Stoicism

One of the main misconceptions is that philosophy is for the Oxbridge educated who wax poetic while drinking but I would argue that everyone is a philosopher. I state this, well, philosophy is the critical and systematic analysis of fundamental, ultimate, and very general problems. You have been doing it most of your life

Stoicism, or Stoic philosophy, is a philosophy of personal ethics and a methodology for seeking practical wisdom in life. A key principle of the ancient Stoics was the belief that we don’t react to events; we react to our judgments about them, and the judgments are up to us. They also advised that we should not worry about things beyond our control as everything in life can be divided into two categories – things that are up to us and things that are not.

Thought leaders in Silicon Valley tout the benefits of Stoicism, and NFL management, coaches, and players (Patriots, Seahawks, etc.) alike have embraced it because the principles make them better competitors. If you study Seneca, you’ll be in good company. He was popular with the educated elite of the Greco-Roman Empire, but Thomas Jefferson also had Seneca on his bedside table. This philosophy is a no-nonsense system designed to produce dramatic real-world effects. Think of it as an ideal operating system for thriving in high-stress environments.

There are the 3 Stoic principal leaders whose work has survived the test of time:

• Marcus Aurelius: The last good emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each evening to reflect on the day and write down in his private diary. This private diary has been published as the book Meditations and it’s the most significant source of Stoic Philosophy.
• Epictetus: Born a slave, gone a legend. He founded his own school and taught many of Rome’s greatest minds, one of which was Marcus Aurelius. His teachings have been written down by one of his students, Arrian – Discourses and Enchiridion. As a side note, Enchiridion often gets translated as “handbook“ but it literally means “ready at hand“ – more like a sword than a handbook, always ready to deal with life’s challenges.
• Seneca: Tutor and adviser to Nero (the Roman emperor who later forced Seneca to commit suicide) and Rome’s best playwright and wisest power broker – the modern-day entrepreneur if you will. Many of his personal letters survived and serve as a great source of Stoic philosophy.

The stoics have 10 key principles/beliefs. You can find them listed below with a succinct explanation. As you can imagine I aim to plant a seed that inspires you to research further. Let me know if I succeeded

#1 Live in Agreement with Nature – The Stoic Goal of Life: All ancient schools of philosophy agreed on the ultimate goal of life to be Eudaimonia.

#2 Live by Virtue – It Is the Highest of All Goods: Achieving ‘virtue’ is the highest good

#3 Focus on What You Can Control, Accept What You Can’t :

#4 Distinguish Between Good, Bad, and (‘Preferred’) Indifferent Things

#5 Take Action – The True Philosopher Is a Warrior of the Mind: You must earn the Good Life by taking the right actions.

#6 Practice Misfortune – Ask “What Could Go Wrong?”

#7 Add a Reserve Clause to Your Planned Actions

#8 Love Everything that Happens

#9 Turn Obstacles into Opportunities – Perception Is Key

#10 Be Mindful – Stoic Mindfulness Is Where it All Begins

Here are 4 things I took away from stoicism:

How do you not get hijacked by your emotions?

One of my favourite techniques for getting in shape mentally is based on the philosophy of Stoicism. The practice of stoicism is based on humility and self-control and helps condition you so that you don’t have emotional overreactions to things that you can’t control.

Practice leaning into fear and misfortune. If you are prepared for the worst-case scenario, you can avoid being caught off guard or disappointed. Hard-core practitioners of stoicism go as far as to put themselves into real-world situations of discomfort. You don’t have to go this far, but the idea is to practice being uncomfortable, if only in your mind.

Train (your) perception to avoid good or bad. There is no good or bad to the practising Stoic, there is only perception—and you control perception. Think of hard moments as teachable moments. What can you learn from a difficult situation?

Remember, nothing lasts forever. Achievements and possessions last just an instant. Be humble and honest and aware of your attachments to things and accolades. If you practice this, you’ll never have to fear someone taking them from you, or worse, them taking over you.

“Seek not for events to happen as you wish but rather wish for events to happen as they do and your life will go smoothly.” – Epictetus