Counterintuitive Wisdom on the Road to Self Improvement — Do you have a blind spot? What if the road to self-improvement is a path you’re not seeing? In a recent conversation with Donald J. Robertson (author of How to Think Like Roman Emperor), I asked him to unpack his statement, “Anger is the royal road to self-improvement.” Here’s a…

Mission: Joy — Counterintuitive Wisdom on the Art of Living — Do you see a connection between suffering and compassion? You might be surprised to hear the Dalia Lama and Desmond Tutu speak on suffering and compassion. The new Netflix documentary Mission: Joy — Finding Happiness in Troubled Times explores the nature of suffering, joy, and compassion with His Holiness the…

Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life (and Leaders) — Would you want to be led by a Stoic? How do Stoic principles influence the way we lead others? These are a couple of the questions discussed in my recent conversation with Donald Robertson (author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor). One of the most well-known principles in…

Learning to want things to happen as they do happen — In part 1 of How to Be Free — Like Epictetus, we discussed that “If you wish to have peace and contentment,” observed Epictetus, “release your attachment to all things outside your control. This is the path of freedom and happiness.” Although knowing the path does not necessarily mean it’s…

Happiness, Walking, and Being Yourself — Welcome to The PATH (Monday Meditation): A weekly reflection with three insights into daily life. This week’s reflection searches for lessons on the art of living from Nietzsche (Happiness, Walking, and Being Yourself). 1. Happiness “My formula for happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal.” — Nietzsche What can…

Reflections on the Virtue of Hope (in Daily Life) — Two thousand years ago, the philosopher Aristotle was tasked with tutoring a young Alexander the Great. One of the lessons Aristotle taught was on the golden mean. Which states, “virtue is the golden mean between two vices.” On one side of the mean, you have excess and the other deficiency. …

Dying, Becoming, and Living — Welcome to The PATH: A weekly reflection with three insights into daily life. This week’s reflection searches for ancient lessons on Becoming Every Day (Dying, Becoming, and Living). 1. Dying Seneca stressed to Luciulius that we are wrong to think about death as something that lies ahead. “We die every day,” observed…

Reflections on Getting Curious About Yourself, Others, and the World — Have you ever seen a toddler look at ants? My four-year-old squats down to look closely at ants, flowers, and virtually everything. He is far more curious about the world than I am on most days. Although regardless of our age, we can (and should) continue cultivating our curiosity. My…

An Ancient Guide to Stoic Wisdom — How would you define freedom? Is your definition of freedom similar to that of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus? The first lesson of the Encheiridion, Epictetus’s guide to Stoicism, insists that everything that is truly our own doing is naturally free, unimpeded, and unconstrained. In the short book How to Be…