Stoic practice · 3 min

Evening Meditation

Retrace the day honestly, then set it down.

Use when: evening, review, daily rhythm

How the practice works

1. Read the frame I make use of this opportunity, daily pleading my case before myself. When the light has been taken away and my wife has fallen silent, I examine my entire day and retrace what I have done and said, concealing nothing from myself, passing nothing by.
2. Run the exercise Let the day settle. Run back through it, unhurried, from waking until now. First: what did you do badly today? Where were you ruled by an irrational fear, or an unhealthy craving, or a flash of temper? Name it plainly. No punishment — just honesty. Second: what did you do well? Where did you act as you'd want to? Don't skip past this. Notice it, and quietly approve of it — that's how you make it easier to repeat. Third: what could you do differently? Was there a moment you'd meet another way, if it came again tomorrow? Rehearse the better response, once. That's the whole accounting. As Seneca did, you conceal nothing from yourself, and then you set it down. These questions organise your reflection — they don't measure your worth. Tomorrow is a fresh page.
3. Record what you notice What did you do badly today?
4. Record what you notice What did you do well?
5. Record what you notice What could you do differently?
6. Notice the intensity Marks out of ten for living up to your values today — just to organise tomorrow's attention.
7. Choose the next action Set the day down.

Primary source: Seneca, On Anger 3.36