“How can our principles become dead, unless the impressions which correspond to them are extinguished? But it is in thy power continuously to fan these thoughts into a flame.”
Marcus Aurelius
Each week I wrote my principles onto a fresh page by hand. Most days I just reread the last one. Each was a lesson I learned the hard way. Copying it out kept it fresh. A forgotten lesson is one you pay for twice.
Then long workdays crowded out the rewrite and I let it slide for almost a month.
The lessons faded. The small impulses they kept in check started winning.
I sat back down with a fresh page and copied my principles over. The ones that no longer fit never made it.
The next morning I felt more centered, back in control of the impulses that won all month.
I added a line to my weekly review: did I carry my principles forward?
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What have you filed as optional that’s actually keeping you oriented?
