Today’s Agenda
Character Through Repetition
Good Morning!
I’m sorry to let everyone know, but with a heavy heart, this will be our last edition of Thought Breakfast ever…
April Fools! Thought Breakfast never dies.
Bouncing off of yesterday, we’re going to talk about self-actualization through the eyes of Aristotle. Burning that off, we’ll do a thought exercise called the Repetition Check. Wrapping up, we’ll open up Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
All aboard, you philosophers! Thought Breakfast is served!
Today’s Breakfast
The Self Is Built
Yesterday, we questioned which of our attributes were inherited from friends, family, expectations, etc. Today we’re looking at the other side of things and asking what is built instead. Identity is not formed through isolated moments, but through repetition. The self becomes real through what we do repeatedly.
Aristotle’s ethics centers on habituation. It’s one of the only places where he deviates from his teacher, Plato. Plato suggests that virtues participate in eternal Forms. Aristotle doesn’t argue straightforward against the Forms, but proposes his own theory. He says that actions repeated over time form stable traits, and thus virtue is cultivated through habit. Things like honesty, courage, discipline, or avoidance are only acquired through repetition. In modern terms, this is the spirit of “fake it till you make it.” In a nutshell, habits are the architecture of the self.
We often wait to “feel like” a certain kind of person before we commit to new things. Aristotle reverses that. Instead of feeling courageous before doing courageous things, he says that we have to first act courageously in order to become courageous. Likewise, we have to act generously before we can become generous. Identity follows disciplined action, and discipline itself must be practiced. We ultimately form character through practice, not intention alone.
Character requires deliberate repetition. Small daily acts are what shape our long-term identities. What we repeat ultimately builds, weakens, or stabilizes us. Thus, the self is disciplined into existence, not just willed.
Burn Those Thought Calories
The Repetition Check
Ask yourself:
What am I repeatedly doing that is shaping who I become?
What habit is quietly reinforcing an identity I no longer want?
What one repeated action would move me closer to the self I want to build?
Sit with that.
Book Nook
“We become just by doing just acts.”
— Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle ties identity to habituation of traits. Just like in physical exercise, where repetition builds muscle and strength, repetition of virtuous acts builds character. The self is built through disciplined action, which consists of repeating virtuous acts, as well as repeatedly choosing not to act viciously. Ultimately, what you practice becomes what you are.
Munch on that for today. Have a great day, and come back tomorrow for another steaming hot plate of Thought Breakfast!
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That’s it for today.
Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.
Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast
