The Cardinal Virtues: Temperance
What is “temperance”? Why is it so important? And how can you be more disciplined?
In this series, I’ll explain the four cardinal virtues: temperance, courage, wisdom and justice.
I’m going to start with temperance, because I think, that this is the most important virtue out of these four.
It’s the essence of stoicism and it’s necessary to basically reach any goal.
So, let me explain exactly what this is, why it’s so important and how you can become more tempered/disciplined.
What is temperance?
Temperance is self-control. I would separate this into two different categories: passive and active.
Passive self-control is holding back. For example, if you get offended, you take a step back and are able to resist the urge to get loud and assault the one who offended you. It’s the ability to control your impulses. But it’s also the ability to renounce pleasures (e.g. renouncing sweets to stay healthy).
And then, there is the active part. This is about actively doing productive things, you don’t like. An example would be to workout every day in order to stay healthy and fit. Another example would be, to work on a new business idea after you come home from work, so that one day you’ll be able to quit your job and be your own boss.
Why is this so important?
I’ve basically said it before: you need it to reach any goal. You can’t do long-term hard work without this virtue.
Sure, if you’re motivated, that’s great and the work won’t feel like work, but eventually motivation will come to its end — it’s just a short-term solution. Therefore you need temperance/discipline to keep going in the long-term.
But the passive part is equally important — especially in our consumer society. We can most of the time consume as much calories as we like, that’s why obesity is such a wide spread problem. And that’s why temperance is so important: we need the willpower to stop eating and instead do intermittent fasting for example. And it’s the same with alcohol, social media, porn and other addictive substances or activities that harm us.
And now also think about conversations or other daily situations where you get angry. You need temperance to hold back and to not be controlled by your impulses.
How can you be more tempered/disciplined?
There are plenty of ways one can do this. Here’s what helped me:
Gamify it. Whenever you held back your impulsive actions or whenever you did some work that you didn’t want to do, you get a point. Collect these points and every like 20 points or so, you reward yourself with something you like (e.g. doing a trip or cooking your favorite meal)
Just embrace the identity of being a disciplined stoic. Embrace the suck. Imagine you’re being watched right now — will they see a disciplined person or a lazy fool? Earn your title, even if it’s just for you.
Do you have a friend who also wants to be disciplined? Do a competition. Collect points and count them all together at the end of each month.
Do what fits you best. But do something!
Thanks for reading! If you have any additional thoughts or questions, leave a comment below and subscribe for more!