On those mornings you struggle with getting up, keep this thought in mind—I am awakening to the work of a human being. Why then am I annoyed that I am going to do what I’m made for, the very things for which I was put into this world? Or was I made for this, to snuggle under the covers and keep warm? It’s so pleasurable. Were you then made for pleasure? In short, to be coddled or to exert yourself?
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.1
It’s comforting to think that even two thousand years ago the emperor of Rome (who was reportedly a bit of an insomniac) was giving himself a pep talk in order to summon up the willpower to throw the blankets off each morning and get out of bed. From the time we’re first sent off to school until we retire, we’re faced with that same struggle. It’d be nicer to shut our eyes and hit the snooze button a few more times. But we can’t.
Because we have a job to do. Not only do we have the calling we’ve dedicated ourselves to, but we have the larger cause that the Stoics speak about: the greater good. We cannot be of service to ourselves, to other people, or to the world unless we get up and get working—the earlier the better. So c’mon. Get in the shower, have your coffee, and get going.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Good people will do what they find honorable to do, even if it requires hard work; they’ll do it even if it causes them injury; they’ll do it even if it will bring danger. Again, they won’t do what they find base, even if it brings wealth, pleasure, or power. Nothing will deter them from what is honorable, and nothing will lure them into what is base.
—Seneca, Moral Letters, 76.18
If doing good was easy, everyone would do it. (And if doing bad wasn’t tempting or attractive, nobody would do it.) The same goes for your duty. If anyone could do it, it would have been assigned to someone else. But instead it was assigned to you.
Thankfully, you’re not like everyone. You’re not afraid of doing what is hard. You can resist superficially attractive rewards. Can’t you?
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Protect your own good in all that you do, and as concerns everything else take what is given as far as you can make reasoned use of it. If you don’t, you’ll be unlucky, prone to failure, hindered and stymied.
—Epictetus, Discourses, 4.3.11
The goodness inside you is like a small flame, and you are its keeper. It’s your job, today and every day, to make sure that it has enough fuel, that it doesn’t get obstructed or snuffed out.
Every person has their own version of the flame and is responsible for it, just as you are. If they all fail, the world will be much darker—that is something you don’t control. But so long as your flame flickers, there will be some light in the world.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
The task of a philosopher: we should bring our will into harmony with whatever happens, so that nothing happens against our will and nothing that we wish for fails to happen.
—Epictetus, Discourses, 2.14.7
A long To-Do list seems intimidating and burdensome—all these things we have to do in the course of a day or a week. But a Get To Do list sounds like a privilege—all the things we’re excited about the opportunity to experience. This isn’t just semantic playing. It is a central facet of the philosopher’s worldview.
Today, don’t try to impose your will on the world. Instead see yourself as fortunate to receive and respond to the will in the world.
Stuck in traffic? A few wonderful minutes to relax and sit. Your car broke down after idling for so long? Ah, what a nice nudge to take a long walk the rest of the way. A swerving car driven by a distracted, cell-phone-wielding idiot nearly hit you as you were walking and soaked you head on toe with muddy water? What a reminder about how precarious our existence is and how silly it is to get upset about something as trivial as being late or having trouble with your commute!
Kidding aside, it might not seem like it makes a big difference to see life as something you have to do versus get to do, but there is. A huge, magnificent difference.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Never shirk the proper dispatch of your duty, no matter if you are freezing or hot, groggy or well-rested, vilified or praised, not even if dying or pressed by other demands. Even dying is one of the important assignments of life and, in this as in all else, make the most of your resources to do well the duty at hand.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.2
Will this make me rich? Will people be impressed? How hard do I need to try? How long will this take? What’s in it for me? Should I do this other thing instead? These are the questions we ask ourselves amid the day’s opportunities and obligations.
Marcus Aurelius had many responsibilities, as those who hold executive power do. He judged cases, heard appeals, sent troops into battle, appointed administrators, approved budgets. A lot rode on his choices and actions. Should he do this or that? What about this concern or that concern? When would he get to enjoy himself? The simple reminder above was a way to cut through the Gordian knot of incentives, complaints, fears, and competing interests.
It’s what we must use to decide what to do in each and every phase of life. Morality can be complicated—but the right thing is usually clear and intuitive enough to feel in our gut. Our duty is rarely easy, but it is important. It’s also usually the harder choice. But we must do it.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
Whatever anyone does or says, for my part I’m bound to the good. In the same way an emerald or gold or purple might always proclaim: “whatever anyone does or says, I must be what I am and show my true colors.”
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.15
The Stoics believed that every person, animal, and thing has a purpose or a place in nature. Even in ancient Greek and Roman times, they vaguely understood that the world was composed of millions of tiny atoms. It was this idea—this sense of an interconnected cosmos—that underpinned their sense that every person and every action was part of a larger system. Everyone had a job—a specific duty. Even people who did bad things—they were doing their job of being evil because evil is a part of life.
The most critical part of this system was the belief that you, the student who has sought out Stoicism, have the most important job: to be good! To be wise. “To remain the person that philosophy wished to make us.”
Do your job today. Whatever happens, whatever other people’s jobs happen to be, do yours. Be good.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
While it’s true that someone can impede our actions, they can’t impede our intentions and our attitudes, which have the power of being conditional and adaptable. For the mind adapts and converts any obstacle to its action into a means of achieving it. That which is an impediment to action is turned to advance action. The obstacle on the path becomes the way.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.20
Today, things will happen that will be contrary to your plans. If not today, then certainly tomorrow. As a result of these obstacles, you will not be able to do what you planned. This is not as bad as it seems, because your mind is infinitely elastic and adaptable. You have the power to use the Stoic exercise of turning obastacles upside down, which takes one negative circumstance and uses it as an opportunity to practice an unintended virtue or form of excellence.
If something prevents you from getting to your destination on time, then this is a chance to practice patience.
If an employee makes an expensive mistake, this is a chance to teach a valuable lesson.
If a computer glitch erases your work, it’s a chance to start over with a clean slate.
If someone hurts you, it’s a chance to practice forgiveness.
If something is hard, it is a chance to get stronger.
Try this line of thinking and see whether there is a situation in which one could not find some virtue to practice or derive some benefit. There isn’t one. Every impediment can advance action in some form or another.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
It is possible to curb your arrogance, to overcome pleasure and pain, to rise above your ambition, and to not be angry with stupid and ungrateful people—yes, even to care for them.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.8
“I was just born this way.” “I never learned anything different.” “My parents set a terrible example.” “Everyone else does it.” What are these? Excuses that people use to justify staying as they are instead of striving to become better.
Of course it’s possible to curb our arrogance, control our anger, and be a caring person. How do you think others do it? Certainly their parents weren’t perfect; they didn’t come out of the womb incapable of ego or immune to temptation. They worked on it. They made it a priority. They solved it liek they would solve any other problem: by dedicating themselves to finding a solution, making incremental progress until they did.
They became who they are. Just like you can.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
