The Daily Stoic for June 13th. Life is a battlefield.
“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another in reconnaissance, another on the front line… So it is for us—each person’s life is a kind of battle, and a long varied one too. You must keep watch like a solider and do everything commanded…. You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.31-36
In our daily lives, we compete.
If you are an athlete, you compete with other athletes in your same field.
If you are a stock trader, you compete with other traders to get the better price.
If you are an app developer, you are competing with other app developers.
If you are a manager, you are competing against the project constraints.
But what’s more important is to understand is that you are actually competing against yourself.
Day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute, the competition does not stop.
Everytime you make a decision, you are competing with yourself.
So stay disciplined and focus on what you want to achieve.