APX-IV-0021
“I've started holding myself to a higher standard than anyone expects of me.”
A self-imposed standard is the most honest kind. It isn't performed for others — it's held because you decided who you are. This is what owning your nature looks like from the inside.
Your Practice
Write your current self-imposed standard down explicitly — not as a vague aspiration but as a specific behavioral commitment. Then review it at the end of each week. Was it met? Where did it slip? Adjust the standard only upward, never down.
The Architects
“If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer: he was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.”
— Epictetus, Enchiridion