You Have Less Time Than You Think
We spend so much of our lives preparing for tomorrow that we sometimes forget to appreciate the life we’re living today. There are things in life we keep telling ourselves we’ll get around to. A trip we’ve wanted to take, a relationship that needs attention, a conversation we’ve been avoiding, or simply spending more time […]
What Will Remain After Your Leadership Ends?
The true measure of leadership isn’t just what we accomplish, but the people, standards, and culture we leave behind. One day, someone else will sit in the position you hold today. They’ll make decisions that used to be yours, lead people you once worked alongside, and eventually establish their own way of doing things. Some […]
Stoicism Felt Different Standing in Rome
What changed when ideas I had studied for years suddenly had a place, a history, and a human scale. Stoicism Felt Different Standing in Rome I had read Marcus Aurelius for years before I stood in Rome looking at his equestrian statue. I knew the history, had seen photographs of the statue, and had spent […]
Memento Mori For Leaders
Leading today, like time is limited Most leaders act like they have unlimited time. Unlimited quarters. Unlimited chances to repair trust after a sloppy decision. I don’t think that’s true, and not just in the obvious sense. Your credibility has a lifespan. Your team’s patience has a lifespan. Your culture has a lifespan. Memento mori […]
What Death Can Teach Us About Life
Have you ever wondered why we don’t talk about death as much as the Stoics did? It’s funny, isn’t it? In a world where life is often viewed as more fragile than we care to admit, we don’t think about dying every day. In fact, we try to avoid the conversation altogether. The funny thing is, in the times of the Stoics, life was way more uncertain. People died from simple illnesses, infections, or even a small cut. Children died at birth, and you could be taken out by something as unpredictable as it seemed from something as little as a random sneeze.
Yet, it was the Stoics, who felt the need to remind themselves about death — every day.