There can only be one priority. If you think about it, the plural of the word priority is nonsensical. Priority means the most important thing. There can’t be two most important things. Having a sole priority is useful in business, but it’s also indispensable for living a balanced life. In Stoicism, the priority is known by a Latin maxim; Summum bonum, which translates to ‘the highest good’. Summum bonum is like the ultimate goal—the predominant purpose behind all other actions, plans, and projects. In this article, we’ll explore the concept of Summum bonum in Stoicism and how it guides us towards living with virtue and reason. More generally, we’ll discuss a concept that I call ‘The North Star’, which is simply the practice of defining and being constantly aware of your only priority in life.
What is Summum bonum?
Summum bonum refers to the highest good, the ultimate purpose or goal that practicing Stoics commit to uphold. For the ancient Stoics, this elemental good is synonymous with eudaimonia, a state of flourishing and well-being that arises from living virtuously and in harmony with nature. Eudaimonia isn’t just fleeting happiness. It encompasses a deeper sense of contentment derived from moral excellence and self-mastery.
From my reading of Stoicism, I’ve gathered that ultimately, we strive for Summum bonum and eudaimonia in order to make the world a better place. Let’s break down the definition of Summum bonum for a moment to illustrate this point. From the above definition, we can extract concepts like ‘living virtuously’ and ‘in harmony with nature’.
But what use is virtue if not in relation to other people, animals, and ultimately the beautiful planet we all share? What nature are we trying to harmonize with? Sure, the ancient Stoics had their metaphysical perspectives on the meaning of ‘nature’. But to us in the twenty-first century, surely living in harmony with nature involves a world without needless suffering. As social beings, we cannot truly flourish nor have well-being without interdependent relationships with others. To take this train of thought to its extreme, Stoicism would be of very little use if you lived alone on a lifeless planet.
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Why is the concept of Summum bonum useful?
Stoicism gives us several fantastic, two-word maxims: amor fati, memento mori, premeditatio malorum, and summum bonum. Their ultimate utility is their brevity. They’re short, concise, but most importantly, they’re easy to remember. They’re like mental bookmarks that help us flip to a certain chapter of Stoic wisdom quickly. They serve as signposts, which are simple at face value but denote something much more significant. The significance of the maxim Summum bonum is a reminder to act virtuously and do your part, no matter how small, to reduce suffering in the world. We read about Stoicism, then we adapt the wisdom to our own lives through meditation and journaling. Then, in practice, we can use maxims like Summum bonum to remind ourselves of our intentions as we navigate through the real world.
“Just that you do the right thing. The rest doesn’t matter. Cold or warm. Tired or well-rested. Despised or honored. Dying… or busy with other assignments.”
– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Know your North Star
The North Star has been a guiding light for humans for millennia. It has the power to show us the way when we’d otherwise be lost. But it only has this guiding power because it is singular and recognizable. If there were two, three, or four identical north stars in the night sky, we would be unable to distinguish between them. They would be useless for navigation.
The same applies to our priorities in life. If there are several, they become indistinguishable. When this happens, we are unable to give the top priority what it deserves: singularity of focus or at least majority of focus. So you must do your best to quantify but ultimately answer the question: ‘what is my singular purpose, my ultimate priority—my north star?’
Having a singular purpose does profound things. It promotes intrinsic motivation, which is the kind of motivation that comes from within you rather than from external sources such as economic pressure. Intrinsic motivation is the most sustainable form of motivation because it is truly aligned with your values.
Having a north star also improves focus. When you have a precise definition of your only priority, you can place competing matters of lesser importance into other, smaller time slots for you to work on.
Knowing your north star also guides your decisions. When faced with a question or dilemma, you can ask yourself, ‘does this promote or hinder my ultimate purpose?’
Summum bonum: The Stoic North Star
My idea of The North Star should be personalized for each person’s unique circumstances. Only you can block out the time to reflect on and eventually decide on your north star—your singular priority in life. But Stoicism and its concept of Summum bonum can help shape your north star. Here’s how:
Summum bonum means the highest good. It means living virtuously and in harmony with nature. With nature and virtue being codependent and interconnected with the well-being of all other living beings on this planet, then the rational conclusion is that we should all strive to reduce suffering and optimize for health, happiness, and creative expression in ourselves and others. Therefore, as a practitioner of Stoicism, your north star or singular priority should align with these goals.
Related article: Interconnection & Its Connection With Stoicism
By the way, Buddhism has the exact same pinnacle aim; reducing the suffering of others. Buddhism has wonderful, practical guiding principles for our actions, such as The Eightfold Path, but they’re not just for fun. An immense amount of thought and refinement has gone into these wisdom teachings for one clear reason; again, to reduce the suffering of others.
How to practice Summum bonum
Summum bonum itself is not really a practice. As mentioned above, it’s more of a reminder to practice and why. The ‘why’ is the highest good or your own north star. If it’s helpful to you, you can use the words Summum bonum or any other short phrase to help keep your singular purpose at arm’s length. Then, as practitioners of Stoicism, we can rely on other Stoic practices to help us optimize for that purpose.
Practices such as negative visualization (premeditatio malorum), journaling, and mindfulness help us develop self-awareness, gratitude, and a deeper understanding of our reactions to external events.
Related article: Premeditatio Malorum: A Practice For Resilience
Another powerful Stoic practice is The Dichotomy of Control, which divides external events into two categories: things that are within our control and things that are not. Summum Bonum lies within the realm of internal factors—our attitudes, beliefs, and actions—over which we have direct control.
Final thoughts on Summum bonum
Summum bonum means highest good, not merely a high good—not just one of many. There can only be one highest good. There can only be one priority. This can be counterintuitive, because society is very good at shoveling commitments and obligations at us.
I’m not saying that your to-do list can only hold one item. Of course, your projects, plans, and even personal and familial commitments will require some prioritization. There will be multiple things to work on and you will need to rank order them and do them chronologically, of course. But I believe that having a singular priority that defines the way you want to live brings clarity and equanimity to your life. When you know what is most important in your life, you will be less likely to accept plans and projects that don’t align with it. You’ll be more motivated. You’ll be more decisive.
If we look to wisdom traditions such as Stoicism or Buddhism for guidance, we’re led to a beautiful conclusion: that singular purpose, sole priority, north star, or whatever you want to call it, should be in some way for the betterment of the world we live in.