The Daily Stoic - How To Concentrate Like a Roman

Episode Date: November 21, 2019

There is so much on our plate. We have emails to respond to. Calls to make. There is that meeting in a couple hours. The folks we met with yesterday are waiting on an answer or a decision we promised we’d make. Twitter beckons. So do our hopes and dreams. And yet as many directions as we find ourselves pulled in, it’s safe to assume that Marcus Aurelius was under even more tension. Make no mistake: The ancient world was not some quiet, peaceful place. It too was filled with crises and distractions, gossip, and ambitious goal-setting. All the temptations we face today have their analogs in the past—plus things were scarier, deadlier, and more precarious. So we should listen to the command that Marcus gave himself after one of those trying days, when he was struggling to stay focused. “Concentrate every minute like a Roman— like a man—” he wrote, “on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice.”And he wasn’t just chiding himself to do some impossible thing. There was a method to this concentration, he said. What was it? Do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life. (That’s the power of Memento Mori). The key, Marcus said, was to not let your emotions override your mind and to give yourself a strong purpose (aimlessness is an enabler of distraction). You can do that. You have the power to concentrate like a Roman. You can know how to do this thing in front of you. You can treat it right. And most important, you should. Because it may well be the last thing you do in your life.See 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 Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 world philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. How to concentrate like a Roman. There is so much on our plate.

We have emails to respond to, calls to make. There is a meeting in a couple hours. The folks we met with yesterday are waiting on an answer or a decision we promised we'd make, Twitter beckons, so do our hopes and dreams. And yet, as so many directions as we find ourselves pulled in, it's safe to assume that markets are really as was under even more tension. Make no mistake, the ancient world was not some quiet, peaceful place. It too was filled with crises and distractions, gossip and ambitious goal-setting. All the temptations we face today had their analogs in the past,

plus things were scary, deadlier, and more precarious. So we should listen to the command that Marcus gave himself after one of those trying days when he was struggling to stay focused. He said, concentrate every minute like a Roman, like a man, on doing what's in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And he wasn't just trying himself to do some

impossible thing. There was a method to this concentration, he said, what was that? It was do everything as if it was the last thing you were doing in your life. That's the power of momentum, or the key Mark has said was to not let your emotions override your mind and to give yourself a strong purpose for aimlessness is an enabler of distraction. You can do that. You have the power to concentrate like a Roman. You know how to do this thing in front of you. You can treat it right and most important you should because

it may well be the last thing you ever do in your life. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app and if you don't get the Daily Stoke email, go to dailystoke.com slash email. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Hey there listeners, while we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the

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Many thought Sam Bankman Freed was changing the game as he graced the pages of Forbes in Vanity Fair. Some involved in crypto saw him as a breath of fresh air, from the usual Wall Street buffs with his casual dress and ability to play League of Legends during boardroom meetings. But in less than a year, his exchange would collapse. An SPF would find himself in a jail cell, with tens of thousands of investors blaming him for their crypto losses. From Bloomberg and Wondering comes Spellcaster, a new six-part docu-series about the meteoric

rise and spectacular fall of FTX, and its founder, Sam Beckman-Freed. Follow Spellcaster wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, prime members, you can listen to episodes Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Download the Amazon Music app today.