You’re Going To Wish You Did This
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Why is writing down important ideas a timeless habit for wisdom?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. When he was young, the future general James Mattis hitchhiked to San Francisco to meet Eric Hoffer, the philosopher most famous for his book, The True Believer. And there, talking with Hoffer, James Mattis was told, make sure you write down everything interesting that you find. And I have ever since, he said. It's wonderful advice. We're lucky, for instance, that 2,000 years ago, a student named Arian decided to jot down the lectures of his teacher Epictetus.
How did James Mattis use note‑taking to shape his leadership and speeches?
We're lucky that Marcus Aurelius wrote down his own thoughts because that's how meditation survives to us. We're lucky that Seneca chose to write those letters to Lucilius. Because without them, not only would we be without his wisdom, but we'd be without many of the quotes from the early Stoics that were preserved only because Seneca wrote them down. General Mattis has followed Hoffer's advice his whole life. To bring his speechwriters up to speed, Mattis gave them access to a closet in his office. As one of his former speechwriters described, there Mattis kept many years' worth of meticulous notes in black notebooks from his time in uniform.
What can we learn from the ancient Stoics about preserving teachings?
Each page included a small printout of his daily schedule along with handwritten notes. and lined up on the shelf above them were three special journals in old, worn three-ring binders. These he referred to as his books of wisdom. This treasure trove held decades of personal thoughts, plus correspondence from his mother and friends and colleagues. Seneca described this exact process when he said that we should hunt out the helpful pieces of teachings and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application and learn them so well that the words become works. So if you want to become wiser, if you want to become better,
you
should do this
too.
Why does Seneca say we should turn words into works, and how can we apply it?
when you hear good advice, when you read good advice, write it down, record it, capture it. By the way, this is a habit that I have been practicing for over two decades now. My books are a result of it. My changes as a person are a result of it. And it's one of the core teachings that we are talking about in the Daily Stoic Read to Lead Challenge, which you can join us in right now. We're going to be doing a Q&A on September 22nd that I'd love to have you in.
How does the Daily Stoic “Read to Lead” challenge help you build a note‑taking system?
You can sign up right now at dailystoic.com slash read to lead. And remember, if you join daily stoic life, you get this challenge and all our challenges for free. That's dailystoiclife.com.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why is writing down important ideas a timeless habit for wisdom?
0:00–0:45
2
How did James Mattis use note‑taking to shape his leadership and speeches?
0:45–1:21
3
What can we learn from the ancient Stoics about preserving teachings?
1:21–2:04
4
Why does Seneca say we should turn words into works, and how can we apply it?
2:04–2:31
5
How does the Daily Stoic “Read to Lead” challenge help you build a note‑taking system?
2:31–2:42
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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