Entry 01: Find yourself a Cato

Cato the Younger, was a Roman statesman known for his moral integrity and tenacity and was often quoted by a lot of philosophers. It was Seneca— a stoic philosopher and statesman, who said that we must let a great and noble person (just like Cato) into our minds and use them to guide our lives.

Three years ago, I came to know about the philosophy of Stoicism for the first time through a colleague of mine and I instantly got gravitated towards the Stoic ideology. I started reading books and watching YouTube videos about it and after a while, I stopped investing my time in stoicism and got caught up in the pace of my daily life. Earlier this year, I realised that stoicism was an easy way for me to become a better person, if not one day at a time. So I ordered a book from Amazon called The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. It was in this book I came across the above thought exercise.

We all can agree that it is human to have faults in our character. But I believe that it is also human to know those faults and consciously try to correct them. When I started the book, the first thing I learnt was “Find yourself a Cato”. The aim of this thought exercise is to place an imaginary person in our mind who is as good as we want to become. We should then be aware of that person watching over us whenever we are about to do something wrong. In my case I wanted my Cato to stop me from wasting my time and get the habit of procrastination off me. Initially it seemed to be an easy task for me, but after a couple of days my Cato began blurring out amidst the thoughts in my mind. After a few days of not having Cato, I realised I did not take any effort to be conscious of this exercise and that is when I decided to perfect it. Ever since my decision, my days have become more productive than usual but I have to say I’m still not as good as I want to be. Ultimately that is what I strive towards, to become a better person one day at a time.

And I hope you can also find your Cato.