Welcome to Wednesday Wisdom, our 3x3 Newsletter where I distill worldly advice for better living with 3 quotes, 3 observations, and 3 questions.
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Resist
🤨 Quote
“Anyone who has not groomed his life in general towards some definite end cannot possibly arrange his individual actions properly.”
Michel de Montaigne
Source: Essays
Observation 🧐
Discipline is not a superpower, it’s a a habit. Once the habit is formed, it becomes easier to continue. When we know what we want out of life, or conversely, what we don’t want, it becomes easier to put in place the proper habits—the trajectory—to accomplish those goals.
We think we want more. We think we want bigger and “better.” But more often than not, this is excess that bankrupts us—bankrupts us financially, morally, physically. When excess is allowed to flourish, it becomes the norm. Our baselines move, our actions keep moving the baselines.
Our habits of discipline are there to fight these desires, to help us resist when it is tempting not to.
Resistance is not a virtue because it is cool or sexy, it is a virtue because it keeps us in check, it keeps us disciplined in a world that is constantly tearing at us, telling us we should be undisciplined.
Discipline keeps us moving, it saves us from today and pushes us into tomorrow. It is better to play the long game. Don’t get caught up in what others are doing or the games they’re playing.
The disciplined spirit is the one that pursues through good days and bad, knowing they can fall back on their habits and be reassured they can handle themselves.
🤔 Question
What is one tactic you wish your younger self knew about discipline? If you had to teach your younger self this lesson, what would the first step be?
Attack
🤨 Quote
“He who postpones the hour of living right is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.”
Horace
Source: Discipline is Destiny
Observation 🧐
A big part of life is preparing for the big moments. We prepare for our big break, or prepare for the person we’re going to marry, or prepare for the house we’re going to buy or the family we’re going to start.
But eventually the preparing has to end and we need to act. We need to take action.
One of the easiest traps to fall into is the trap of “one day”. One day I will run a marathon, one day I will ask the girl out, one day I will lose weight.
Postponement is procrastination. The myth of one day is detrimental to living a good life because it prevents one from truly living the good life.
The good life, as the ancients preached it, was not a destination, it was about striving each and every day to be a better version of ourselves. A better version for us, for our families, for our friends and community.
One day is the day that never comes. Instead, day one is the day you begin your journey. Day one is the day you take back control. Day one is the day you begin living the good life.
As Michel de Montaigne once wrote, “Every one can play his part in the farce, and act an honest role on the stage. But to be disciplined within, in one's own breast, where all is permissible and all is concealed. That is the point.”
Stop saying one day. Take action and make that one day today.
Day one.
🤔 Question
What is a large goal you have for yourself? What steps are you taking today, right now, to achieve that? These steps are incremental to tackling every goal. As the old phrase goes there is only one way to eat an elephant and that is one bite at a time.
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We explore the wisdom of Naval Ravikant on accountability for our final Wednesday Wisdom this week.