Finally, this metric avoids two common traps: harsh perfectionism and lazy excuse-making. By valuing direction over flawless arrival, it grants compassion for human limits—fatigue, confusion, imperfect circumstances—while still demanding honesty about whether we are actually moving closer to wisdom.
The result is a sturdier kind of motivation. You don’t need the world to cooperate to improve; you only need to take the next breath toward truth: to look again, choose again, and practice again. Over time, those breaths accumulate into character, which for the Stoics is the only “outcome” that can’t be taken away. [...]
