---
title: "Living energeially"
description: "Aristotle's distinction used to treat life as a series of moments lived like a dance, not a climb to a summit."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/living-energeially/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Living energeially

> Aristotle's distinction used to treat life as a series of moments lived like a dance, not a climb to a summit.

Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga's framework, from The Courage To Be Disliked, pp. 198 to 255.

Framework 6 of 6 from [The Courage To Be Disliked](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/index.md) by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga. Category: Systems and operations.

## The steps

1. **Drop the line.** See life as a series of dots, each lived now, instead of a line to a destination.
2. **Shine the spotlight on the present.** Do what you can do today, earnestly and conscientiously, without staring at the past or the future.
3. **Treat the process as the outcome.** Make the dance or the journey itself the goal, as opposed to speed to an end point.
4. **Keep a guiding star.** Steer by 'I contribute to others' when the way is unclear, and ignore whether you are disliked.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: THE FIFTH NIGHT: TO LIVE IN EARNEST IN THE HERE AND NOW, pp. 198–255

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/living-energeially.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/living-energeially-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/living-energeially.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-courage-to-be-disliked/living-energeially-dark.png