“It’s not at all that we have too short a time to live, but that we squander a great deal of it. Life is long enough, and it’s given in sufficient measure to do many great things if we spend it well. But when it’s poured down the drain of luxury and neglect, when it’s employed to no good end, we’re finally driven to see that it has passed before we even recognized it passing. And so it is—we don’t receive a short life, we make it so.”
Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, The Daily Stoic (Page 382)
Don’t Waste Time Quotes
Jordan Peterson Quote on Life Priorities and How “Triviality” Can Be Deceptive
“[The] appearance of triviality is deceptive: it is the things that occur every single day that truly make up our lives, and time spent the same way over and again adds up at an alarming rate.”
Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 117)
Beyond the Quote (207/365)
It’s the healthy-or-not lifestyle that shapes the person, not the random workouts. It’s the career that defines the person, not the few-and-far-between vacations. It’s the everyday interactions with your friends and family that makes up the quality of the relationships, not the random and spontaneous adventures that you might take. Sure, the exotic and extraordinary moments of life might leave an impact, but it’s the mundane and ordinary moments that occur every single day that make up the life.
Read More »Jordan Peterson Quote on Life Priorities and How “Triviality” Can Be DeceptiveIsaac Pitman Quote on Arranging Your Mind By Arranging Your Time
“Well arranged time is the surest mark of a well arranged mind.”
Sir Isaac Pitman
Beyond the Quote (137/365)
Have you ever laid into bed at the end of a day and wondered… what just happened? Like the whole day felt like a big blur? And even after a few minutes of reflection, you still can’t quite get it all straight? This is a common effect of living a reactive and unplanned lifestyle. If you go into the day with a blurry vision of what you need to do, then, it follows that you’ll come out on the other side with a blurry memory of what you did.
Read More »Isaac Pitman Quote on Arranging Your Mind By Arranging Your Time“We can’t be afraid of silence, as it has much to teach us. Seek it. The ticking of the hands of your watch is telling you how time is passing away, never to return. Listen to it.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 62)
“You have a nature. You can play the tyrant to it, but you will certainly rebel. How hard can you force yourself to work and sustain your desire to work? How much can you sacrifice to your partner before generosity turns to resentment? What is it that you actually love? What is it that you genuinely want? Before you can articulate your own standards of value, you must see yourself as a stranger—and then you must get to know yourself. What do you find valuable or pleasurable? How much leisure, enjoyment, and reward do you require, so that you feel like more than a beast of burden? How must you treat yourself, so you won’t kick over the traces and smash up your corral? You could force yourself through your daily grind and kick your dog in frustration when you come home. You could watch the precious days tick by. Or you could learn how to entice yourself into sustainable, productive activity. Do you ask yourself what you want? Do you negotiate fairly with yourself? Or are you a tyrant, with yourself as slave?” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 90)
“We all waste so much time doing meaningless bullsh*t. We burn hours on social media and watching television, which by the end of the year would add up to entire days and weeks if you tabulated time like you do your taxes. You should, because if you knew the truth you’d deactivate your Facebook account STAT, and cut your cable. When you find yourself having frivolous conversations or becoming ensnared in activities that don’t better you in any way, move the f*ck on!” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me
“You can always look back and see where you might have done something differently, changed this or that. If you can learn something, fine, but never second-guess yourself. It’s wasted effort…. Does worrying about it, complaining about it, change it? Nope, it just wastes your time. And if you complain about it to other people, you’re also wasting their time. Nothing is gained by wasting all of that time.” ~ John Wooden
