Member-only story
Stop Trying to Figure Out Your Entire Future
You’re not failing at life. You’re just overthinking it.
Most people suffer more in imagination because they assume the very worst of the future. They project everything into a timeline they can’t control. They pile on stress with too many “what ifs.”
And put all their stress into one giant mental load.
I use Stoic philosophy and psychological wisdom to get back to what is: present reality. Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius said something that exposes the hidden danger of spending too much time in your heads about your entire life.
He notes, “Do not disturb yourself by imagining your whole life at once. Don’t always be thinking about what sufferings, and how many, might possibly befall you. Ask instead, in each present circumstance: “What is there about this that is unendurable and unbearable?” You will be embarrassed to answer.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.36
Aurelius’ wisdom pulls me back to now. He is literally saying don’t carry every possible problem at once. Just face what’s in front of you. You will drown in the weight of every timeline (past, present and future), if you’re imagining them all at once.
The task ahead of you is the only thing you have to work on. If you try to lift the whole…
