On the Shortness of Life | #2
Why life seems short and what we can do to get the most out of the time we have.
April 9, 2021 - Puerto Escondido, Mexico
In the last edition of the newsletter, I discussed how I manage fear and the feeling of being an imposter.
This week I’ll discuss On the Shortness of Life1, published in 49 AD by the Stoic philosopher Seneca. In an (unsuccessful) attempt to shorten the newsletter, I only introduce the main ideas. I will save follow-up actions and reflections for the coming weeks.
1. Seneca’s Philosophy of Philosophy
Born in 4 BC, Seneca was an astute businessman during the height of the Roman empire. More importantly, he is one of the most famous philosophers ever.
The Stoic's ideas have aged quite well. Not something many can claim in the age of PC culture. In fact, I see many similarities between his teachings and those of modern personal development.
His most famous work, On the Shortness of Life, is an unapologetic call to action.
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. - Seneca
Admittedly, the first time I read On the Shortness of Life, I was a bit put off.
Seneca takes shots at people in business, politicians, socialites, and even musicians, claiming virtually everything we do is a waste of time. He then appears to claim that the only useful activity we can perform is to study philosophy.
I can hear the skeptics in the crowd.
“Oh really? So he thinks we should live as he does? How profound!” - My skeptical friend Patrick
Despite this understandable initial reaction, I believe Seneca’s point is a bit more subtle.
He is not stating that the only useful way to spend our time is to study philosophy. Rather, he claims everything we do will be a waste of time if the study of philosophy doesn’t support it.
That might be something I can get behind. However, in western culture, the study of philosophy is given a bad rap.
We place our value on tangible production, as opposed to mental, emotional, or spiritual fulfillment. Jobs don’t go to philosophy majors.
As a result, I think many of us have a vague understanding of what philosophy really is.
Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence. It is broken into 5 components2.
Metaphysics: The study of the nature of reality, what exists in the world, what it is like, and how it is ordered. Questions include, is there a God? And, what is truth?
Epistemology: The study of knowledge. It is primarily concerned with what we can know about the world and how we can know it. Questions include, do we know anything at all? And, how do we know what we know?
Ethics: The study of ethics concerns what we ought to do and what it would be best to do. Questions include, is morality objective or subjective? And, how should I treat others?
Logic: The study of the nature and structure of arguments to the first three components above.
History of Philosophy: Seeking to understand how people have thought about the questions above over time.
Thus, Seneca advocates that we consider the most fundamental questions and how they have been answered over time.
Yet, the majority of us don’t bother with philosophy. Why not?
Seneca has some thoughts on that as well.
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2. How We Waste Our Time
I felt like a 12-year-old boy being scolded by his mother when I listened to On the Shortness of Life.
To generalize and slightly reduce his tone's harshness, I grouped the errors identified into two main categories. Namely, undefined purpose and the mismanagement of emotions.
2.1 Undefined Purpose
Sorry. I know you’re sick of hearing this. Finding your purpose is the most talked-about piece of self-development work out there.
Well, guess what? The philosophers are sick of talking about it! Seneca wrote about its importance nearly 2000 years ago.
Yet Seneca doesn’t focus on how to find purpose. Instead, he explains how we typically live when that purpose is lacking. He identifies three key time wasters.
Inflating the ego
Chasing vices
Spending time in idle nothingness
Quite often, and especially for those of us stuck in a 9-5 grind, these go together.
According to the 2017 American Time Use Survey by the Department of Labor Statistics, the average millennial spends 8 hours a day working and 2 hours a day watching TV3.
Many of us work more.
I remember the routine. I’d work all day long chasing a promotion, telling myself I’d have time for other activities once I got it. Then I’d get the promotion, and with it would come more responsibility.
After the workday, I’d go to the gym and then unwind in front of the TV. Rinse and repeat.
Achievement has a price, and the price is time.
Did I really need to put off my hobbies to chase that promotion?
After a certain income level, the money we make is just keeping up with the Joneses. If the work is just that, work, then we are bound to turn to our vices or idle nothingness to escape.
Don’t get me wrong, money and status are great things to have. Yet they shouldn’t be our main pursuit, but rather a welcomed byproduct of our other activities.
Defining purpose is hard, and it requires a high level of introspection. It’s different for everyone, and we don’t all need to be brain surgeons.
I’ll spend more time on it in a future edition of the newsletter.
2.2 Mismanagement of Emotions
Seneca identifies three ways we mismanage our emotions. Each of these could be an entire edition of the newsletter, so I’ll give a brief outline here.
Anxiety ahead of uncertainty: There are many types of anxiety, affecting over 18% of Americans4. It prevents many of us from doing what we want to do.
Unfavorable reactions after unexpected outcomes: We must avoid getting swept up in the emotional whirlwind that results as unexpected things happen. That includes both the highs and the lows.
Playing it safe from fear: Seneca specifically identifies working for others and postponing life until retirement to be the two main ways this manifests itself. Yet those later years are far from guaranteed, and we will be less able to enjoy them as our bodies and minds age.
The graphic below summarizes the points above.
3. Get Your Time Back
Fortunately for us, Seneca provides more than just critiques of the way we live. He gives some advice as well.
Broadly speaking, his advice falls into the three steps below. It’s worth noting that these steps are useful for making just about any change.
Understand the current state
Determine the desired future state
Manage yourself so you can execute the change successfully
3.1 Understand Your Time
Understanding the current state is a two-part problem. We must understand how we are spending our time and why we are spending it that way.
It’s easy to overlook the why part, but it is absolutely critical. Buried within are our real desires and insecurities.
This deserves a bit more focus, and I’ll review the exercise I use to understand my behavior in the next edition of the newsletter.
3.2 Plan Your Time
In determining how we want to spend our time, we come to Seneca’s main point, that we should be studying philosophy.
Of all people only those are at leisure who make time for philosophy, only those are really alive. For they not only keep a good watch over their own lifetimes, but they annex every age to theirs. - Seneca
Seneca defines leisure as truly being in control of our own time by thinking about things that “pleasure our secret soul.”
Woah there Seneca! I’m not sure any of us want to know what pleasures your secret soul. Calm down over there buddy! - A slightly too excited reader
Let’s translate into today’s terminology. I view it as thinking about our personal values and sense of purpose and then living a life aligned with them.
The great philosophical works are instrumental in defining both those values and the associated purpose.
Everyone talks about the importance of mentors. In selecting ours, we aren’t confined to family, friends, and colleagues.
By studying the great philosophers' works, we select for ourselves the greatest minds in history as mentors.
3.3 Manage Yourself
Once we understand the current state and where we want to get to, we have to put it into action.
For most of us, that is a lot easier said than done. I know I struggle with it.
I had an existential crisis in 2020. For months I thought about how I wanted to spend my time.
The result was a career change, a plan to spend more time in nature, and an increased focus on my relationships. For a while, things were going well. I finished a TV script with Alvaro Bonnelly, I played basketball and water sports, and my friendships were flourishing.
Then boom. March arrived, and I went to Tulum.
I fell back into my old vices. The beers flowed like water, and we all glistened in the Caribbean sun. I barely wrote a word and physical activity halted. I certainly wasn’t living in alignment with my values. Damn you, vices!
But I digress. The point is that we must have the self-awareness to guard against the weaker sides of our human nature.
Seneca advises we can do this through an understanding of the ego and exercising emotional intelligence.
Both of those are huge topics, and I’ll leave my reflections for future editions of the newsletter.
So that’s the overall roadmap.
We understand how we are currently living, we decide how we really want to live, then we guard against our weaker impulses to stay on course.
4. From the Road
I’m currently living in Mexico, and the variety of life I’m encountering here is something I hope will be interesting for readers. As such, I’ll include a small reflection or story in each edition of the newsletter.
It’s been about a month since the first edition of the newsletter. I spent the month in Tulum, Mexico. Formerly a hippie beach town, it now has more of a bougie vibe. The beach area has tons of hotels, some incredible DJs, and lots of beautiful people.
Before Tulum, I was in a good place physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then I went there and got caught up in the nightlife. Everything else took a backseat. I had a lot of fun, but I lost balance.
Every place we go, and the people we interact with there, send us a message. They urge us to live a certain way and to value some things over others.
What message are your surroundings sending you? Is it the right one?
If not, then it’s time to make a change.
That’s it for this week.
Stay humble.
-Alex
P.S. I’m now in Puerto Escondido, and it’s sending me all the right messages.
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This is on diagnosed patients. I guess that the real number is far higher.