One framework. Four questions. Five minutes.
Five minutes for a better year
It’s a natural time to reflect on our life. Such time must not be wasted or lead to nothing.
Stoic philosophy suggests a simple but effective framework for doing this well. The Greco-Romans help us clarify who to be, what to do, how to do it, and when to start.
1. Be Who You’re Meant to Be
Stoic role ethics guides the way. Our lives already have purposes to fulfill and meaning waiting to be discovered and created.
The key passage is from Book II, Chapter 10 of the Discourses:
Consider who you are. First, a human being... But besides this, you are also a citizen of the world... And next, you are a son, a brother, a member of the council... each of these names, if rightly considered, always suggests the acts appropriate to it.
Philosophical reflections aren’t guided by arbitrary whims, they flow from who we are. Our history, circumstances, and character. Goal setting should be grounded in our relationships, talents, and, above all, humanity.
Consider your ordinary roles and go to extraordinary lengths to fulfill them well.
2. Be Direct
One of my favorite lines from Epictetus is from Discourses II.17:
If you wish to be a writer, write. If you wish to be a reader, read.
If role ethics determines who we should be, Epictetus’s common sense tells us what to do. We learn languages by speaking them, not researching them. We get stronger through progressive overload and fundamental exercises, not one off hacks. Skip indirect or intermediate steps.
There is no time for preparation. The performance has already begun:
How long will you delay to demand of yourself the best, and to trust reason in everything?
Handbook 51
3. Start Small
Stoicism is a transformative philosophy, but change must be rooted in reality. We can’t expect immediate perfection for ourselves or others.
There’s a reason Marcus Aurelius opens up his Meditations Book II with:
Begin the morning by saying to yourself, I shall meet with the busybody, the ungrateful…
We can’t expect people around us to be saints or sages. We must be equally realistic with ourselves. We must be ambitious and grounded.
Define small actions that form each day’s foundation. Fulfill them well. Make each day a victory. Achieve virtue incrementally. Build momentum and celebrate wins:
If you would not be of an angry temper, do not feed the habit: throw nothing on it to make it grow. As the first step, keep quiet, and count the days when you were not angry. ‘I used to be angry every day, then every other day, then every third day.’ And if you miss it thirty days, make a sacrifice to God.
Discourses II.18
4. Start Now
New Year’s is a natural time to reflect, but don’t let it become an excuse to defer. As soon as you’ve identified direct and actionable change, act.
Think of each day as a leg in a relay race. Give your all each day – but plan for tomorrow.
Seneca puts it plainly:
Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.
Moral Letters 101
Practice memento mori and use the reality of mortality as motivation:
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.
On the Shortness of Life
We do not know how many years we and our loved ones will have. This fact must provide force for change now.
Who to be. What to do. How to start. When? Now.
Need ideas for Stoic exercises?
I ranked 10 Stoic exercises after 10 Years of practice—Here's what actually works.
I first started taking Stoicism seriously in 2015, when I read Epictetus for the first time and it blew me away. This was philosophy made useful and practical. Something with direct implications for how you live. Something that challenged what I believed, and pushed me to be better.
Previous New Year’s posts:
Don't expect change in an instant
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