February 13, 2018: Freedom

Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1.128b-129a: "Anyone who can be restricted, coerced, or pushed into something against what they will is a slave."

Living without restriction is a component of stoic philosophy. This statement may seem hard to incorporate into your own life, but think about all aspects of your life. The example I can instantly think of is emails. As a leader, in almost any type of corporation, job, etc, you can get entrenched in emails. Sometimes it can be so overwhelming by the time you are finished answering questions given to you, you have lost your energy to do what YOUR goals for the day/morning were. I suggest you do not start with emails, or if you do, do not answer all the emails/questions all at first.

My routine is to put all emails that are important in a "things to do" folder, which I get to throughout the day. Of course there are items that may need more immediate attention, or some things that I answer on the go with my cell phone, but most of them can be deferred to a later time. This has freed up my time to complete some of my goals I have set for the day. I have definitely been more productive with this move. Many efficient or high functioning individuals have adopted this sort of routine to complete important tasks and increased their successes.

Can you think of other things in the day that are "other people's goals" and not your goals that you end up completing first?

I think you will be more happy, productive, and stoic if you are free to do what you have planned for the day, and each day should build on itself , and by the time you know it you will have made it into your routine to be more free!