George Washington’s favorite saying was “many mickles make a muckle.” It was an old Scottish proverb that illustrates a truth we all know: things add up. Even little ones. 

The Stoics believed that it was the little things that added up to virtue. How you treated someone. What your routine was like. The training you underwent. What rules you followed. What habits you cultivated. Day to day, practiced over a lifetime, this is what created greatness. This is what led to wisdom.  

“Well-being is realized by small steps,” Zeno would say looking back on his life, “but is truly no small thing.” Which is why today and every day, you need to think about those little things. Because they are worth sweating. You need to create good habits. You need to stick to your rules. You can’t make excuses to yourself, saying, “Oh, this doesn’t matter.” 

Because it adds up. Because it determines what you’ll accomplish, and what you won’t. Most importantly, it determines who you are.

The Stoics agreed with Aristotle—that we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is like an operating system and the code this system operates on is habit. Which is why we developed the Daily Stoic Habits for Success, Habits for Success Challenge. We’ve sifted through the greatest Stoic wisdom and aimed it at one of the most challenging parts of life: habit formation and growth. Check it out here!

P.S. This was originally sent on April 9, 2021. Sign up today for the Daily Stoic’s email and get our popular free 7-day course on Stoicism.