Most successful people are people you’ve never heard of. They want it that way. It keeps them sober. It helps them do their jobs. - Ryan Holiday

Andrew Carnegie famously put it. There’s nothing shameful about sweeping. It’s just another opportunity to excel — and to learn. But you, you’re so busy thinking about the future, you don’t take any pride in the tasks you’re given right now. You just phone it all in, cash your paycheck, and dream of some higher station in life. Or you think, This is just a job, it isn’t who I am, it doesn’t matter. Foolishness. Everything we do matters — whether it’s making smoothies while you save up money or studying for the bar — even after you already achieved the success you sought.

5 Habits That Are Killing Your Productivity:

1. You don’t wake up early (Marcus Aurelius)
2. You focus on what’s outside your control (Epictetus)
3. You don’t know how to say “no” (Seneca)
4. You’re in the wrong crowd (Marcus Aurelius)
5. You think you’ll live forever (Seneca)

Getting upset is like continuing the dream while you’re awake. The thing that provoked you wasn’t real — but your reaction was. And so from the fake comes real consequences. Which is why you need to wake up right now instead of creating a nightmare.