And what yet lies ahead
Following on from the piece I published earlier this week, “This isn’t meant to be easy” which I recommend you read as a precursor to this post, I thought I might share something a bit more personal.
I received my Strava end of year summary today and it has aided me immensely in maintaining the perspective I advocated for in the below article. No I did not run my second marathon, no I did not maintain the degree of consistency in the gym I would have liked and no I did not achieve many of my other fitness goals. However all in all as you will see from the statistics it was a successful year. I go in to 2025 a fitter stronger individual not just physically but also mentally.
I worked on my running base to allow myself to jump into the challenges I have planned in the new year at full fitness. The same way you should right now be laying the groundwork of your Stoic practice. Day by day, week by week and you get the drill!
There will always be an excuse for you not to start journaling, to give in to frustration rather than putting the locus of control into action or practicing discomfort amongst a myriad other such practices. The work you put in now will pay dividends exponentially should you continue to build upon this base Stoic fitness of sorts.
However there will be times when we do not reach the lofty heights we expect of ourselves. When the goals and ambitions which we devoted ourselves to simply do not materialise. This does not make us failures and we should always appreciate how far we have come, as this Stoic journey of ours will by its very nature be one of ups and downs.
It is important to always maintain perspective. Particularly at this time of year when we conduct an audit of our trajectory as Stoics across 2024. Like me you may not have reached the point you had initially envisaged as the tune of Auld Lang Syne slowly receded way back on January first. However, that does not mean we should turn to mental self flagellation.
Rather we should celebrate our progress no matter how miniscule it may have been, when compared to our vision of ourselves at this stage. The small victories, the hard days where we barely crossed the line and the days in which we failed utterly but had the degree of introspection to learn from this and progress as a result. All of which deserve to be celebrated as we come to year’s end. Here we are still standing and thankfully still Stoics.
This is not to say we should rest on our laurels. Whilst we did make progress it was not enough to match the goals we had set before. Therefore we should take the time in the dying days of 2024 to reanalyse our approach and the goals we set for ourselves.
This analysis will allow us to adjust course and apply our principles more effectively. Likewise by setting more manageable goals (i.e. not expecting to become Epictetus reincarnate overnight), we can prevent the degree of disappointment we experienced in the past. Stoicism is built on small victories played against life at large, even the smallest moments matter as we continue to improve and become the best versions of ourselves in the process.
It is only if we stop progressing no matter how minutely do we fail. All we truly need to do is to hold to our virtues, learn from each costly mistake or hard won victory. All whilst ensuring that no matter how many missteps come along the way, our progress still tends towards an upward trajectory. Or to put it more succinctly than I ever could:
“Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored.” – Marcus Aurelius
So if you have already begun your Stoic journey stick with it and carry what you have learned into 2025. If not then start right now with what you have to hand and subscribe here to pick up some insights from the mistakes I have made along the way. Irrespective take a moment to be thankful for a 2025 of Ups and Downs and here’s to an even better 2025.
Who knows I might actually hit 100 subscribers by 31 December. If not though so be it, I will reassess and realign so that I reach this goal in the new year. The journey only ends when we let it!
