Prioritize the health of your soul above external goods
Ask regularly whether you are attending to who you are becoming, not only to what you are acquiring.
Why it works
Socrates in the "Apology" is explicit: he spent his life asking people whether they care for their "soul" — their character, their values, their becoming — more than for money, reputation, or power. The mechanism is attention allocation: what you attend to grows; what you attend to regularly becomes constitutive of who you are. Regular character examination shifts attention from external metrics to internal qualities, which are the things Socrates argues actually matter.
How to do it
- Weekly, ask: what kind of person am I becoming by how I am living this week?
- Separate this from "how am I performing" and "what am I accumulating" — those are external metrics.
- Name one quality you are cultivating and one you are letting slip.
- Make one decision this week that reflects concern for the former rather than the latter.
Evidence
Character development and virtue-based well-being (eudaimonia) are associated with life satisfaction in positive psychology research. Regular reflection on character qualities is associated with greater character development over time. (observational)
Eudaimonic well-being is studied in positive psychology, though the concept is not identical to Socrates’ "care of the soul." The association is directionally consistent rather than a direct test of Socratic claims.
Common mistake
Treating "care of the soul" as a vague aspiration rather than a specific behavioral question: what did you actually do this week that reflects the character you want to have?
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More practices for The Examined Life
- Question your own assumptions with Socratic rigor
Take a belief you hold confidently and submit it to the Socratic question: "What do you actually mean by that?"
- Know thyself — map your actual values against your actions
Compare what you say you value with what your behavior reveals you actually value.
- Engage in genuine philosophical dialogue
Have a conversation with the goal of getting clearer together, not of winning or validating.
- Question what everyone takes for granted
Choose one widely shared assumption — in your field, your culture, or your circle — and examine it honestly.
- Treat not-knowing as a beginning
When genuine inquiry leaves you uncertain, recognize that as a form of progress, not failure.
Related concepts
- Existentialism and Radical Choice
Radical freedom, bad faith, and the weight of choosing who you are
- Absurdism and the Practice of Meaning Despite
Revolt, lucidity, and the art of building meaning in a world that won’t provide it
- Philosophy as a Way of Life
Hadot’s reading of ancient spiritual exercises as a modern daily practice
- Values Clarification, Made Practical
Card sorts, ranking, and value-consistent action — with an honest read on the evidence
- Growth Mindset: The Honest Version
The fixed-vs-growth idea, the real mechanisms, and where the evidence is weak