Temperance: The Balance of Power

Happy Sunday Friends!

Everyone respects courage, admires wisdom, craves justice. But they’re all hollow without the underlying virtue: self-discipline. The Stoics called it sōphrosynē. We call it temperance. Temperance is not restraint for its own sake. It is freedom. It is balance. It is power over yourself.

One Quote I’m Musing

“No man is fit to rule who has not first mastered himself.”

| Seneca

On Temperance and Self-Discipline

At first glance, temperance sounds dated. It feels like something out of a sermon or dusty philosophy book. In our hyper-connected, always-on world, discipline can even feel like the opposite of freedom.

Every achievement, work of art, startup, every mile run, and act of mastery stand on the foundation of self-discipline. It’s the force behind greatness. I can’t think of a single pursuit that is not improved by it, can you?

And yet, in the productivity chase, we often twist discipline into obsession. We carry an image of the perfect version of ourselves. The one who works without rest, who never slows down, who pushes endlessly and relentlessly toward the goal. That image drives us forward, but it can also turn discipline into a whip instead of a guide.

The ancients warned us about this, and their counsel is as relevant in boardrooms and gyms today as it was in the Agora.

Tolerant With Others, Strict With Yourself

The Oracle of Delphi said: “Nothing in excess.” That is the essence of temperance. It means knowing when to push and when to pause. Too little drive and you drift into laziness, comfort, and dependence. Too much drive and you can’t relax, can’t turn it off to enjoy time with others.

I’m reminded of a moment from John’s Gospel. The Pharisees dragged a woman caught in adultery before Jesus. By law, he had the right to condemn her. Instead, he answered: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone.” One by one, the accusers walked away.

Most remember this as a lesson in humility. The deeper truth is about restraint. Jesus, the one without sin, chose tolerance, compassion, and discipline instead of the easier exercise of judgment. His standards were his alone to bear. That is the essence of temperance: mastery of self, not control of others.

The same lesson applies to the grind mentality. We imagine our “perfect self” looking back at us with judgment whenever we take a break. But if that version were real, it would understand the grind, the goal, and the need for recovery. True discipline is not endless motion. It is balance. It is knowing when to rest so that you can rise again.

*BTW, this application of thought came when having a really great lunch discussion with Solana. Which only happened because *gasp* I am on vacation and taking time to hang out with my wife.

Marcus Aurelius put it simply: “Be tolerant with others, strict with yourself.”

Delight in Daily Discipline

The Stoics knew that self-discipline is not about restriction. It is about strength and freedom.

Technology offers us luxuries at every turn. Food arrives on demand. Entertainment is infinite. Shortcuts are everywhere. The danger is trading resilience for convenience and discipline for ease.

Seneca reminds us: “Treat the body rigorously so that it will not be disobedient to the mind.” Every push-up, every pound lifted, and every cold shower is more than physical. Each one is training the body to obey the will. But Seneca also warned against extremes. Balance is the work.

This is where I think the grind culture often goes wrong. Glamorizing the endless hustle while ignoring recovery. Discipline is not meant to restrict us. It is meant to shape us.

Temperance means using the tools without being owned by them. It means lifting weights when Netflix calls. It means choosing to code, write, or create when scrolling feels easier.

Conversely, it means knowing when to step back, rest, and reset so the work can continue with strength and to make time for friends and family, the things that actually sustain us.

🛠 Training Self-Discipline (A Practical Guide)

Inspired by BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habits framework:

• Anchor small. Do one push-up before your morning coffee. Write one sentence before you check email. The point is not the push-up or the sentence. The point is proving you control the sequence.

• Audit balance. Ask yourself where you are over-disciplined, slipping into perfectionism or rigidity. Then ask where you are under-disciplined, leaning on comfort or procrastination.

• Adjust daily. True temperance is not about intensity. It is about repeatable balance.

💡 Two Insights

• Self-discipline is the multiplier of all virtues. Without it, courage falters, wisdom dulls, and justice bends. With it, everything strengthens.

• Temperance is the art of balance. It is drive without obsession, and rest without apathy.

🔥 Three Favorite Things This Week

🧠 Practice: Morning Mobility — Every day before coffee, I run through a simple routine: shoulder circles, hip openers, cat-cow stretches, and a short hamstring flow. It takes less than 10 minutes, but it’s the anchor that reminds me I control how my day begins. Temperance starts here: moving the body before feeding it stimulation.

📖 Read: The Egg by Andy Weir — It’s a short story you can read in five minutes, but it lingers much longer. On the surface it’s about reincarnation, but the deeper thread is compassion and restraint: the understanding that everyone you meet is you, living another life. That’s temperance in action: empathy, perspective, and a reminder not to judge too quickly.

📱 Tool: Apple Screen Time — Not glamorous, but a brutally honest mirror. Instead of obsessing over cutting hours, use it to notice where convenience edges into compulsion. That awareness alone has helps regain balance.

❓ One Question to Take Into Your Week

Self-discipline is not austerity. It is balance. It is the invisible muscle that holds every other virtue together.

We often judge ourselves by the image of who we think we should be — the tireless worker, the perfect achiever, the person who never slows down. But discipline is not endless motion. It is the wisdom to push when it matters, to rest when needed, and to make time for the people who sustain us.

That imagined perfect self is not your judge. It is your ally, reminding you that real discipline includes effort, recovery, and relationships.

Where in your life are you over-disciplined, grinding past the point of usefulness? Where are you under-disciplined, letting comfort erode progress? And where are you neglecting time with friends and family in the name of productivity? What would a healthier balance between effort, recovery, and relationships look like?

Until Sunday, my friends.

Think Dangerously.
–e

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📩 Over 4 weeks, I’m unpacking each of the four Stoic virtues. Not simply abstract philosophy, but tactical principles for those building and leading in the digital age.