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In this Stoic lesson, I break down Stoic philosopher Epictetus' views on emotions and more specifically, how we can navigate our emotions in an oftentimes cruel and chaotic world.

Even though the advice here is simple, it is arguably the most important principle in all of Stoic philosophy.

Further reading:
https://www.stoichandbook.co/no-event-is-disturbing-or-bad/

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I recently read one of the best Buddhist meditation books I’ve ever come across.

The book is The Mind Illuminated. 

The author of this book, John Yates, aka Culadassa, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience and over 50,000 hours of meditation practice in the bank. 

It’s the kind of book that exudes expertise on every page. 

In the appendix of TMI, Culadassa shares a technique called “The Daily Mindful Review,” which is the best method he has ever discovered for increasing mindfulness in daily life. 

I went ahead and adapted this to add Stoic elements, and the result is what I consider to be the most powerful guided reflection I’ve ever created. 

Do this daily, and you will be astounded about the changes you make in the next 30 days. 

Those changes will include: 

• More mindfulness 
• Less heaviness 
• Better decisions 
• Drastically better relationships 
• Improved habits 
• More compassion 
• And the list goes on… 

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In today’s podcast, I explain my approach to learning and why I don’t believe reading books is optimal for truly integrating ideas into our life. 

Books can be a part of our approach to learning, but only when you already have the framework to make the most from them.

If you are not intentional with your reading, you end up merely exposing yourself to ideas without integrating them with your life. 

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In today’s Q&A, I discuss a question I had from a Stoic Handbook reader on “pornography addiction.” 

This is a very important and nuanced topic that I try my best to offer guidance on. 

I consider pornography addiction to be a “continuum addiction,” meaning there are no clear boundaries around it. This makes it extra problematic compared to more binary-type addictions. 

This episode will be useful to listeners who have any kind of compulsive behavior. 

Related posts from The Stoic Handbook:

1. On Aversion and Desire
2. How to Gain the Powers of a Stoic God

Other Helpful Resources:

• What would a Stoic say about porn? (Reddit thread)
• Morning Pages / Daily Journal (Website)
• Recommended Compassion Meditation (Insight Timer)
• Your Brain on Porn by Gary Wilson (Book)
• Atomic Habits by James Clear (Book)
• The Mind Illuminated by John Yates (Book)
• Pornography Can Ruin Your Sex Life by Mark Manson (Article)
• How to Break a Bad Habit by Garry Keller (Article) 

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In today’s podcast, I discuss my thoughts on how we can best manage our work-life balance. 

What I reveal in this lesson will be helpful for any busy people who want to maximize their output while minimizing their stress. 

Other posts you may want to read: 

1. My Insanely Productive Stoic Morning Routine
2. How to Turn Stress into Tranquility

Resources mentioned:

• Alain de Botton Ted Talk on Success
• Essentialism by Greg McKeown
• Bill of Rights
• Boundaries by Henry Cloud

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I recently published a post explaining My Insanely Productive Stoic Morning Routine.

During this article, I provide the morning writing prompts I use. One of those prompts is

“What three things will make up my power hour?” 

If you’re wondering what exactly a power hour is, and how I use it to maximize my productivity while caring for a 2-year-old half of the week and running multiple business projects on the side… 

…give this short podcast a listen. 

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This meditation is one of the most powerful of all the Stoic techniques. 

The Stoics realized that when you mentally step back and away from a difficult situation— sometimes called cognitive distancing, disassociation, and detachment—you are able to see what is happening with more objectivity and less stress. 

In other words, this technique allows you to put things in perspective, make better decisions, and live with more tranquility. 

Have you ever had a situation happen in your life that made you see very clearly that many of the things you were worrying about or spending your time thinking about were actually in fact… meaningless? 

This happened to me the moment my son was born. In that instant, so many petty concerns and disagreements seemed completely insignificant. 

By training with The View From Above regularly, you can begin to make this wise and objective perspective your default state.

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“When the light has been removed and my wife has fallen silent, aware of this habit that’s now mine, I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by.”

— Seneca

Last week, I shared with The Complete Stoic Morning Meditation. 

Following on from this, I will share the evening contemplation. 

Both are fantastic standalone contemplations, but work even better when combined. 

If our goal is to develop excellence of character (virtue), we must do three things: 

1. Reinforce good behavior 
2. Notice poor behavior 
3. Set goals to improve behavior 

This is exactly what Seneca recommended. I have put together this short contemplation for you to listen to every night to review your day. 

Imagine if, for the next 365 days, you took an honest look at your character each night and set small realistic goals for the next day… 

Those 0.1% changes would lead to a significant change in behavior. 

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This is a Stoic contemplation you can do every morning before you start the day.

It is based on Marcus Aurelius’ “premeditation of adversity” excerpt from his book Meditations;

"When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly."

By practicing in this way you will be prepared to meet any event with ease.

Read this Stoic breakdown for more information on the technique.

🌙  Listen to the nighttime reflection here. 

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I was recently alerted to the following tweet by Tucker Max:

"I've been trying to tell this to my friends for years. There is a reason it's a dead philosophy. "

He cited a study that had the following conclusion: 

A naive endorsement of stoic ideology might have negative wellbeing consequence.

In this episode, I dig into this study, Tucker Max, and the misconceptions of Stoicism to get to the bottom of all this. 

Does Stoicism cause more harm than good?

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