Going Hard Equals Fruitful Career or Why Marcus Aurelius would've made a great coder

Doing hard things is what drives the human brain. Challenge. This is also what keeps us in the so called flow state. The state in which you’re being your best self. In which you produce as much as possibly can, both in terms of quality and in terms of quantity. You get better at doing the hard things through experience but also through voluntary discomfort, and this is where the stoics come in. Back in the days of Ancient Rome, stoics would put themselves voluntarily through discomfort, both physical and mental in order to strengthen their minds and bodies. This was because they believed that in order to have a good and meaningful life, you would need to overcome your insatiability and dive into deep, hard work. In todays standards this discomfort would equivalate to climbing the stairs instead of taking the elevator, walking to the office instead of taking the car or even disabling coding assistants in your IDE. ...

May 9, 2024 · 5 min