Month of Service: The 1000 Stoics Challenge

April is The Stoic Fellowship’s Month of Service, and you’re invited to participate in the One Thousand Stoics Challenge

BY: engaging in an act of service or kindness this month and sharing the action with the community via this simple form

• https://forms.gle/9S5biJfabCLtz84k7

The goal is to have 1000 actions performed in the next 30 days. Please see the flyers below for details, and share them!!

This post collects an array of ideas to help get you started, organized around the version of the Circles of Hierocles developed by Stoics in Action.

So what is a benefit? It is a well-intentioned action that confers joy and in doing so derives joy, inclined towards and willingly prepared for doing what it does. — Seneca, On Benefits, I.6.1

No matter how previous benefits have turned out, carry on bestowing them on others… Do not give up. Keep on with your task and fulfill the role of a good man. Assist one person with wealth, someone else with credit, another with influence, someone else with your advice, another with sensible instruction. — Seneca, On Benefits, I.2.4

Suggested Reading

Find many more sources of inspiration in the Stoics in Action Reading List.

• Kai Whiting and Leo K.’s new book, Being Better: Stoicism for a World Worth Living In
• Peter Singer’s The Most Good you can Do: How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically
• Massimo Pigliucci, “Stoic Advice: Effective Altruism,” How to Be a Stoic (blog), 05 July, 2017.
• Massimo Pigliucci, “Stoic Advice: Giving to the Homeless,” How to Be a Stoic (blog), 07 July, 2017.
• Patrick Herring, “Developing an Addiction to Public Service,” Medium, 12 June, 2018.
• John Sellers, “Introducing the Aurelius Foundation,” Stoicism Today (blog), 06 February, 2020.
• Kellys Andreína Rodríguez, “Voluntariado social de la Stoa Madrid,” blog of Stoa Madrid, 09 September, 2022.

Family and Friendship

• Send a letter of appreciation to somebody in your life, thanking them for something they have done or just for being a part of your life.
• Reach out to a lonely person.
• Make a regular habit of calling friends or relatives you rarely speak to.
• Keep a birthday calendar, and send birthday cards on time.
• Write an encouraging note to someone facing a challenge.
• Take up Seneca’s benevolence challenge: try to predict what your friends or family will ask you to do, and do it preemptively, before they ask.
• Practice attentive listening, and asking loved ones questions about their day and their life.
• Take on a household task that someone else usually takes care of, or which will improve the environment for others.

Career

• Mentor a colleague who could benefit from your experience.
• Look for ways to practice personal benevolence in the workplace. For example, through attentive listening, thank you cards, taking on tasks to support others, etc.
• End conversations by asking colleagues how you can help them.
• Take up Seneca’s benevolence challenge in a professional setting: try to predict what your colleagues will request, and do it preemptively, before they ask.
• Pick a growth area and build a new habit: are you often late for meetings? Over-optimistic in making promises? Missing a skill? Track your habit and try to improve for a few weeks.

Service and Philanthropy

• Perhaps the best way to improve your service game is to get involved in a social group aimed at service. Invest time in building social connections: attending churches, clubs, Stoic Fellowship groups, the annual meeting for your local food bank, etc., is often the first step toward finding meaningful ways to contribute locally.
• Send a care package to a deployed soldier.
• Donate books to the library.
• Donate blood or platelets.
• Volunteer at shelter or food bank.
• Share your talents with someone who needs a hand.
• Learn CPR.
• Prepare an emergency kit.
• Participate in community clean up.
• Volunteer at an animal shelter.
• Make a donation to a charity.

Politics and Environment

• Recycle.
• Take a walk in nature.
• Plant a garden.
• Participate in a Braver Angels debate or workshop (if in the U.S.A.), or a similar cross-partisan dialogue event in your country.