The Golden Mean

According to Aristotle, virtue lies in the mean between excess and deficiency. For instance, in terms of eating, virtuous eating lies between obesity and anorexia. It is really just common sense when you think about it.

For most people including myself, it is easier to live at the extremes. That is because extremism does not require prudence. You don't have to think about it. For instance, if you find yourself eating too much, you can do a ridiculous fad diet such as eating nothing but prunes. You lose a bunch of weight and then go back to eating burgers and gain the weight right back. Repeat ad infinitum.

You are the product of your habits. Almost anyone can make a temporary change and revolutionize their lives. But it rarely lasts. People slide into their old ways because their new ways are unsustainable. Will power can only take you so far. To make lasting change, you need the consistency that comes from habit.

People are impatient. They want change, and they want it now. It takes time to accumulate new habits. But the slow road is the certain road. Instead of a fad diet, eat a balanced diet. You won't lose weight fast, but you will lose it. It is a certainty. If you lose only a pound a week, you will have dropped 52 pounds by the end of a year.

The only real change comes from consistency, and consistency comes from moderation. You must find the mean between your excesses and your deficiencies and make those your life. This is where virtue comes from. Identify the mean, and the rest will take care of itself.

I have identified one golden mean in my life and that is concerning diet. I eat three meals a day and a snack. I always try to eat because this keeps me from getting hungry and making poor food choices. I then make the right food choices which boils down to cutting way back on fat and sugar. This means not eating burgers and fries or drinking sugary soft drinks. I eat grilled chicken instead of fried chicken. I use Splenda in my coffee. I drink water the rest of the time. The goal is merely to cut back on caloric intake by eliminating the calorie rich foods and beverages that are the staples of the American diet.

In terms of sleep, I am still working on this. This comes from the influence of my girlfriend who gets the proper eight hours per night. I couldn't help noticing she gets her stuff done while I get little done on my four hours per night. Now, I get 6 hours minimum per night. People who tell you they get by on four hours or less are lying. I've done that becoming a virtual zombie, and it kills your productivity. Things take twice as long because you are too fucking tired to move or think. Often, I end up wiping out on the couch which kills my schedule. That extra two hours of sleep saves me two hours each day as a result of fewer mistakes, so it pays for itself.

There are limits to what you can do. This doesn't mean you can't achieve a lot of things, but you are a human being. You have to eat and sleep. A frenetic lifestyle of overwork only leads to lower productivity and poor health. Accept your needs and live with them. The reality is that you end up achieving more. It seems paradoxical until you try it. Like the magic of compound interest, it adds up over time.

People are shortsighted. They overestimate what they can achieve in the short term but underestimate what they can do over the long haul. It is usually the young who fail to grasp this because they haven't lived long enough to appreciate the power of consistency. I know this has been an error of mine. But if you put in the effort day in and day out, you will be amazed at the results. A consistent small effort over time will add up to more than a haphazard string of willpower moments when you bust your ass in spurts followed by the pendulum swinging back to the other extreme.

I find my biggest challenge these days is simply identifying the mean. For instance, how many hours should you work each week? What is the excess and what is the deficiency? How much should you know? How many skills should you have? How many books should you read? As I said, the mean can be a difficult thing to grasp and figure out.

The mean also applies to your character traits. What is the proper level of anger? How much should you trust? How opinionated should you be? These are difficult as well.

I have also found that living by the mean often puts you into conflict with the wider society. For instance, everyone was very supportive of my healthy eating until I had to turn down the shit garbage they cook. Then, I was taking things to "an extreme." Or if I decide to not work more than 12 hours, I am a lazy piece of shit. I can tell you now that the mean for you cannot be defined by other people. They have an agenda which they expect you to serve, so you learn very quickly that virtue also requires selfishness. You have to take care of yourself first.

Another thing about the mean is that it can seem extreme at times when it really isn't. For instance, the ideal weekly mileage for a distance runner is between 100 and 140 miles per week. This seems staggering to consider, but it represents the sweet spot of training. Less than this will relegate you to averageness while more than this will put you on the disabled list. Everyone is different depending upon genetics and biomechanics, but this is what it takes to be a professional runner. For the rest of us, the benefits of fitness can be achieved with as little as 30 minutes of exercise per day.

There are many factors that go into determining the mean. Following the mean doesn't mean being an average person. These are dependant upon the goals you are pursuing and the resources you have available. For instance, Alicia Keys is both a gifted singer and a gifted student. But she found it difficult to attend college and also pursue her music career at the same time. So, she had to let one go for the sake of the other. Similarly, many working mothers put their careers on hold for a time in order to be good parents. The difficulty in choosing to do one thing well is also choosing not to do other things as well or even at all. This can be hard because it means limiting choices and options. But it can't be avoided. A champion bodybuilder can't also be a champion distance runner. They are incompatible.

I take comfort in the fact that I already have the eating and sleeping things figured out. These really won't change for me unless I decide to enter the Tour de France or something. The rest will take some time to figure out, but I am getting there. My next step is to figure out how much work is enough to keep my workaholic status while also maintaining my relationships and my three hobbies. A topic for another post.

Posted in: