Watching my information diet. When I'm not feeling great physically — tired, irritable, sluggish — usually it's because I'm eating poorly. In the same way, when I feel mentally scattered and distracted — I know it's time to focus on cleaning up my information diet. "Read not the Times," Thoreau wrote. "Read the Eternities." Read old books. Read philosophy. Read history. Read biographies. Study the patterns of history. Read The Years of Lyndon Johnson to study power and ambition. Read the Stoics. Read Morgan Housel's great book of anecdotes and musings on the constants of human nature and history. Read Holocaust survivor Dr. Edith Eger's wonderful book about not only enduring unimaginable suffering but finding meaning in it.
Challenging myself. "We treat the body rigorously," Seneca said, "so that it will not be disobedient to the mind." We toughen ourselves up because life is tough. That's what Stoicism is — physical and mental challenges we subject ourselves to so that, no matter what life has in store for us, we'll be able to say as Epictetus said: "This is what I trained for." This is why I'm a big believer in having a physical practice. It's why I take cold showers even though I hate them. In any case, we must challenge ourselves, we must treat ourselves rigorously, so that whatever happens in 2026 and beyond, we can say, "this is what I trained for."
Making a positive contribution every day. For a long time, my writing habit was all-or-nothing. Over time, I've lowered the stakes: now the question is simply, "Did I make a positive contribution to my writing today?" Sometimes that means writing, sometimes editing, adding, deleting. Sometimes it's a big contribution, sometimes it's a little contribution. In Discipline Is Destiny, I write about the practice of Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. Always finding some way to make a little progress. Focusing on the joys of getting a little bit better every day.
Doing what only I can do. Something that's happened over the years is as it has grown, so has the number of copycats. And so we're constantly asking, what can only we do? What can only we write? What can only we create? With these AI tools making it easier and easier to copy and replicate and reproduce, it's more important than ever to find and focus on the things only you can do. There's a lot a lot of people can do, but there's some stuff — particularly where you live, with your family, with your skills etc — that only you can do. Do that.
Competing only with myself. Epictetus quipped that, "You can always win if you only enter competitions where winning is up to you." The bestseller list? That's up to the New York Times. Winning a Grammy? That's up for the Recording Academy. Even competitive goals like being the fastest person in a race or the richest person in the world — these depend on what your competitors do. What is in my control is showing up, giving maximum effort, following my process, sticking to my principles, pursuing what lights me up. Philosophy is what I find endlessly fascinating and getting attention is not my goal. So I'm tuning those things out and focusing on what I can do, what I know, what gets me excited, and what I value.
Discarding anxiety. Some people are anxious about flying. Others about their kids. The one thing all causes of anxiety have in common? US! The airport is not making you anxious. You are making yourself anxious in the airport! Marcus Aurelius talks about this in Meditations. "Today I escaped from anxiety," he says. "Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside." It's freeing. Because it means you can stop it! You can choose to discard it.
Raising my kids well. I'm reading, researching, and collecting the best ideas because I want to be a better parent. I want to be more patient. I want to set a good example. I want to give my kids the wisdom and resilience they'll need to navigate the world. Raising kids is the most important thing I'll ever do. So I study it the way I study philosophy, history, or business — because I want to do it well. If you want to have a multi-generational impact, if you want to make the future better — raise your kids right.
Using my platform to support what I think is important. I have a platform, and I want to use it well. That means amplifying ideas, voices, and causes that matter — not just whatever gets the most clicks or makes the most money. Epictetus talked about how every situation has two handles. I could pick up 2025 by the handle of everything that went wrong, everything I didn't like, everything that disappointed me. Or I can pick it up by the handle of what we accomplished, the money we raised, the people we helped, the good we did. I'm choosing to focus on the second handle.
Thinking long term. One of the things you get when you "read the eternities" as Thoreau said, is a longer term perspective. We need to zoom out. We need, like that famous Zen story, to "wait and see." And we need, as Jeff Bezos likes to say, to "focus on the things that don't change." A lot of people will spend 2026 fixated on trends, fads, and momentary crises. I'm focusing on what will still matter in five, ten, fifty years. Character. Discipline. Patience. Wisdom. Hard work. These are constants — no matter who's in office, no matter what's happening in the headlines. The world will always be chaotic. There will always be noise. The only way to stay grounded is to focus on what actually matters in the long run.
Treating people well. I don't control the cruelty in the world. I don't control how others act, how unfair or thoughtless or selfish they can be. But I do control how I run my team. How I show up for my family. How I treat strangers. The world will always have its share of rudeness, dishonesty, and indifference. That doesn't mean I have to contribute to it. Kindness, patience, fairness — these are always within my control.
Having fewer opinions. It's possible, Marcus Aurelius said, to not have an opinion. Do you need to have an opinion about the scandal of the moment — is it changing anything? "These things are not asking to be judged by you," Marcus writes. "Leave them alone." Especially because these opinions often make us miserable! "It's not things that upset us," Epictetus says, "it's our opinions about things." The fewer opinions you have, especially about other people and things outside your control, the happier you will be. We should save our judgments for what matters — right and wrong, justice and injustice, what is moral and what is not.
Contributing to my community. America's communities have been hollowed out. Digital replaced physical. So much of modern success is subtractive — extracting, optimizing, squeezing more for less. I'm trying to do the opposite. In 2021, my wife and I bought Tracy's Drive-In Grocery, a little place that's been in business in our small, rural town since 1940. We also opened The Painted Porch, a small-town bookstore down the street. Neither of these are the most rational business decisions — it's risky, expensive, and deeply local. But what's the point of success if you only spend it trying to be more successful? We like these things because they matter. Because they are real.
Not letting the toxic people turn me into a toxic person. This might be the hardest task in the world right now — to not let assholes turn you into an asshole. To not let cruelty harden you, to not let stupidity make you bitter, to not let outrage pull you down to its level. "The best revenge," Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations, "is to not be like that." I am disappointed by some of the things people I know are saying and doing; I am more focused on making sure I don't follow suit.