Listen "Michel de Montaigne’s advice on self-discipline"
Episode Synopsis
There is very little benefit in telling people to do something without telling them how. I mean without telling them exactly how. Clear and precise instructions are the prerequisite of good implementation. Without those, success will depend on luck or serendipity. Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was aware that morality and happiness depend on self-discipline. Nonetheless, he had witnessed hundreds of times that people will declare their good intentions, and then fail to follow up. Self-discipline needs to be acquired and then maintained for a lifetime. It is a permanent job that doesn’t allow any holidays, sick leave, or poor performance. If we fail to follow through, bad consequences will ensue. In his essay “On Vanity,” Montaigne depicted those harmful consequences. Wasted time is the worst of them all because it’s irrecoverable. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) constitutes a compelling example of lack of self-discipline. He pushed ahead to conquer a large territory, but didn’t put sufficient effort in consolidating his gains. As a result, the empire fell apart immediately after Alexander’s death. Montaigne’s assessment of Alexander’s deficiency leads us to the first lesson. We should strive to make self-discipline all-encompassing. It does not help to be self-disciplined in one area (e.g. military strategy), if we behave chaotically in other areas (e.g. financial and administrative organisation). The principle has universal application. I think that we all have witnessed professionally successful individuals who lack self-discipline in other areas. As a result, they are jeopardising their health, their friendships, their family, etc. Montaigne then presents his second lesson: the need to stay consistent in our course of action. Self-discipline does not make sense without long-term goals. We need a target, a clear objective, a distinct destination that determines the direction of our daily actions. Self-discipline is neither self-referential nor self-contained. It requires alignment with our lifetime goals. In the absence of such an alignment, our self-discipline will meander and decay. Montaigne mentions Seneca (4 BC-AD 65) as an illustration of meandering self-discipline. Seneca often said one thing and did another. He went in one direction, but then changed course. He had elevated ideals, but failed to pursue them consistently. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/michel-de-montaignes-advice-on-about-self-discipline/
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