Socrates - The unexamined life is not worth living

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Welcome to The Daily Quote—a podcast designed to kickstart your day in a positive way. I'm your host, Andrew McGivern, and today is October 19th.

Today is Evaluate Your Life Day. Yes, that’s right. If you were hoping for a simple “National Doughnut Day” or something easy like that, think again. Today is all about taking a good, long look in the mirror and asking yourself the tough questions. It’s a chance to hit pause on the routine and reflect on where you are, where you’re headed, and maybe—just maybe—make some tweaks to your life before you find yourself wondering what the heck happened.

In honor of this introspective holiday, I’ve got a quote that fits perfectly. It comes from Socrates, the ancient philosopher who basically made a career out of self-reflection.

He said,

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Socrates wasn’t exactly one to sugarcoat things, was he? But, when you think about it, there’s some serious truth packed into that short sentence. Evaluate Your Life Day is a modern reminder of what Socrates was getting at: if we don’t stop to think about why we do what we do, we’re just on autopilot, coasting through life without much direction. And you know what happens when you coast for too long—you either drift into a ditch or run out of gas.

Truth.

Now, I know “evaluate your life” sounds daunting, like you have to create a spreadsheet of your entire existence.

By the way spreadsheets are so 2014... nowadays its Notion.

Anybody want a template?

You actually don't need a complicated system. You can start small—take a moment to reflect on what’s working, what’s not, and what you’d like to improve. Maybe it’s something as simple as setting aside more time for yourself, or maybe it’s a bigger change, like rethinking your career path.

Socrates would probably approve of either approach—so long as you're thinking about it, you’re on the right track. Today’s the perfect day to make a habit of checking in with yourself. Think of it like doing routine maintenance on a car or an annual check up at your doctor.

Your mind, your life, works the same way.

So, as you go through today, take a moment to step back and give yourself a little evaluation. Not in a harsh, judgmental way—but in a curious, thoughtful way. You might be surprised by what you learn.

That’s it for today’s episode of The Daily Quote. I hope this gave you a little something to think about as you head into your day. I actually believe the unexamined life is still worth living—but wouldn’t it be even better if you checked under the hood once in a while?

I'm Andrew McGivern signing off, and I'll be back tomorrow, same pod time, same pod channel with another Daily Quote.