"Do not let the panorama of your life oppress you, do not dwell on all the various troubles which may have occurred in the past or may occur in the future. Just ask yourself in each instance of the present: what is there in this work which I cannot endure?"
In 1953 Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Mount Everest. They were the first to reach the top. The final push was brutal. They were in the Death Zone where oxygen was scarce. Every single step caused agony in their lungs and muscles.
If they looked up at the summit they felt despair. The distance was terrifying. The human mind can't process that much suffering all at once. They solved the problem by dropping their gaze. They stopped looking at the peak. They looked at the ice directly in front of their boots. They took one step. They paused to breathe. They took another step. They took an impossible mountain and broke it down into endurable pieces.
Marcus Aurelius gives us the exact same psychological tool. He calls the big picture the "panorama of your life." When you look at the panorama, you freeze. You think about all the bills you have to pay over the next ten years. You think about all the work required to finish a project. It's too heavy. It crushes you.
Marcus tells you to shrink your focus. You pull your attention out of the future and drop it right into the present second. You ask yourself a simple question. "What is there in this exact moment that I can't endure?"
The answer is always nothing. You can handle this specific second. You can take one step. You endure the moment. Then you repeat the process.
Errors & Corrections
- Don't look at the summit. Looking at a five-year plan can cause panic. The scale is too big. Look at today. Win the day.
- Don't carry tomorrow's rocks today. You only have enough strength for today's problems. If you drag tomorrow's anxiety into the present, you'll collapse under the weight.
- Don't quit the whole project. When you feel overwhelmed, you want to scrap everything. Stop. Just focus on the very next physical action. The momentum will return.
Applications to Modern Life
Work
You're on a team building a new app. Writing the entire spec sheet and coding the complex feature set feels impossible. Don't look at the launch date. Just write the code for the next function. Endure this one function. The app gets built one line at a time.
Athleticism & Sport
You want an athletic physique. You need to drop body fat and build muscle. Looking in the mirror makes you want to quit. Don't look at the mirror. Look at today's workout. Lift the weight in front of you. Eat the clean meal on your plate. You just have to win Tuesday.
Leadership
Your agency hits a rough quarter. The cash flow projection is terrifying. The big picture breeds panic. Focus your team on the immediate next action. Make the next sales call. Send the next invoice. Shrink their focus so they can actually execute.
Politics
Fixing the entire political system feels hopeless. The panorama is bleak. Don't try to fix the country today. Focus on your local community. Vote in the local election. Go to a city council meeting. Do the small thing right in front of you.
Interpersonal Relationships
You're going through a painful breakup or a rough patch in a marriage. You wonder how you'll survive the next year. Stop. You don't have to survive the year right now. You just have to be patient and kind for the next hour.
Social Media
You want to build a following to make an impact with your message. You look at the big picture of the follower count and the collaborations and the partnerships. It's overwhelming. Don't look at that. Just post one piece of content today. Endure the process of creating one post. The audience grows one follower at a time.
Maxims
- Look at your boots.
- Endure this exact second.
- The mountain is just a collection of steps.
In-depth Concepts
Hoti (The 'That')
The Stoics focus on the raw fact of the present moment. This is the hoti. It's the "that," the thing happening right now. They separate it from the story of the past and the anxiety of the future.
Phantasia (Impression)
The "panorama" is an impression. It's a trick of the mind. It clumps a million tiny moments into one giant and terrifying boulder. You use reason to break the boulder back down into pebbles.