The first stair of the foundation is set in place.

Choosing to orient your life toward eudaimonia does not mean that the road ahead will suddenly become smooth, or that you will never again be tempted by shortcuts, distraction, or the approval of the crowd. You will hesitate, and there will be days when the fog returns. Yet the mountain itself does not move. Whenever you notice that you have drifted into reaction, the simple act of looking back toward your compass brings you immediately back onto the path. "In the long run," Eleanor Roosevelt observed, "we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

Yet an aim alone, however noble, is still only a thought. To keep a compass true when fatigue sets in and the morning is cold, intention must be translated into daily rhythm. Having chosen our direction on the first stair, we now step onto the second: the discipline that turns choice into habit.