It's humbling to think that Marcus Aurelius,the head of the most powerful empire on,earth had the same amount of hours in,the day as you just 24 so how did he get,it all done how did he have time to be a,king a philosopher a writer a husband to,pass laws and judge cases to lead troops,into battle and guide Rome through a,terrible plague and do this while,remaining good without being corrupted,by the temptations or the stresses of,his position well routine had something,to do with it
Marcus Aurelius was a man,of habit,all the Stoics were they understood as,Aristotle did that we are what we,repeatedly do that excellence is a habit,for Marcus Aurelius the day started,early at dawn when you awake he wrote,know that you are getting up to do the,work of a human being there was no time,for him to stay under the covers and,stay warm it was in the early morning we,think that Marcus did his journaling he,would spend a few minutes with the blank,page writing down his thoughts clearing,his mind,reminding himself of what was important,next he prepared himself for the day to,come the people you will meet today he,said will be ungrateful and mean and,short-sighted and frustrating but
Marcus,knew that he could not let these people,implicate him in their ugliness he had,to stick to what he knew was right it,was likely that Marcus Aurelius tackled,his most important tasks first he didn't,believe in procrastination and he wanted,to start things when he was still fresh,concentrate on what's in front of you.
Like a Roman he said do it like it's the,last and most important thing in your,life from his stepfather Antoninus,Marcus had learned how to work long,hours how to stay in the saddle he,writes in meditations that he even,admired how Antoninus scheduled his,bathroom breaks so that he could work,for long uninterrupted periods Marcus,didn't shirk hard work he did his duty,and he didn't whine about it never be,overheard,he wrote not even to yourself but what,about stress Marcus aurelius processed,his stress by getting active he,regularly carved out time to hunt or,ride on horseback there are too many,wrestling and boxing metaphors and,meditations for him not to have trained,and regularly practiced these sports.
As a Roman he also would have regularly,frequented the baths some of these baths,in Budapest for instance still exist you,can sit in the same hot and cold thermal,pools that Marcus would have used to,wash away the dust of earthly life as he,put it you can see why this would have,been such an important part of his daily,routine getting clean having some quiet,stepping away from his work for a minute,invigorating the body with hot and cold,and maybe even a massage nearly a dozen,times in meditations Marcus Aurelius,talks about seeking and achieving,stillness those moments of quiet would,have been essential to without quiet we,can't think we can't clear our minds we,can't get the big picture we can't be,philosophical but what about food we get,the sense that Marcus was someone who,ate to live rather than someone who,lived to eat he ate healthily and,quickly he didn't endorse him self,enriched foods and he didn't care about,fancy wine or gourmet cooks food was,fuel he got it and moved on.
When did Marcus do his reading we don't,know but clearly books were a huge part,of his life as they would have been for,any smart person Marcus knew that he had,to read in order to lead and he was,always studying to get better,he preferred books to breaking news and,gossip looking always for the historical,perspective and then when the day came,to a close it was time to be around,family Marcus clearly loved his children,and his wife even though he was,important and famous and busy he didn't,ignore them we know that he liked to,tuck his children into bed at night and,indeed the final and most philosophical,part of his routine came as he put them,to sleep,kissing his children he would say,quietly to himself,rush this this might be the last time,you do this it's not a guarantee that,either of you will make it through the,night,so Marcus Aurelius drank this small,moment in he was present he loved them,he cherished this person in front of him,which really was the most important,thing in his life and then he said good,night,soon after Marcus went to bed himself,and started the whole process over again,for as long as he was fortunate enough,to live and so we must do the same we,are what we repeatedly do so that's live,well and practice good habits like,Marcus today and every day. Check Resources
Epictetus famously said you've got to,decide who you want to be and do that,work well habits are part of that what,are the systems what are the principles,what are the things that you do every,day as part of your routine that's how,you become the person that you want to,be that's how you write a best-selling,book that's how you build a business,that's how you build a brand that's how,you master any skill or subject or,industry and so the stones have a lot to,teach us about habits habit formation,about abandoning bad habits and that's,what we're gonna focus on in this,challenge the daily stoic habits for,happiness habits for success challenge,it's awesome it's our longest most,aggressive most challenging challenge,yet but I think you're up for it I,encourage you to check it out I invite,you to join us daily still calm /,happens hey thanks for watching daily,stoke if you want to learn more about,stoicism you can check out some of our,other videos here subscribe we'd really,appreciate it keep learning and keep,studying and remember those four stoic,virtues courage justice temperance and,wisdom