In this episode I talk to Benny Voncken, a writer, speaker, and practicing Stoic who's originally from the Netherlands.

He's also the co-founder of an online Stoicism platform called Via Stoica, which offers personalized Stoic coaching services, an online Stoic community, live conversations on X, and their own Via Stoica podcast.

I really enjoyed talking with Benny. In the conversation, he shares some of the difficulties he's been through that led to him taking Stoicism seriously as a philosophy of life and how he now uses that experience to help others in his work as a Stoic coach. I hope you enjoy the episode.

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The most common misunderstanding about Stoicism is that it’s all about suppressing or burying our emotions.

This tends to come from the confusion between Stoicism (upper case ‘S’) and stoicism (lower case ‘s’); the former is the ancient Greek philosophy that we learn about and practice, the latter is simply a “stiff-upper-lip” coping style.

In this episode, we look at why it's better to understand and process our emotions rather than dismiss and suppress them.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

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It can be useful to find parallels between our philosophical pursuits that are inspired by ancient practices and the more modern messages we’re exposed to in our daily lives.

Relating things like art, sport, and entertainment to Stoic principles often helps us to remember the concepts and perhaps even better understand how they pertain to modern life.

In this episode, we look at two such examples.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The more we do, the Stoic philosopher Seneca tells us in his book On Tranquility of Mind, the more we put ourselves in Fortune's power, the more we tempt her.

In other words, the more tasks we take on, the more journeys we make, the more objectives we pursue, the more things there are that can go wrong.

In this episode, we look at why that doesn't mean we should limit our ambitions or give up altogether.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If we practice philosophy, it’s up to us to get to know ourselves. It’s up to us to know the principles by which we live and, by extension, what we find reasonable and unreasonable.

In this episode, we look at what Epictetus had to say about this responsibility and how our efforts each day can help us live an examined life.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When those unfamiliar with Stoicism learn about the four cardinal virtues of Wisdom, Justice, Temperance, and Courage, they are sometimes disturbed that kindness isn’t among them.

Kindness, however, is indeed a huge part of Stoicism. In this episode, we look at how it is essentially a subdivision of the virtue of Justice, which governs how we should treat others.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It can sometimes be challenging to remember what it actually means to “do philosophy.” To some, it’s an abstract concept. When it comes to Stoicism, however, it’s very much a practical pursuit that impacts our daily lives.

In this episode, we look at how we can achieve a productive balance between theory and practice.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we examine Stoic ways of mentally preparing for the unexpected events that each day presents.

It's then possible to resolve to meet them with acceptance rather than struggling against them and creating difficulty for ourselves.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"If you seek tranquillity, do less. More accurately, do what’s essential...and in the requisite way.

Which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better. Because most of what we say and do isn’t essential. Ask yourself at every moment, Is this necessary?"

—Marcus Aurelius, 4.24

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Stoics liked to draw parallels between the practice of philosophy and other, more physical pursuits that require concentrated effort to improve one’s ability.

One popular analogy was to present Stoicism as a type of training similar to that an athlete would undertake.

In this episode, we reflect on Epictetus's comparison of life to the Olympic Games, and Musonius Rufus's use of Stoicism as a means of strengthening one’s soul.

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☀️ Start your next 10 days like a Stoic with morning routines that take only 10 minutes to complete.

Free Stoic 10-day series: https://whatisstoicism.com/10days

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.