5 Lessons From Seneca To Live a Good Life
The former advisor to a Roman emperor, Lucius Seneca had some fantastic advice that applies to modern life just as it did to ancient life.
Nero’s rule went downhill when he stopped listening to Seneca.
Seneca (the Younger) was a stoic philosopher in early first century ancient Rome. After being brought back from an eight-year exile in Corsica, he became tutor to Nero, the adopted son of the Roman emperor.
Five years later, when Nero became emperor himself, he still sought Seneca’s wisdom to help him rule. For first few years of Nero’s reign, under the guidance of Seneca, his empire was well-run.
However, as Nero started to ignore his once-trusted advisor, his rule became tyrannical. Eventually, suspecting that Seneca was conspiring against him, Nero ordered for Seneca’s death. It only took three years after getting rid of his old advisor for Nero’s empire to turn on him and for his rule (and life!) to end.
Everything was better for Nero when he listened to the lessons Seneca gave him — so you should listen to the stoic legend too!
Here are five lessons from Seneca that will improve your life:
Lesson 1 — Be grateful
Gratitude, more specifically gratitude journaling, has become a trend in the modern self-help space.
It turns out that, even 2000 years ago, people were talking about it. Here’s what Seneca had to say:
“Unblessed is he who thinks himself unblessed.”
As humans, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we desire, but not what we have. It’s important to be grateful if you want to live a happy life.
The science backs this. This study found that sending letters of gratitude significantly boosted the mental wellbeing of people in counselling and there are many similar findings in other studies on the benefits of gratitude.
Try jotting down a few lines of gratitude every day and see how much happier it makes you.
Lesson 2 — Be brave
Courage is one of the four stoic virtues.
According to Seneca,
“He who is brave is free.”
Bravery is difficult but it’s worth it.
Being courageous in life could lead to you getting your dream job or meeting your future partner. Being brave is a decision, not an emotion. You can’t pretend to be brave.
As Nassim Taleb once tweeted,
“Courage is the only virtue you can’t fake.”
Lesson 3 — When you’re angry, pause
We all get angry, even stoic philosophers.
The difference between regular people and stoics is that the stoics don’t let their rage influence their actions. Actions taken out of anger are often needlessly destructive.
It’s important to pause for a few minutes (or even a few seconds) to let your logical brain kick back in.
The next time you feel like punching a hole in your computer monitor because of a software crash, remember what Seneca said:
“The greatest remedy for anger is delay.”
Lesson 4 — Reflect on the past
Seneca said that it’s always important to reflect on what we have done, for our plans in the future depend on our past.
“What really ruins our characters is the fact that none of us looks back over his life.”
A great way to do this is through journaling.
Perhaps the most famous stoic, Marcus Aurelius —less of a dictatorial Roman emperor than Nero, is known for his journal. It is through his journal that we as modern stoics are still taught by him.
Write in your journal and, later, reflect on the things you wrote long ago.
Lesson 5 — Be hopeless
This sounds very nihilistic but I promise you it’s not.
Quoting Hecato, Seneca writes:
“Cease to hope and you will cease to fear.”
Stoicism is all about focussing on the things you can control.
If you do that, you’ll be able to think with clarity and rationality. Hope is an emotion based on the desire for something that which you can’t control to go your way. That’s why Seneca is against it.
If you allow yourself to be hopeful, you’re allowing yourself to have fear.
Here’s how Seneca explains this idea:
“Just as the same chain fastens the prisoner and soldier who guards him, so hope and fear, dissimilar as they are, keep step together; fear follows hope.”
