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Seneca's definition of greatness: not wasting time
Executive overview
Most people measure greatness by money, fame, or status. Seneca's measure is simpler: not allowing your time to be frittered away.
Being in control of your time — knowing what you want, when, and with whom — is what the Stoics called greatness. Everything else is distraction.
The sign of a great person is not how much they achieve, but how little time they waste.
Seneca on time and greatness
- Common measures of success — wealth, fame, rankings — miss the Stoic point
- Seneca: "It is the sign of a great man not to allow his time to be frittered away"
- Greatness means being in control of your life, not in the sway of ambition or distraction
- The goal: know what you want to do, when, and with whom
- Make good use of every minute; never wish a minute away
Ryan Holiday on books for leaders
- 48 Laws of Power and Mastery by Robert Greene
- Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- How to Think Like a Roman Emperor by Donald Robertson
- Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Antifragile by Nassim Taleb
- Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl — short book, lifetime of material
On mentors and sounding boards
- Mastermind groups: annual multi-day house retreats with fellow writers to share and learn
- Robert Greene remains an ongoing mentor
- Editor, agent, and collaborators are key working relationships
- A spouse or long-term partner who knew you early is an underrated sounding board
On contentment and filtering opportunities
- Young people chase accomplishment; older people find happiness in contentment — try to make that shift early
- Daily practice: remind yourself "this is enough" before pursuing more
- A visible "NO!" sign by the computer as a default filter for new opportunities
- The pandemic proved most assumed necessities weren't — focus and constraints can be more productive
- Find where your interests and the market's interests overlap; that's the book to write
- Every idea has two handles (Epictetus); find the one that holds weight commercially and creatively
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