Enduring the Long Road

Happy Sunday Friends!

Here’s one quote I’m musing on this week, two ideas, three favorites, and one question to take with you into the week ahead.

One Quote I’m Musing

“Two words should be committed to memory and obeyed, persist and resist.”

| Epictetus

🪨 The Long Road

The ancients understood something we’ve forgotten in our age of instant everything: that most worthwhile things take longer than we expect, demand more than we think, and test us in ways we can’t predict.

We call it resistance. They called it life.

We’ve been trained to believe difficulty is a signal to quit.
That if something isn’t happening quickly, it isn’t meant for us.
That learning should be as fast as our Wi-Fi connection.
That progress should look like a highlight reel.

But realistically.
Every meaningful pursuit, building mastery, weathering loss, leading teams, raising families, moves at the speed of endurance, not convenience.

🔍 Observe, Act, Persist, Endure (Redux)

I first wrote about this framework back in March. It’s more relevant than ever.

Observe.
A disciplined mind doesn’t flinch at reality; it studies it.

Look at things as they truly are, without distorting them through emotion or assumption. Pause to objectively assess situations rather than reacting impulsively based on internal narratives.

Act.
Identify what you can do and do it. Choose actions carefully, even if they are small steps. Having a plan or basic approach prevents situations from escalating unnecessarily, reducing regretful outcomes.

Take the smallest step that moves you forward. Wise action compounds. Emotional reaction costs energy you’ll need later.

Persist.
Try, fail, learn, adjust, repeat.

Like Odysseus, exhaust every option. Every rejection is data. Exhaust your options and remain open to new ideas or perspectives. Persistently seeking alternative solutions or viewpoints can diffuse emotional intensity, guiding thoughtful, less reactive decisions.

Endure.
Persistence becomes endurance when the world stops rewarding your effort.
That’s when most people quit.
That’s what defines you.

Continuous action, endurance and perseverance is will. Life isn’t about a single obstacle, a single friction point. It’s obstacle after obstacle. Problem after Solution after problem and solution. Epictetus would tell us to commit to our memories two words. Persist and resist.

⚙️ An Age of Softness

We live in a time where friction feels foreign. Information is instant, comfort is engineered and quitting costs nothing.

But progress, real progress, has always been a slow violence against your own comfort.

Our ancestors farmed through droughts. Soldiers marched for weeks through mud and frost. Builders raised cathedrals knowing they’d never see them finished.

And here we are, frustrated when a skill takes longer than a YouTube tutorial.

When resistance arrives, the slow mornings, the drawn-out projects, the unanswered calls, remember: that’s not failure.

That’s the process asking if you’re serious.

💡 Two Ideas From Me

• Endurance reveals identity.

  When everything gets stripped away: applause, speed, progress. What remains is who you really are.

• Resistance is the test, not the obstacle.

  The friction you feel isn’t blocking the path. It is the path, lean into it. (I’m looking at me here this week)

🔥 Three Favorite Things This Week

1. Quote: “There is no easy way from the earth to the stars.” — Seneca.

2. Practice: A small ritual of self-accountability.

   Journal a single line each night: What did I persist through today?

3. Place: A retreat. This time every year, I take the family up to the Blue Ridge Mountains. An exit from every-day hustle, apple picking, hiking, baking, nature. I love this time.

❓ One Question for the Week

When the work slows, the progress stalls, and the road feels endless.
What will you do to keep going?

Until Sunday, my friends.

Think Dangerously.
–e