In 1759, and within just three focused days, French writer Voltaire published his most famous novel: Candide, ou l'Optimisme.

It tells the story of Candide and his travel companions, Martin and Pangloss. Together, they venture around the world, grappling with many misfortunes, until they find themselves settled in Tukey, living on a small farm in a suburb of Istanbul.

One day, as they are walking around town, they hear news of troubles at the Ottoman court: Two Viziers and the Mufti have been strangled and several of their associates have been killed.

Concerned with the news, and afraid of what might happen next, the three friends rush back home. On their way to their little farm, they pass by an old man who sat peacefully and indifferently under an orange bower, enjoying the sunshine next to his house.

Pangloss stopped and asked the old man for the name of the strangled Mufti. “I do not know,” answered the man, “and I have not known the name of any Mufti, nor of any Vizier. I am entirely ignorant of the event you mention.”

After a few more words, the old man, who became known as The Turk, invites the three friends into his house. There, his children present them with several flavors of sherbet and kaimak, and perfume for their beards.

Impressed by the generous gifts, Candide turns to the Turk and says: “You must have a vast and magnificent estate.” To which the Turk replies:

“I have only twenty acres. I and my children cultivate them; and our labor preserves us from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.”

Candide, on his way home, reflected deeply on what the old man had said. “This honest Turk,” he said to his friends, “seems to be in a far better place than kings… And I also know,” said Candide, “that we must cultivate our garden.”

What it Means to Cultivate Your Mind’s Garden

“Il faut cultiver notre jardin,” wrote Voltaire.

We must cultivate our own garden, inside ourselves, within our own mind. In doing so, we teach ourselves how to live simply and quietly, like the old Turk under the sunshine and by the vines, finding inner peace, joy, and protection from the external, and inevitable, troubles of the world.

You don’t need to grasp every detail about every global issue that we are facing as a human race. You don’t need to concern yourself with the ins and outs of all your country’s local politics and geopolitical maneuvers. You don’t need to worry about how and when this global pandemic will come to an end or what other people are saying about you.

You just need to tend to the sanctuary that’s inside of you.

Because who cares what happens with the Viziers and the Mufti?

And who cares what others think of you?

What value does “knowing all the details” add to your life?

When you wrestle with these ideas and fully advance your attention to them, you attach your personal moods to their volatile conditions. You will then ride an emotional rollercoaster you have no control over.

And that’s the salient point here: When you concern yourself with troubles that aren’t yours to control or cultivate, you set yourself up for mental turmoil.

That’s why always focusing on what you can control is the number one habit for building grit and mental strength. And almost always, all that you can really control is you. Not what your friends do, or say, or how the world reacts to natural disasters and political uprising, but you.

By looking inward and making a few acres of greenery your main focus, you strive for the only worthy goal in life: Innerpeace and freedom.

As Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote in A Manual For Living:

“Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control.”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s useful to be informed and it’s important to be informed about topics that interest you. But be careful not to let the overindulgence in outside events devour you— it spoils your spirit and does you no good.

Learn to cultivate your own inner garden instead.

Learn to take care of your own mind.

Nourish it, enrich it, refine it, and harvest it.

Rather than trying to solve the problems of others, look after your own. Pluck out the weeds in your mind and replace them with flowers. Plant fertile seeds that can one day bloom into bountiful trees of wisdom and knowledge.

Change the inside and the outside will fall into place. I think that’s what Rumi the 13th-century poet meant when he wrote these eloquent words:

“Yesterday I was clever so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I am changing myself.”

How to Cultivate Your Mind’s Garden

Cultivating your own mind’s garden involves a few essential and ongoing steps. First, you nourish the ground and keep it fertile. Second, you decide on the type of seeds you want to plant. And third, you continue to pluck out the weeds and water the seeds as they bloom and grow.

1. Nourish the ground and keep it fertile.

It’s no use to pick up a shovel, dig up the soil, and plant some seeds. In the long run, the success of your garden depends on the health of your soil. The healthier your soil, the more fertile it becomes, the better the quality of seeds you can plant, and the more likely it is for your garden to thrive and bear fruit.

When it comes to physical gardens, this includes protecting soil structure, feeding the soil with nutrients from natural sources, and increasing the diversity and numbers of the microbes and in the soil.

And the same applies to your mind:

Protect your brain by rewarding it with adequate sleep and regular exercise. These two habits help your brain function better.

Feed your brain with nutrients from natural, organic sources. A healthy diet with low processed sugars and wholesome foods translates to a healthier brain.

And increase its diversity by living a daily lifestyle where you constantly challenge yourself to create more than you consume.

That’s how you nourish the ground and keep it fertile.

2. Plant the right seeds.

Whether conscious or not, we’re always planting seeds in the garden of our mind. These seeds are the thoughts we give our attention to.

And that’s precisely what all the great historical and present thinkers, philosophers, and high achievers agree upon: We are what we think about because we live in a world of thought. Our thoughts create our experiences, and thus, we experience what we think. It’s the quality of our thoughts, then, that create the quality of our life. 

Consider this:

Spend the next week giving your entire attention to these thoughts:

• Compare yourself to others and realize how unsuccessful you are.

• Downplay all your previous achievements in life.

• Ctritcise yourself and others for everything wrong you do or they do.

• Play the victim role and dwell in shame and self-pity.

• Desire all the things you want in life and do nothing about it.

• Watch nothing but the news and read nothing but celebrity magazines.

How will you feel by the end of the week?

How do you feel right now, by just reading these lines?

That’s the point.

The quality of our thoughts (seeds) creates the quality of our life (our garden).

Give your attention to the same negative thoughts over and over again, and you feed rotten seeds the energy to spread and spoil your garden. But give your attention to empowering and enriching thoughts over and over again, and you will feel empowered and enriched.

In other words, plant the seeds of self-love, confidence, gratitude, generosity, kindness, and compassion, and watch how the garden in your mind will blossom into a beautiful orchard of colored fruit.

3. Water it daily and pluck out the weeds regularly.

It’s not enough to nurture the soil and plant the right seeds. You must also water and care for your seedlings, providing daily attention. And you must pull out the weeds that will inevitably appear.

We live in a world where every being, business, and technology device is fighting for your attention. Even your own thoughts are swarming for it.

All of them are constantly throwing seeds in your garden. The news and movies you watch, the books your read, the people you talk to and spend time with, the conversations you have, the apps you use, the influencers you follow, and the newsletters you subscribe to.

These seeds will either grow into lush plants or arise as vicious weeds.

The question is, then, are the seeds you consume futile or fruitful?

We don’t want these seeds to be trivial or hollow, we want them to be conducive to our personal growth. But the truth is, weeds will grow in every garden. And even after you pluck them out, they will continue to grow. There’s no way to avoid it, but there is a way to reduce it.

Learn to observe what’s happening within your mind. This helps you identify a bad seed from a good one. It helps you recognize sabotaging behavioral and thought patterns so you can stop them. And the way to that is through silent meditation, introspective journaling, and emotional intelligence. This takes considerable practice, but it’s one that becomes easier with every new season.

The more you observe and tame your mind, the quieter you become, and the more you will be able to hear.

Water the good and pluck out the bad.

Here are some seeds of optimism I try my best to plant and water every day, and in doing so, keep the weeds at bay:

• Self-confidence mantras that remind me of my inner beauty and power.

• A daily gratitude practice that reminds me of my ocean of blessings.

• Exercise 3-4 times a week to keep myself fit and energized.

• Drinking water and tea regularly to stay hydrated.

• Meditating 20-minutes every weekday morning.

• Reading books on psychology, philosophy, biographies, and creativity.

• Journaling for myself and writing articles for people like you.

A Simple Philosophy to Live By

Gardening is no trivial pastime; it demands a new version of you to show up and honor the daily effort it requires. And yet, cultivating your own mind’s garden is a fundamental way of shielding yourself from the dark influence of the chaotic world beyond. Gardening is a way of building a noble sanctuary of strength, peace, and grace, inside of you.

As per the words of Voltaire’s Turk, your labor preserves you from three great evils: weariness, vice, and want.

Left unattended, your garden will overgrow with weeds and it will become overwhelming to know how to tame it. But with invested time, energy, and care, you will be amazed by how you can transform your chaotic mind’s jungle into a serene garden with bright flowers, fruitful trees, and lush green grass.

The way I see it, cultivating your own garden becomes a simple philosophy to live by: I make sure to take good care of my mind and body, and so I live with inner peace, knowing that they will also take care of me.

With that, I leave you to tend to your own garden, and I part with the poetic words of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges:

“So plant your own gardens and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.”