Lessons From the Stoics
“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?” — Epictetus
Stoicism isn’t a philosophy of academics, it is a way of life. It has to be practiced in life daily to gain all of its advantages. These lessons have to be instilled into your head and carried throughout any event. The benefits of the Stoic life is endless so here are some lesson from the greatest stoics in history.
Lesson 1:
“In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish things into two categories: externals I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.” -Epictetus
Divide the world to things you can control and things you cannot. Focus all your energy on the things you can control, and don’t burn energy on things you have no control over in life.
You have an outdoor party, but it decides to rain, and becomes canceled. No amount of rain dancing will stop it from raining. No amount of wishing that your taller will make you taller.
Complaining about things’ out of your own control will only waste time that could have been used to be focusing on yourself and the things you can control.
Lesson 2:
“It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.” -Epictetus
Something happens in our life we decide if it is good or bad. We decided if it was fair or unfair. We decided if it were successful or a failure. When someone says or calls you something, you decided to be offended or that its means or rude.
Events in your life are objective, everything else is just an opinion. You have the power to change the way you see events. When you realize you have this power, you can change any perception of life.
Lesson 3:
“No man is free who is not master of himself”-Epictetus
Know your yourself, find your strengths and continue to grow them stronger. Know your weakness and be aware of them. Know your soul and what it is capable of. Know your bias, so you can avoid thinking irrational.
Understand and study yourself on a deep level. As you understand yourself you will have control of yourself and your life, freedom.
Lesson 4:
“There are more things likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” -Seneca
The only thing we should be worrying about is what we are worrying about. We spend so much time in fear, worrying about this and that. By doing this we torture ourselves about things that might not even happen.
Pain is unavoidable, and we can not fall in the trap of worrying about things that haven’t happened. Instead of being locked in your own mind with fear, learn to focus on what is in front of you. Always stay in the present, not the future or the past.
Lesson 5:
“Excellence withers without an adversary; as fire is the test for gold, so adversity is the test of strong men.” -Seneca
Without challenges in our life we cannot become stronger, or wiser. We cannot find our best self. Our best self is forced out only during challenging times. Is a hero a hero without a villain challenging him?
You should be actively seeking challenges in your life not avoiding it. You will become more prepared for anything life if you continue challenging yourself.
Lesson 6:
“Associate with those who will make a better man of you; welcome those whom you yourself can improve: the process is mutual for men learn as they teach.” -Seneca
We are a product of the people we hang out with. If your unhappy with your life then look around you, who do you associate with. Are they making you and the people around you better?
Put yourself around people who push you to become better versions of yourself. Don’t be afraid of making new friends. These little changes can change the entire direction of your life.
Lesson 7:
“Choose not to be harmed — and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed — and you haven’t been. -Marcus Aurelius
Learn to control your emotional response, take responsibility of your emotional response. No more crying, and no more whining. Other peoples criticisms of you are not important nor is their praise for you.
Your emotional response is a muscle that need to be worked on. The more you work on it the better you will get at it. Exercise this muscle as much as you can to gain control over emotional response.
Lesson 8:
“Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself.” -Marcus Aurelius
Be compassionate, have compassion for others. Everybody has strengths and weakness. Everybody has experienced different events in their lives, that have shaped them the way they are, recognize this. Even your worst enemy does not intend to hurt you.
Be strict with yourself as you have the power to control yourself not the people around you.
