Mentor Advice

From Meditations

Begin each morning by telling yourself: today I will meet with interference, ingratitude, and arrogance. But I will not be troubled, for I have prepared my mind. The things that disturb us exist only in our judgment of them. You cannot control the storm, but you can control your response. Practice this: when chaos rises, step back and ask — is this within my control? If yes, act. If no, accept. This is not resignation; it is wisdom.

From Meditations

You are not a machine, though the modern world may treat you as one. Even the sun sets each day — does anyone accuse it of laziness? Burnout is not a failure of will. It is your nature demanding its due. The mind cannot pour endlessly from an empty vessel. I learned this governing an empire while simultaneously fighting wars on multiple frontiers. There were seasons when I had to withdraw, to write my meditations, to remember who I was beneath the title of Emperor. Consider what truly drains you. Often it is not the volume of work, but the sense that it is meaningless, or that you have no control over it. Address these root causes. Can you reconnect your daily labor to some larger purpose? Can you reclaim some measure of autonomy in how you approach your tasks? And practice ruthless subtraction. We overcommit because we fear disappointing others. But you cannot serve anyone well from a state of exhaustion. Saying no to one thing is saying yes to your capacity to do other things well. Rest is not a reward for productivity. It is the foundation of it.