Living.

Learning lessons of resilience from history.

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John is a personal development author of eight books about history and psychology, including his latest book “Thriving in difficult times: Twelve lessons from Ancient Greece to improve your life today.” As a lover of history, he is continuously studying and making notes about what he learns and has found many examples in the past that he feels can help people today.

John has given many interviews around his research into what made the Greek society prosperous for 1,000 years, and what later became its downfall.

In This Podcast:

We chat with John Vespasian about learning from the mistakes found in some of history’s interesting stories.  Not satisfied with what he could find in most books at the time, John decided he could do a better job and set out to write a book that he would like to read.  From there he has focused on researching history, learning new languages, and figuring out how certain cultures succeeded and how cultures failed to determine what should be done today to get the best results.

Listen in and learn about:

• Why he started writing as he was not finding what he was looking for in self-helps books
• How he found answers in history
• What “rational living” is to him and how that helps people make logical and strategic decisions
• Trying to learn from history instead of making the same mistakes ourselves
• Why he was bored by history in school and found it quite useless
• The most important lesson to learn from history
• What can be applied personally from this lesson
• A story of Bela Lugosi and how he overcame his struggles as an immigrant with poor language skills
• What can be learned from Lugosi’s story
• A key to overcome stress
• Short version of his antidote for worry
• One habit he recommends people try to develop – It might surprise you
• How rational living works
• Three reasons to be optimistic about your future

As well as:

• His failure – Trying to learn German and was frustrated as it was quite difficult
• His success – Finding time to write books around all of his other activities
• His drive – His desire to spread his message of rationality, and his passion for writing
• His advice – To make your decisions with a perspective of a lifetime
  

Books written by John:

Thriving in difficult times: Twelve lessons from Ancient Greece to improve your life today(2016)

On becoming unbreakable: How normal people become extraordinarily self-confident (2015)

Consistency: The key to permanent stress relief (2014)

Rational living, rational working: How to make winning moves when things are falling apart (2013)

The 10 Principles of Rational Living (2012)

The philosophy of builders: How to build a great future with the pieces from your past (2010)

Rationality is the way to happiness: The theory and practice of rational living (2009)

When Everything Fails, Try This (2009)

John’s Book recommendations:   

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – By Edward Gibbon

How to reach John:

Search for John Vespasian on any search engine

 UrbanFarm.org/RationalLiving