Seneca on daily growth

Every night, before we go to sleep, we must ask ourselves: what weakness have I overcome today? What virtue have I acquired?

- Lucius Annaeus Seneca

There is a multitude of quotes and sayings that all have more or less the same quintessence: one should not compare oneself with others, or rather the only person one should compare oneself with is one's past self.

Seneca wants to tell us with his quotation that the day has been used optimally when one has grown a little bit beyond oneself on this day. When you have faced your fears, when you have changed your character a little in a desirable direction and as far as he.

Of course, you cannot overcome a new weakness or acquire a new virtue every day. However, you can work on yourself every day.

For example, if I already do sports regularly, then if I also do sports today, I have not learned the virtue of discipline. However, I have maintained or improved my discipline by sticking with sports one day longer than I ever have before.

The same goes for weaknesses. For example, if I am a late riser and I want to work on getting up earlier, then it makes sense up to a certain point. But if I set my alarm clock 5 minutes earlier every day, then after 24 days at the latest it no longer makes sense, because you get up at 3 o'clock in the morning simply to overcome your weakness.

The beauty of this quote is that it brings with it a practical instruction manual. Every night before you go to sleep, ask yourself what weakness you have overcome today, what virtue you have acquired - or at least which one you have continued to work on or hold on to.

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