Debts and lessons
What happens if you copy the habits of a Roman emperor?
If I could pick one movie to call my favourite — just one I had to single out, above all others — I’d probably pick Gladiator.
The incredible hero’s journey, the jaw-dropping fight scenes, the wide shots of a roaring colosseum. It’s all just wonderful.
(Sidenote: I am writing this before I’ve had a chance to see Gladiator II, so at this point, my opinion of the original remains untarnished. TBD if that remains the case in a couple of weeks.)
Gladiator was also the first time I ever came across the character of emperor Marcus Aurelius (played by Richard Harris), as a frail, ageing man who swiftly gets murded by his psychopathic son, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Since the movie was released more than 20 years ago, Marcus Aurelius has seemingly become one of the most popular figures of ancient history, thanks to the burst of popularity of stoicism. Marcus’s book Meditations is a key stoic text, and one of very few that survives to this day.
Meditations is a remarkable book in a number of ways. It’s a book that was never written for publication — it’s just a journal, a notebook, that shows the inner thoughts of the most powerful man in the world. Marcus ruled from 161 AD until his death in 180 AD, and it seems like Meditations was mostly written towards the end of that period. So the book is 2,000 years old, and yet the issues that Marcus is wrestling with seem remarkably modern: he’s constantly reminding himself to be more patient, to be less distracted, not to jump to judgment of others’ actions, to be calm in the face of adversity, and more. (Highly recommend it — get the Gregory Hays translation.)
The first section of the book is titled Debts and lessons, in which Marcus lists the things he’s learned from family, friends and mentors over the years. “From Maximus: Self-control and resistance to distractions. Optimism in adversity. Doing your job without whining.” That sort of thing.
It’s fascinating, to realise all the people who influence your character, your thought patterns, your actions. All the tiny pieces of others that you’ve adopted and integrated into your own personality.
I decided to do this exercise myself, to document the lessons I’ve learned from other people I consider mentors and influences. Some of these people I’ve met; others, I’ve just read their books. Some are public figures, others are known only to a handful. I’ve only put their first name below, so I’ll leave it up to you to see which ones you think you can identify.
Debts and lessons
Joshua: the idea of “testable fluency in the basics.” Writing as a tool not just to showcase your work, but to document your life (and balancing that with family privacy). The ‘British’ method of measuring wealth via cashflow, rather than asset value.
Tucker: how to write clearly. The importance of the first line. Turning me on to some remarkable examples of great writing. The value of a personal library of physical books. Operating with urgency and a bias towards action.
Ryan: adopting reading as a way of life, particularly the classics. The person that introduced me to Meditations in the first place, among many, many other incredible books. The canvas strategy. The power of index cards, both as a to-do list method and as a commonplace book strategy. The importance of journaling. Deciding to deliberately seek and cultivate stillness in one’s life.
Robert: the importance of seeing things how they really are, not as you simply want them to be. Reading far and wide, learning the timeless lessons of history. Being deliberate and thoughtful in your actions. Never outshining the master. Guarding your reputation with your life. How to persuade someone (by appealing to self-interest, never to duty or obligation).
Nassim: the barbell strategy. Above all else, avoiding wipeout risk. Ensuring you have aligned incentives and skin in the game. Attempting not to be fooled by randomness.
Cal: how to study properly, through active recall on index cards (index cards again! An invaluable tool), and the fact that intensity trumps quantity. In fact, this showed me that doing the right things in short bursts can be WAY more effective than grinding it out for hours. The call to not simply ‘follow your passion,’ but to treat one’s career like a craft, developing career capital and becoming so good they can’t ignore you. Do deep work. Spend time in the real world, with real people.
Tim: as with Cal’s study strategies, the aim is to be effective, not efficient.
Naval: impatience with action patience with results. Don’t just read new things all the time, the aim is to find the best 100 books and read them over and over again (the twist being that the best 100 books are different for everyone, so you need to find them). Always be reading something. Avoid anger — it’s a hot stone you hold in your hand while you wait to throw it at someone. The importance of owning equity. Learning to build and learning to sell.
Charlie: be an autodidact. Read from all disciplines and steal the best ideas in each. The best business books aren’t business books, they’re biographies and history books. Don’t seek to be brilliant, but rather to avoid being stupid. The importance of keeping your word and living up to what you’ve promised to other people.
Jimmy: the knowledge that you can reinvent yourself. If you don’t like your path, just pick another one.
Marcus: to make time for yourself. To stop being pulled in every direction by the whims and priorities of others.
Lucius: the shortness of life. How to avoid being caught up with the madness of crowds. Facing up to — and indeed practising — what you’re afraid of, to show yourself that it’s not that bad.
Damian: showed me that being good at one or two tools (in his case, Microsoft Excel and a couple of other things) is enough to build a successful career, as long as you always keep learning.
Dean: a real-world example of testable fluency in the basics, quizzing me and drilling me on the fundamentals until I knew them by heart.
Mike: how to manage up, and across. The importance of quality, in particular on first impressions. For taking a chance on me when you did. How to hold others to account: get buy-in on the plan, get crystal clear agreements up front, then relentlessly measure performance and follow up.
Andy: getting the details right. Pride in your work. Showing me that part of a leader’s job is to shield your team from distractions, nonsense or internal politics.
Steven: the mentality of turning pro. Giving me the language to talk about The Resistance, and how to face it.
James: how to build your idea muscle, and adopting a daily practice to do so. How to blend ideas together (‘idea sex’) to come up with new and novel approaches.
Austin: how to steal like an artist.
Julie: strategic job-hopping, adopt the mentality of getting everything you can out of a role, and then idenitfying the right time to move on.
Angela: how to have fun! How to be open, friendly, with deep empathy and genuine friendship for those around you, and how to open your home to those on your team.
Emma: balance, how to be demanding and hold incredibly high standards, while also being liked (or at least respected). Being generous with your time for those early in their career, and showing them how to actively manage their career.
Matt: the importance of focusing on the main thing. The power of relentless, daily progress towards that one goal, come what may.
That’s not a fully exhaustive list — there are plenty of other things I’ve learned from other family, friends, etc — but as two of these mentors would remind me: you don’t have to share absolutely everything, and in fact, you should always say less than necessary…