The Daily Stoic - Here’s How To “Not Be All About Business”

Episode Date: August 28, 2020

"Marcus Aurelius had workaholic tendencies. Even if he hadn’t had the most important job in the world, we get the sense that he would have treated his work that way. He was one of those all-in types. When he discovered philosophy, he slept on the floor and practiced poverty to his mother’s frustration. When he found an author he liked, he dove deeply into their work. And when he became emperor, he was available around the clock, he hardly ever took extended time off, and his idea of leisure was attending philosophy lectures.  'People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it,' he wrote, 'they even forget to wash or eat.'"Find out how Marcus countered these tendencies and how you can do the same in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stood Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wondery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target. The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic. For each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's

greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowach.com. Here's how not to be all about business. Marcus Aurelius had workaholic tendencies. Even if he hadn't had the most important job in the world, we get the sense that he would have treated his work that way. He was one of those all-in types. When he discovered philosophy, he slept on the floor and practiced poverty to his mother's frustration. When he found an author, he liked he dove deeply into their work. And when he became emperor, he was available around

the clock. He hardly ever took extended time off, and his idea of leisure was attending philosophy lectures. People who love what they do, wear themselves down doing it, he wrote, they even forget to wash and eat. Yet he also seemed somehow to know that this was unhealthy because in another spot in meditations, he says that in life you can't be all about business. He knew that we needed balance in our lives, outlets for our stress and our passions, whether they were sports or hunting or journaling or taking walks outdoors. Even meditation or reflection was a way to do that,

a way, as he said, to reach utter stillness. The comedian at Nate Bargazzi has talked about this. He said, there's nothing I can do that can shift my brain from stopping work except golf. He said, it's how much focus has to go into golf. It's the only time I feel like I'm not thinking about comedy or career. You just go out there.

You almost forget you have a phone. You forget everything. It's unreal. As discussed in Stillness' The Key, elite performance is best when balanced out with hobbies and leisure. Churchill found solace, painting, and laying bricks. For William Gladstone, Prime Minister of England, the generation before Churchill was chopping down trees.

For Seneca, it was writing philosophical letters to friends and family members. For Epictetus, perhaps we can infer it was lifting weights. For Marcus, really, as it was hunting and possibly wrestling. For John Cage, it was mushroom hunting. For David Sideris, it was walking back roads and picking up trash. For John Cage, it was mushroom hunting. For David Sideras, it was walking back roads and picking up trash for Herbert Hoover. It was fission. Reading boxing, swimming, puzzles, coding, journaling, golfing, whatever it is, you need to have something that takes your mind off work. You can't be all about business.

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