5 Life-Changing Stoic Concepts & Exercises
Stoicism is not just a philosophical school, it is also a practical guide to living peacefully, making good decisions, and dealing with the unpredictabilities of life.
Stoicism was first founded in the 3rd century by Zeno as part of the Hellenistic school of philosophy. It was then popularised by Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus.
The philosophy remains relevant in our modern society even centuries later. George Washinton, Bill Clinton, Adam Smith, Tim Ferris and many others have been studying and applying the stoic approach to life.
These stoic ideas are to practice every day and make them a way of living to help you control your emotions and be a better person.
Your ego is the enemy
“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.” — Epictetus
Almost all philosophical teachings agree on the wickedness of the ego.
Ego makes us attached to the centric idea that we are so special, that the world is revolving around us, and that we matter more than others.
Those beliefs aren’t only falsified, they can be extremely dangerous when we operate from them to make important decisions in life.
The ego has more power to damage us than anything in the world, it lives on false pride and self-righteousness. After that, it causes us to painfully crash into the earth of reality and lose everything in the end.
That is why you should always ask yourself these questions before making decisions:
- What am I doing this for? What is the real motive behind this act? Is it to contribute to the world and make it better? Or am I doing it to feel superior to others and fuel my arrogance?
Be honest with yourself and open to new perspectives other than what you already believe and the possibilities of life will open to you.
Strengthen an internal self-control practice
The stoic makes a clear conscious difference between the things he can control and the things he can’t.
“Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and in one word, whatever are not our own actions.” Epictetus
The key is to develop the things we can control and make the best use of them, here comes goal setting and responsibility taking.
As for the things that are out of control, we should accept them and not allow them to change our inner state of mind. That is because overreaction will only lead to even worse scenarios and unnecessary drama. Which brings me to the 3rd point.
The obstacle is the way
What stands in the way becomes the way. Things that you don’t want will obviously happen, but instead of complaining or giving up, you can use that as an opportunity to grow and move forward in life.
So if you’ve been doing something and an obstacle came your way, that means you either should develop a quality to grow or change the path for a better one.
Love the hand that fate deals you and play it as your own, for what could be more fitting? Marcus Aurelius
Make fate your friend and obstacles your friend’s gifts. By shifting to that perspective, you’ll end up discovering new things about yourself and the world.
Journaling
“I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by.” Seneca
Stoics like journaling; The book Meditations by Epictetus is a collected note of his journals and Seneca had a habit of journaling every evening. Journaling is very effective in preparing you for the next day, it creates clarity of mind and relief by making a sense of order in ideas.
Moreover, you can use journaling as a tool for self-reflection and evaluation over time. By writing down your thoughts, you’ll have an awareness of your thought patterns, your current state of emotions, and the stories you’re telling yourself.
That will reveal areas you want to improve in the future.
Memento Mori
“Let us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life’s book each day. The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.” Seneca
This practice means reminding ourselves that we are going to die and that the end is inevitable. Positively meditating about this reality is giving more meaning to life, it is telling us that every second counts and that we should live it fully.
Tomorrow we might be dead and never wake up. That creates a huge appreciation for life and allows us to live more virtuous lives now rather than continuously attaching happiness to future events.
An easy way to practice Memento Mori is by realizing every morning that this day can be your last. That way, you’ll never take your life for granted ever again or waste it in unmeaningful things. It is a good way to be aware of what is important in life.
Those are just some of the main ideas and exercises that have been advised over time by the school of stoicism. Many other useful ones change lives for the better. If you want to know more about stoicism, tell me in the comments below.
