Burn out is a plague. Fighting with resilience.

In the third century, BC, a prosperous merchant was stranded thousands of miles from home, with no possessions, no friends.

This once wealthy merchant, Zeno of Cyprus, lost everything when he was shipwrecked in Athens around 300 BCE. With much left, he went then to start a philosophy school called Stoicism. A philosophical approach to existence that was designed to help people live their best possible lives. Stoic think that anything that happens to life, good or bad, is not what makes us upset or sad, but rather than perception and the interpretations that we have about this event that cause us excruciating pain,

A few centuries before the beginning of the Stoicism, a former prince left everything behind to create a new religion and philosophy, Buddhism, under the premise of finding joy and peace under the many forms of pain and distress that life offers.

In both ancient philosophies, the teachings of life maximise your perception of emotions, helping individuals to hone their virtues of character. Both ancient philosophies teach its students to nurture Perception, Action and Will. While Stoicism focuses on the development of human virtues, Buddhism teaches the controlling of craving and

These teachings have guided me not only in my spiritual life but in my professional life as well. I have researched, read books, lived with refugees, consulted and reflected with monks and applied many of the ancient philosophies with my teams, my clients and more importantly, my daily life.

Moreover, I’m not alone, when I started studying and listening to modern thinkers, writers and professionals, like Seth Godin, Rene Brown, Simon Sinek to Stephen Covey you can find a great deal of Stoicism and Buddhism philosophy behind their excellent work. Work that is baselined in human values, beliefs and interpretation of our versions of the facts.

After having suffered an episode of enormous burn-out and struggling to find peace and joy, I started my researched and developed many frameworks and guiding principles to help and support my recovery. I truly learned that failure is inevitable; however, learning from it is optional.

We are, after all looking for the same things: Freedom, Respect, Happiness. However, our deep attachment to just one part of our personality makes it hard to detach and isolate ourselves from the inevitable rejections and traumatic experiences. We thrive to survive on a planet indifferent to our survival. So, what’s the answer to live with joy in a business environment like ours?

In my talk, I will demonstrate some of the guiding principles that I have applied in my life. Seven principles, indeed. They are:

1. Nothing is Constant – things will change, bad or good, it’s all flow.
2. Life is not fair – Accept it and move – We aren’t the centre of the universe. Things will happen, it’s you, or me who tag this “bad” or “good”.
3. Crying is Good – Rage, anger, joy, we all experiment it, it’s ok. The actions we take based on the feelings is what separates a peaceful or not peaceful life.
4. Empathy to you and others – Everybody is going through a battle that you aren’t aware of.
5. Stillness
6. Control your mind
7. Memento Mori – Cannes, the next big account, the next promotion, it’s all game, but is this the only thing you are living by?

Resilience is a skill; how we see the world is how we live the world. The interpretation of a remark by a client or a colleague has an immense amount of power. It’s the difference between laughter and a hurt feeling.

Lucio’s session is Thursday, September 26 at 11:30 AM at NewGen Stage.