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What’s On Your Tombstone?
Great accomplishments and Titles or Service to Family and Community?
“When you see someone often flashing their rank or position, or someone whose name is often bandied about in public, don’t be envious; such things are bought at the expense of life. . . . Some die on the first rungs of the ladder of success, others before they can reach the top, and the few that make it to the top of their ambition through a thousand indignities realize at the end it’s only for an inscription on their gravestone.” — Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 20
When a person chooses a career path that consumes 50 or 60 or more hours of our week, it doesn’t leave much for family, friends, or community. That is just a fact. Time is a finite resource.
And that is ok for the person who holds a career as their highest value.
But for a person who holds serving their family or their community as their highest value, it won’t work. The price of a career that requires long hours will be too high.
Join me in reading and discussing The Daily Stoic*: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.
*Affiliate Link: When you make a purchase after clicking this link, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you.
