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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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The Stoics used a technique called “Premeditation of Adversity.” 

By reflecting on the possible misfortunes that await us, we benefit in three ways: 

1. We are more prepared and therefore protect ourselves against misfortune 
2. We practice virtue in the face of misfortune so it affects us less 
3. We become more grateful because that misfortune is not here yet 

In today’s meditation, we imagine an apocalyptic scene to help us focus on our most important life values. 

Many of us waste time because we fall prey to the faulty belief that we will live forever. 

By reflecting on the shortness of life, we can gain motivation and gratitude to steer our lives in much more fruitful directions.

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In today’s audio lesson I read out and reflect on the following quote by Seneca: 

“This is the touchstone of such a spirit; no prizefighter can go with high spirits into the strife if he has never been beaten black and blue; the only contestant who can confidently enter the lists is the man who has seen his own blood, who has felt his teeth rattle beneath his opponent's fist, who has been tripped and felt the full force of his adversary's charge, who has been downed in body but not in spirit, one who, as often as he falls, rises again with greater defiance than ever.”

Make sure to click the “play button” to listen to why I find this quote so meaningful, and why if applied to your own life, can radically transform it.

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In Chapter 4 of the Enchiridion, Epictetus shows us the three-step process for making plans.

In this audio lesson, I elaborate on that process and guide you through it. 

This is an extremely powerful exercise, but the power comes from actually practicing it as with any powerful exercise.

So make a commitment to start running through this process every time you make a plan.

With enough practice, this process will become an automatic habit you do whenever you make plans, and that’s when the magic happens.

Read this Stoic breakdown to go along with this episode: https://www.stoichandbook.co/how-to-plan-your-day/

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The first chapter of Epictetus’ handbook deals with what’s called “The Dichotomy of Control.” 

In this meditation, I guide you through a mental training exercise that will help you practice integrating this Stoic principle. 

The benefits of this training cannot be understated. 

Although simple, Epictetus says that by using The Dichotomy of Control in your life, you can expect the following benefits:

• You will feel liberated and free.
• You will not have any hatred or resentment in your heart.
• Every single thing you do will be chosen by you.
• Nobody will have the power to hurt you.

Use this meditation and re-read my breakdown on the first chapter of Epictetus’ handbook here. 

Try as best you can to make this way of seeing the world an automatic habit.

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Death is an inevitable, natural event that is neither intrinsically good nor bad. But many of us carry around a judgment about this event that causes us great anxiety.

If you can train your mind to become accepting of death, you can live life with more urgency, focus only on what is essential, and all other “smaller” anxieties will fall away opening up space for joy, compassion, and awareness. 

As Sam Harris said: 

“Consider it: every person you have ever met, every person will suffer the loss of his friends and family. All are going to lose everything they love in this world. Why would one want to be anything but kind to them in the meantime?”

The key is to truly grasp the implications of this statement on an emotional level. 

Practice this contemplation regularly—for as long as there is strong death anxiety, there is work to be done.

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