Embrace the wisdom of the Stoics. Discover nine principles that can guide you through life's chaotic moments, helping you maintain your calm and composure. Let's delve into the timeless philosophy that champions tranquility amidst turmoil.
Act on your principles, not your moods
Stoicism can help us smash creative blocks and do our best work
- The goal of Stoicism is to attain inner peace by overcoming adversity, practicing self-control, being conscious of our impulses, realizing our ephemeral nature and the short time allotted-these were all meditative practices that helped them live with their nature and not against it.
- It’s important that we understand the obstacles that we face and not run from them
Challenge yourself to be brutally honest
It’s hard to change habits if you aren’t aware as to why you didn’t do your work today and chose to watch Netflix instead
- Be mindful of the urges that obstruct us from showing up, engaging, committing, and being present
- Why, exactly, am I feeling this way?” Get to the bottom of that
Remind yourself: you weren’t meant to procrastinate
People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat.
- Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving or the dancer for dance?
Remind yourself that time is our most precious resource
While you’re alive and able – be good.”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
- The way we lead our lives and do our work must embody the principles that we practice
- Less comparing, criticizing, and consuming; more creating, learning, and living
Recognize there is life after failure
Don’t let failure stop you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility, straightforwardness, and all other qualities that allow a person’s nature to fulfill itself
- Recovering from failure is a practice, a mindset, and a mindset is key to growth
How about you? What current principles do you follow that help you do your work?
Do the job no one teaches you
- Develop a toolbox of skills to access in times of stress or uncertainty
- “Fake it until you make it” may be the worst advice
- Here’s how to regain confidence and clarity in your career instead
Read purposefully, and apply your knowledge
The purpose of education is to internalize knowledge but ultimately spark action and facilitate wiser decisions.
- Reading prepares your mind, even helps you avoid foolish mistakes, but at the end of it all there must be the result of some action: a failure, maybe a success, or a lesson.
Reflect on what you spend the most time on
The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to the object
- You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve
- People who do excellent work, who master their craft, do so because of their ability to prioritize
- Be mindful of how we interact with our distractions
Acknowledge that all emotions come from within
It is not outside forces that make us feel something, it is what we tell ourselves that create our feelings.
- The next time you run into an obstacle and feel resistance, don’t look at what’s around you – instead, look within.
Find someone you respect, and use them to stay honest
“Choose someone whose way of life as well as words, and whose very face as mirroring the character that lies behind it, have won your approval. Be always pointing him out to yourself either as your guardian or as your model. Without a ruler to do it against you won’t make the crooked straight.”
- Seneca, Letters From a Stoic
Put the phone away and be present
Throughout your day find a moment, however fleeting, to just sit and be still. Take a few deep breathes, put your phone on vibrate so there’s no chance of interruption, and reflect on the series of events that took place throughout your day.
