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January 23
Day 23/365: Chrysippus on striving
Logan
January 23, 2025
Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.
23/365: Chrysippus on striving
“He who is running a race ought to endeavor and strive to the utmost of his ability to come off victor; but it is utterly wrong for him to trip up his competitor, or to push him aside. So in life it is not unfair for one to seek for himself what may accrue to his benefit; but it is not right to take it from another.” – Chrysippus
Pursuit is not wrong, and here we see Chrysippus highlight the virtue of Stoic pursuit.
To strive is good. In fact, we must try. But it’s about how we go about the pursuit. One way to do this is to ensure that we operate from the foundation of the inner scorecard: improving for our own good and comparing ourselves to previous versions of ourselves.
Relative net worth means more when you track against your historical account, rather than a coworker, friend, or neighbor.
When you succumb to the Sirens and start to look at your life relative to others—the external scorecard—you tempt envy, greed, and unethical, unphilosophical behavior to take the reigns of your life.
Warren Buffett put it this way, “The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.”
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