Schopenhauer’s Advice on How to Achieve Great Things
Schopenhauer’s Advice on How to Achieve Great Things
How to do a really big thing requiring a great deal of time and intense personal discipline?
In a life full of quotidian trivia, a major project conveys significance and permanence. It can be proof to oneself of being able to accomplish something out of the ordinary. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy’s reason for the U.S. space program, many people want to do something not because it is easy, but because it is ha Lets start with the example of a mason: The man is “employed on the building of a house” but “may be quite ignorant of its general design.” Schopenhauer suggested that because of this arrangement, the mason was stuck in the daily details of his work instead of seeing it as part of a grand design. And so it is with any aspect of existence:
It is only when we come to view our life as a connected whole that our character and capacities show themselves in their true light.
The mason can take greater satisfaction in his work and stay motivated if he is able to envision the entire house while he works on the details.
Keeping the big picture in view enhances the success of any task requiring significant time and effort.
You need to know where you are going. But, having the whole project in mind does not mean having to focus constantly on the future.
“Another important element in the wise conduct of life is to preserve a proper proportion between our thought for the present and our thought for the future. It is seldom that a man holds the right balance between the two extremes.” - Schopenhauer
For most of us, the problem with finding that balance comes from not being present in the here and now, but getting stuck thinking about what is to come. If we’re not mindful in this way, that hurts our ability to focus and make tangible progress in the immediate present, and creates an incentive to procrastinate on big projects.
Mindfulness is a skill crucial for the execution of big projects. Mindfulness significantly predicts the ability to avoid procrastination.
We should work to see the whole project, but we should also limit our vista to that - and, in general, resist distraction from diversions that go outside our project.
“We are happy in proportion as our range of vision, our sphere of work, our points of contact with the world, are restricted and circumscribed. We are more likely to feel worried and anxious if these limits are wide.” - Schopenhauer
An overload of unnecessary information can lower well-being. Such overload also distracts you from your big projects.
Schopenhauer’s advice might seem contradictory: Keep the big picture in mind but stay in the here and now. This is really just an invitation to live and work in a balanced way. Envision the cathedral you are building, but then focus on the brick you are laying; don’t be thrown off by unrelated projects. Here are some practical rules for applying this advice to your big goals.
1. Keep the grand plan in mind.
Some special days—your wedding day, the birth of a child—have a profound impact on the whole of your life. Most days, however, are fairly unremarkable. Yet these days are the building blocks in a project that takes a long time to accomplish. Each ordinary day, you have a choice: You can build your house up a little, tear it down a bit, or neglect it entirely. To choose the first option, start each day by envisioning for a minute, your whole purpose and your desire to complete it. Then resolve to live this day in alignment with that desire. In the evening, briefly survey the day, notice where you perhaps fell short of your goal, and make a few resolutions to tighten things up tomorrow.
2. Live in day-tight compartments.
A daily focus on the big picture is different from living in the future. Don’t miss the only moment you can actually use to make progress: this one. After you envision your completed project, back up to focus on today and only on what you need to do here and now to make progress. Make a schedule and a list for the day, and then, live in “day-tight compartments,” rather than daydreaming or worrying about the future (or, for that matter, ruminating on the past).
3. Block out the noise.
You need to know what’s going on around you that might affect your life and work, but not what is irrelevant to these things. Order your information intake so that extraneous stuff doesn’t eat up your attention.
Book recommendations
- “Our Relation to Ourselves” - Arthur Schopenhauer