Wherever a person can live, there one can also live well;<ul><li>Abraham Lincoln is the most renowned politician of his time. Even at a profession like that, he was able to be compassionate, humble, open-minded and purposeful.</li><li>Principles and pragmatism are not at odds. Whether you live in the white house or in a jail or in a closed-minded small town, you can live well if you choose to. Plenty of other have! It's your principles that govern your way of life.</li></ul>

Pragmatic and Principled - Day 1

"It's better to conquer grief than to deceive it." - Seneca<ul><li>The Stoics intended to teach us to face, process and deal with emotions immediately instead of running from them. Distraction might be pleasant in the short term but focusing is better in the long term. </li><li>That means facing it now. Process and parse what you are feeling. Remove your expectations, your entitlements, your sense of having been wronged. Find the positive in the situation, but also sit with your pain and accept it, remembering that it is a part of life. That's how one conquers grief. </li></ul>

Don't Hide From Your Feelings - Day 124

<ul><li>Something happened that we wish had not. Which of these is easiest to change: our opinion or the event that is past? </li><li>The answer is obvious. Accept what happened and change your wish that it had not happened. The art of acquiescence - to accept rather than fight every little thing. </li><li>Stoics take us a step forward. Instead of simply accepting, they urge us to enjoy what has happened - whatever it is. A love of fate. </li><li>To wish for what has happened to happen is a clever way to avoid disappointment, but to actually feel gratitude for what happens? To love it? That's a recipe for happiness and joy. </li></ul>

Accepting What Is - Day 87

<ul><li>Abraham Lincoln got fuming mad with a subordinate. Rather than taking it out on that person directly, he'd write a long letter, outlining his case why they were wrong. Then he would fold it up, put the letter in the desk drawer, and never send it.</li><li>He knew, that it was easy to fight back. It's tempting to give them a piece of your mind. But you almost always end up with regret. You almost always wish you hadn't sent that letter. Think of the last time you flew off the handle. What was the outcome? Was there any benefit?</li></ul>

To Each His Own - Day 203

When the problem arose for us whether habit or theory was better for getting virtue - Musonius thought habit to be more effective. <ul><li>There is no time to chop logic over whether our theories are correct. We are dealing with the real world here. What matters is how you're going to deal with this situation right in front of you and whether you're going to able to move past it. </li><li>Although theories are clean and simple, situations rarely are! </li></ul>

No Time For Theories, just Results - Day 5

<ul><li>Why did I do that? You've probably asked yourself. We all have. How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking?</li><li>You weren't. That's the problem. Within that head of yours is all the reason and intelligence you need. It's making sure that it's deferred to and utilized that's the tough part. It's making sure that your mind is in charge, not your emotions, not your immediate physical sensations, not your surging hormones.</li><li>Fix your attention on your intelligence. Let it do its thing.</li></ul>

Think Before You Act - Day 192

<ul><li>Stoicism is not a religion. You're not obligated to save anyone - there's no risk of hell if a soul remains ignorant to the Stoic philosophy. </li><li>But now that you've learned a better path, you can be of service to others. You can share your wisdom or insight with a friend or stranger - remembering that behaviour is always a better example than a lecture. </li><li>Everyone deserves to benefit from "philosophy's principles" as Seneca put it. If you see someone who is in need of help, or has asked for guidance, provide it. You owe them that much. </li></ul>

Spread The Word - Day 71

<ul><li>After all you've read, it night be tempting to think: This stuff is great. I get it. I'm a Stoic. But it's not that easy. Just because you agree with the philosophy doesn't mean the roots have fully taken hold in your mind. </li><li>Fooling with books so you can sound smart or have an intimidating library is like tending a garden to impress your neighbours. The seeds of Stoicism are long underground. Do the work required to nurture and tend to them. So that they - and you - are prepared and sturdy for the hard winters of life. </li></ul>

A Garden Is Not For Show - Day 40

"There is no reason to live and no limit to our miseries if we let our fears predominant." - Seneca"Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - RooseveltThe stoics knew fear was to be feared because of the miseries it creates. A tough situation isn't helped by terror - it only makes things harder. That's why we must resist it and reject it, if we wish to turn this situation around.

Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself - Day 34

<ul><li>Marcus read all of Epictetus's ideas and he absorbed them wholly with a deep understanding. They became part of his DNA as a human being. He quoted them at length over the course of his life, finding real clarity and strength in words, even amid the immense luxury and power he would come to possess.</li><li>That's the kind of deep reading and study we need to cultivate as well, which is why we're reading just one thought a day instead of a book at a time. So we can take the time to read attentively and deeply.</li></ul>

Push For Deep Understanding - Day 171

<ul><li>The first person you meet today - passing acquaintance or friend - no matter the context - positive or negative - is an opportunity for kindness. For both of you. You can seek to understand who they are, and what forces might be acting on them. And you can treat them well and be better off for it. </li><li>The same is true with the second person you encounter, and the third. Of course, there is no guarantee that they will return the favor, but that's not our concern. As always, we're going to focus on what we control: in this case, the ability to choose to respond with kindness. </li></ul>

The Benefit of Kindness - Day 72

<ul><li>When people say change is good, they're usually trying to reassure themselves. Because instinctively we view change as bad - or at least we're suspicious of it.</li><li>The Stoics want you to do away with those labels altogether. Change isn't good. The status quo isn't bad. They just are.</li><li>Remember, events are objective. It's only our opinion that says something is good or bad (and thus worth fighting against or fighting for). A better attitude? To decide to make most of everything. But to do that you must first cease fighting.</li></ul>

Not Good Neither Bad - Day 90

"Leave the past behind, let the grand design take care of the future, and instead only rightly guide the present to révérence and justice. Révérence so that you'll love what you've been allotted, for nature brought you both to each other. Justice so that you'll speak the truth freely and without evasion, and so that you'll act only as the law and value of things require." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Two words for life: persist and resist. But what principles should determine what we persist in and what we ought to resist? Marcus supplies that answer: reverence and justice. In other words, virtue. </li></ul>

Révérence And Justice - Day 65

<ul><li>It's something to think about when you consider whom to work with and whom to do business with in life. If you provide a bad example or something illegal or unethical advice to your employees, associates, or your children, might they betray you or hurt you down the road? What goes around comes around, is the saying. Karma is a notion we have imported from the East, along similar lines. </li><li>Seneca paid a price for his instructions to Nero. As has been throughout the ages, his hypocrisy - avoidable or not - was costly. So too will be yours. </li></ul>

We Reap What We Sow - Day 82

"We are like pellets of incense falling on the altar. Some collapse sooner, others later, but it makes no difference."-Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Measuring ourselves against others makes acceptance difficult, because we want what they have, not what we happen to have. But that makes no difference. </li><li>Some might see this line from Marcus as pessimistic, whereas others see it as optimistic. It's really just truth. We're all here and we're all going to leave this earth eventually, so let's not concern ourselves with petty differences in the meantime. We have too much to do. </li></ul>

The Altar Of No Difference - Day 112

<ul><li>Seneca was a Stoic. He had many material things, yet, as the Stoics say, he was also indifferent to them. He enjoyed them while they were there, but he accepted that they might someday disappear. What better attitude than desperately craving more or fearfully dreading losing even one penny. Indifference is a solid middle ground.</li><li>It's not about avoidance or shunning, but rather not giving any possible outcome more power or preference than is appropriate. This is not easy to do, certainly, but if you could manage, how much more relaxed would you be?</li></ul>

Cultivating Indifference Where Others Grow Passion - Day 204

Whatever our case is today, let's align our minds along these four critical habits:<ol><li>Accept only what is true. </li><li>Work for the common good. </li><li>Match our needs and wants with what is in our control. </li><li>Embrace what nature has in store for us. </li></ol>

Four Habits Of The Stoic Mind - Day 104

<ul><li>Socrates used to say that "nobody does wrong willingly." Meaning that no one is wrong on purpose either. Nobody thinks they're wrong, even when they are. They think they're right, they're just mistaken. Otherwise, they wouldn't think it anymore.</li><li>How much more tolerant and understanding would you be today if you could see the actions of other people as attempts to do the right thing? Whether you agree or not, how radically would this lens change your perspective on otherwise offensive or belligerent actions?</li></ul>

Seeing Things As The Person At Fault Does - Day 217

<ul><li>Marcus Aurelius constantly points out how the emperors who came before him were barely remembered just a few years later.</li><li>The same goes for those driven to the heights of hate or anger or obsession or perfection. Alexander the great - one of the most ambitious and passionate men - was buried in the same ground as his mule driver. Eventually, all of us will pass away and slowly be forgotten. We should enjoy this brief time we have on earth - not be enslaved to emotions that make us miserable and dissatisfied.</li></ul>

The Smoke And Dust Of Myth - Day 202

<ul><li>It's dangerous to have faith in what you do not control. But your own reasoned choice? Well, for now that is in your control. Therefore it is one of the few things you can have confidence in. It's the one area of health that can't suddenly be given a terminal diagnosis. It's the only one that remains pristine and never wears down - it's only the user who quits it; never will it quit the user. </li><li>All philosophers lived this way - even while they had families and while they were struggling students. And so can you. </li></ul>

Everlasting Good Health - Day 132

<ul><li>Seneca has said, "Without a ruler to do it against, you can't make crooked straight." That is the role of wise people in our lives - to serve as models and inspiration. To bounce our ideas off and test our presumptions.</li><li>Who that person will be for you is up to you. Perhaps it's your father or your mother. Maybe it's a philosopher or a writer or a thinker. Perhaps WWJD (What would Jesus do?) is the right model for you.</li><li>But pick someone, watch what they do (and what they don't do), and do your best to do the same.</li></ul>

Watching The Wise - Day 175

<ul><li>Clarity of vision allows us to have belief. That's not to say we're always going to be 100 percent certain of everything. Rather, we're heading generally in the right direction - that we don't need to constantly compare ourselves with other people or change our minds every three seconds based on new information.</li><li>Instead, tranquility and peace are found in identifying our path and in sticking to it: staying the course - making adjustments here and there, naturally - but ignoring the distracting sirens who beckon us to turn toward the rocks.</li></ul>

Place Is In Staying The Course - Day 162

"Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Today, we could hope that goodness comes our way - good news, good weather, good luck. Or we could find it ourselves, in ourselves. Goodness isn't something that's going to be delivered by mail. You have to dig it up inside your own soul. You find it within your own thoughts, and you make it with your own actions. </li></ul>

The Fountain Of Goodness - Day 79

If you start something and right away feel yourself getting lazy and irritated, first ask yourself: Why am I doing this? If it really is a necessity, ask yourself: Whats behind my reluctance? Fear? Spite? Fatigue?Don't forge ahead hoping that someone will relieve you or someone will explain you why what you're doing matters. Don't be the person who says yes with their mouth but no with their actions. Quality is much better than quantity.

When You Feel Lazy - Day 24

<ul><li>Take a look at some of the powerful, rich people. Look at what success has cost them. Mostly? Freedom.</li><li>Their work demands they wear a suit. It will require - inevitably - realizing they are unable to say what they actually think. Worse, it demands that they become a different person.</li><li>Sure, it might pay well - but they haven't truly examined the transaction. As Seneca put it, "Slavery resides under marble and gold." Too many successful people are prisoners in jails of their own making. Is that what you want? Is that what you're working hard toward? Let's hope not.</li></ul>

Living Without Restriction - Day 216

<ul><li>The leader convinced that he might be betrayed acts first and betrays others first. Afraid that he's not well-liked he works hard that it has the opposite effect. Convinced of mismanagement, he micromanages and becomes the Source of mismanagement. The things we dread or fear, we blindly inflict on ourselves.</li><li>The next time you're afraid of some outcome, remember that if you don't control your impulses if you lose your self-control, you may be the very source of the disaster you so fear. It has happened to smarter and more powerful and more successful people. It can happen to us too</li></ul>

Fear Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Day 185

<ul><li>You messed up a little. Or maybe you messed up a lot.</li><li>So? That doesn't change the philosophy that you know. It's not as if your reasoned choice has permanently abandoned you. Rather, it was you who temporarily abandoned it.</li><li>Remember that the tools and aims of our training are unaffected by the turbulence of the moment. Stop, regain your composure. It's waiting for you.</li></ul>

When You Lose Control - Day 205

"Consider who you are. Above all, a human being, carrying no greater power than your own reasoned choice, which oversees all other things, and is free from any other master." - EpictetusYour hidden power is your ability to use reason and make choices, however limited or small. Think about the areas of your life where you are under duress or weighted down by obligation. What are the choices available to you, day after day? Are you taking advantage? Are you finding the positives?

Your Hidden Power - Day 32

<ul><li>It's easier to quote, to rely on the wise words of others. Especially when the people you're deferring to are such towering figures. </li><li>It's harder (and more intimidating) to venture out on your own and express your own thoughts. But how do you think those wise and true quotes from those towering figures were created in the first place? </li><li>Your own experiences have value. You have accumulated your own wisdom too. Stake your claim. Put something down for the ages - in words and also in example. </li></ul>

Stake Your Own Claim - Day 138

<ul><li>A good person is invincible, for they don't rush into contests in which they aren't the strongest. You will never compel what they set out for, nor trap them in what they would avoid. How can such a person not be invincible? </li><li>Don't try to beat the opponent where they are strongest. That's what we try to do when we are put on the spot. Or we say yes to everything that comes our way. </li><li>Discretion is the better part of valour. Think hard before choosing, and make yourself unbeatable. </li></ul>

Only Fools Rush In! - Day 12

<ul><li>In undergoing the twelve step program, many addicts struggle most with step 2: acknowledging a higher power. Addicts often fight this one. At first they claim its because they're atheists or because they don't like religion. But later they realise that this is just the addiction talking. </li><li>You don't have to believe there is a god directing the universe, you just need to stop believing that you're the director. As soon as you can attune your spirit to that idea, the easier and happier your life will be, because you will have given up the most potent addiction of all: control </li></ul>

A Higher Power - Day 91

"Don't behave as if you're destined to live forever. What's fated hangs over you. As long as you live and while you can, become good now." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>The reality is, a sword is hanging over all of us - life can be taken from us at any moment. And that threat can send us in one of two directions: we can fear and dread it, or we can use it to motivate us. To do good, to be good. Because the sword is dangling, and there's nothing else to be concerned with. Would you rather it catch you in the middle of some shameful, selfish act or during your wait to be good in the future? </li></ul>

The Sword Dangles Over You - Day 122

<ul><li>"Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice." - Epictetus</li><li>Have you watched a seasoned pro handle the media? They parry every blow with humor, poise, and patience. They always choose not to flinch or react.</li><li>Our reasoned choice - Our prohairesis, as the Stoics called it - is a kind of invincibility that we can cultivate. We can shrug off hostile attacks and breeze through pressure or problems. And, like our pro, when we finish, we can point back to the crowd and say, "Next!</li></ul>

On Being Invincible - Day 182

<ul><li>It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to it's worth, for then you won't tire and give up. </li><li>If you give things more time and energy than they deserve, they're no longer lesser things. You've made them important by the life you've spent on them.</li><li>And sadly, you've made the important things - your family, your health, your true commitments - less so as a result of what you've stolen from them. </li></ul>

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff - Day 16

<ul><li>In the morning, remind yourself of what is in your control and what's not.</li><li>Before lunch, remind yourself that the only thing you truly possess is your ability to make choices.</li><li>In the afternoon, remind yourself that aside from the choices, your fate is not entirely up to you.</li><li>In the evening, remind yourself again how much is outside of your control and where your choices begin and end.</li><li>As you lie in bed, remember that sleep is a form of surrender and trust and how easily it comes. And prepare to start the whole cycle over again tomorrow.</li></ul>

The One Path To Serenity - Day 159

"The person who does wrong, does wrong to themselves - making themselves evil" - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>The next time you do something wrong, try to remember how it made you feel. Rarely does one say, "I felt great!"</li><li>We feel a version of sickness when we lie, when we cheat and when we screw someone over. In that split second before your ill-gotten gains kick in, ask: How do I feel about myself? </li><li>Self-awareness and wrongdoing rarely go together. If you need a selfish reason to not do wrong - put yourself in touch with these feelings. They're a powerful disincentive. </li></ul>

A Selfish Reason To Be Good - Day 62

<ul><li>Epictetus shows us the themes of tolerance and acceptance. Cleanthes and Euripides evoke destiny and fate as concepts that help ease acceptance. When one has a belief in a greater power, then there is no such thing as an event going contrary to plan. </li><li>What happens to us can seem random or upsetting, when in fact these events make perfect sense when our perspective is zoomed out, even just slightly. </li><li>Let's practice this today. Pretend that each event - whether desired or unexpected - was willed to happen, willed specifically for you. You wouldn't fight that much would you? </li></ul>

Maxims From Three Wise Men - Day 105

<ul><li>This is important enough that it bears repeating: a wise person knows what's inside their circle of control and what is outside of it.</li><li>The circle of control contains just one thing: YOUR MIND. Everything else, even your physical body isn't completely within the circle. There are physical illness not under your control.</li><li>The good news is you got fewer things you need to think about. There is clarity in simplicity. You've got just one thing to manage: your choices, your will, your mind.</li><li>So mind it.</li></ul>

Circle of Control - Day 160

<ul><li>Do we treat the days of our lives like we treat our money? Because we don't exactly know how many days we'll be alive, and because we try our hardest not to think about the fact that someday we'll die, we're pretty liberal with how freely we spend our time. We let people and obligations impose on that time, only rarely asking: What am I getting in return here? </li><li>Seneca's maxim is the equivalent of cutting up your credit cards and switching to cash. He says to put real thought into every transaction: Am I getting my money's worth here? Is this a fair trade? </li></ul>

Don't Sell Yourself Too Cheaply - Day 126

"I'll never be ashamed to quote a bad writer with good saying." - Seneca<ul><li>Seneca was looking for wisdom, period. It didn't matter where it came from. This is something a lot of people seem to miss. Who cares whether some bit of wisdom is from a stoic, epicurean or anyone? What matters is whether it makes your life better. </li><li>What wisdom or help would you be able to find today if you stopped caring about affiliations and reputations? How much more could you see if you just focused on merit? </li></ul>

Learn From All Sources - Day 18

Inwardly, we ought to be different in every respect, but our outward appearance should blend in with the crowd. <ul><li>Diogenes the cynic was a controversial philosopher who wandered the streets like a homeless person. It's tempting to take philosophy to the extremes, but who does it serve? </li><li>Outward transformation - in our clothes, cars and in our grooming - might feel important but it's superficial compared with the inward change. That's the change that only we know about! </li></ul>

Where It Counts - Day 14

<ul><li>Cato the younger had enough money to dress in fine clothing. Yet he often walked around Rome barefoot. He chose this way because he was training his soul to be strong and resilient. He was learning indifference: an attitude of "let come what may" that would serve him well. </li><li>His training prepared him for any conditions, any kind of luck. If we undergo our own training and preparations, we might find ourselves similarly strengthened. </li></ul>

A Strong Soul Is Better Than Good Luck - Day 26

<ul><li>At the beginning or end of each day, the Stoic sits down with his journal and reviews: what he did what he thought, what could be improved.</li><li>Keep your own journal, whether it's saved on a computer or in a little book. Be unflinching in your assessments. Notice what contributed to your happiness and what detracted from it. Write down what you'd like to work on or quotes that you like.</li><li>By making the effort to record such thoughts, you're less likely to forget them. An added bonus: you'll have a running tally to track your progress too.</li></ul>

The Day In Review - Day 169

<ul><li>The next time someone gets upset near you - crying, yelling, or breaking something, watch how quickly this statement will stop them cold: "I hope this is making you feel better." Because of course, it isn't.</li><li>It's worth applying that standard to yourself. The next time you find yourself in the middle of a freakout, moaning and groaning with flu-like symptoms, or crying tears of regret, just ask: Is this actually making me feel better? Is this actually relieving any of the symptoms I wish were gone?</li></ul>

Did That Make You Feel Better? - Day 186

<ul><li>At 5'-3" tall, Muggsy Bogues was the shortest player to play professional basketball. Against all odds, he succeeded. He saw his height as his strength when others saw it as his weakness. In fact, small size has many advantages: speed and quickness, ability to steal the ball from unsuspecting players, to say nothing of the fact that players just underestimated him.</li><li>Could this approach not be useful in your life? What things do you think have been holding you back that, in fact, can be a hidden source of strength?</li></ul>

Anything can be an advantage - Day 10

<ul><li>In all circumstances - adversity or advantage - we really have just one thing we need to do: focus on what is in our control as opposed to what is not. Right now we may be facing struggles but in just a few days we might do well that success is actually a burden.</li><li>Ultimately, this is clarity. Whoever we are, wherever we are - what matters is our choice. What are they? How will we evaluate them? How will we make the most of them? Those are the questions life asks us, regardless of our station. How will you answer?</li></ul>

Wherever You Go There Your Choice Is - Day 166

"By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop." - Robert Greene<ul><li>Having an end in mind is no guarantee that you'll reach it - but not having an end in mind is a guarantee you won't.</li><li>How will you know what do to in a day, where to say yes/no, when you've had enough of something, when you've gotten off track, if you've never defined what those things are?</li><li>The answer is that you cannot. And so you are driven into failure - or worse, into madness by the oblivion of directionlessness.</li></ul>

Clarify Your Intentions - Day 152

<ul><li>Remember, the proper direction of philosophy - of all the things we're doing here - is focused inward. To make ourselves better and to leave other people to that task for themselves and their own journey. Our faults are in our control, and so we turn to philosophy to help scrape them off like barnacles from the hull of a ship. Other people's faults? Not so much. That's for them to do. </li><li>Leave people to their faults. Nothing in Stoic philosophy empowers you to judge them - only to accept them. Especially when we have so many of our own. </li></ul>

Judge Not, Lest... - Day 103

<ul><li>As the Stoics have said many times, getting angry almost never solves anything. Usually, it makes things worse. We get upset, then the other person gets upset - now everyone is upset, and the problem is no closer to getting solved.</li><li>Some say anger is a good fuel. The desire to "prove them all wrong" has made many a millionaire. But those people ignore the side effects and the wear and tear caused by anger. When the initial anger runs out - now more and more must be generated to keep the machine going (until, eventually, the only source left is anger at oneself)</li></ul>

Anger Is Bad Fuel - Day 188

<ul><li>Watching other people succeed is one of the toughest things to do - especially if we are not doing well ourselves. In our hunter-gatherer minds, we suspect that life is a zero-sum game - that for someone to have more, means that we might end up less. </li><li>But like all parts of philosophy, empathy and selflessness are a matter of practice. The stoics teach themselves to actively cheer for other people - even in cases where that might come at their own expense - and to put aside jealousy and possessivess. You can do that too. </li></ul>

Looking Out For Each Other - Day 61

"But the wise person can lose nothing. Such a person has everything stored up for themselves because they invest well" - Seneca<ul><li>Some people put their money in assets - stocks, bonds, property. Others invest in relationships or accomplishments, knowing that they can draw on these things just as easily as others can draw funds from a bank account. But a third type, Seneca says, invests in themselves - in being a good and wise person. </li><li>Which of these assets is most immune to market fluctuations and disasters? Which is most resilient during trials and tribulations? Which will never abandon you? </li></ul>

The Most Valuable Asset - Day 57

<ul><li>Seneca is making a point that goes unheard in a society or ever bigger houses and ever more possessions: that there's a hidden cost to all that accumulating. And the sooner we're aware of it, the better.</li><li>Remember: even what we get for free has a cost, if only in what we pay to store it - in our garages and in our minds. As you walk past your possessions today, ask yourself: Do I need this? Is it superfluous? What's this actually worth? What is it costing me?</li><li>You might be surprised by the answers and how much we've been paying without even knowing it.</li></ul>

Cutting Back On The Costly - Day 210

<ul><li>Warren Buffet, whose net worth is $65 billion, lives in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500. There're many people like him.</li><li>Their lifestyle is the result of prioritizing. They cultivate interests below their financial means, and as a result, any income would allow them the freedom to pursue the things they most care about. This kind of clarity - about what they love most in the world - means they can enjoy their lives.</li><li>The more things we desire and the more we have to do to earn or attain those achievements, the less we actually enjoy our lives - and the less free we are.</li></ul>

The Only Prize - Day 172

<ul><li>What we consider to be harmless indulgences can easily become full-blown addictions. The little compulsions and drives we have not only chip away at our freedom and sovereignty, they cloud our clarity. We think we're in control - but are we really? As one addict put it, addiction is when we've "lost the freedom to abstain." Let us reclaim that freedom.</li><li>What that addiction is for you can vary: Soda? Drugs? Complaining? Gossip? Internet? Pornography? Biting your nails? But you must reclaim the ability to abstain because within it is your clarity and self-control.</li></ul>

Seeing Our Addictions - Day 155

<ul><li>People tend to get ahead of themselves, thinking they've got it all figured out and are better than those that don't. It becomes so unpleasant when someone has to drop some knowledge on them. </li><li>But this is entirely avoidable. If the bubble is never inflated, it won't need to be popped. Overconfidence is a great weakness. But if you are already humble, no one will need to humble you - and the world is much less likely to have nasty surprises in store for you. If you stay down to earth, no one will need to bring you - often times crushingly so - back down. </li></ul>

Be Down To Earth, Or Be Brought Down - Day 37

<ul><li>We're making money and we're stimulated and busy. But the busier we get we drift further and further from philosophy.</li><li>Eventually, stress builds up, our mind gets clouded and we forget what's important. When that happens it's needful that we tap The breaks - put aside all the momentum and the moment. Return to the practices that we know are rooted in clarity and good judgment.</li><li>Stoicism is designed to be medicine for the soul. It relieves us of the vulnerabilities of modern life. It restores us with the vigor we need to thrive in life. Check-in with it today, and let it do its healing.</li></ul>

Philosophy As Medicine Of The Soul - Day 178

<ul><li>Heraclitus would shed tears whenever he went out in public - Democritus laughed. One saw the whole as a paradise of miseries, the other of follies. And so, we should take a lighter view of things and bear them with an easy spirit, for it is more human to laugh at life than to lament it. </li><li>Like Democritus, we can make that same choice. There is more humor than hate to be found in just about every situation. And at least humor is productive - making things less heavy, not more so. </li></ul>

Laugh, Or Cry? - Day 21

<ul><li>In the hiring process, most employers look what jobs the candidates have held in the past. This is because past success can be an indicator of future success. But is it always? </li><li>Of course not. This is why character is a far better measure of a man or woman. Not just for jobs, but for friendships, relationships, for everything. Heraclitus put it as a maxim: "Character is fate." </li><li>When you seek to advance your own position in life, character is the best lever - perhaps not in the short term, but certainly over the long term. And the same goes for the people you invite in your life. </li></ul>

Character Is Fate - Day 84

"Don't lament this and don't get agitated." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>There's that feeling we get when something happens. It's all over now. All is lost. What follows are complaints and pity and misery - the impotent struggle against something that's already occurred. Why bother? We have no idea what the future holds. We have no idea what's coming up around the bend. It could be more problems, or this could be the darkness before the dawn. </li><li>If we're Stoic, there is one thing we can be sure of: whatever happens, we're going to be OK. </li></ul>

You Are Going To be OK - Day 115

<ul><li>Seneca tells us that we should each have our own Cato - a great and noble person we can allow into our minds and use to guide our actions. It doesn't have to be an actual person, just someone who, like Seneca said, can stand witness to our behavior. Someone who can quietly admonish us if we are considering doing something lazy, dishonest, or selfish.</li><li>And if we do it right, and live our lives in such a way, perhaps we can serve as someone else's Cato when they need it.</li></ul>

Find Yourself A Cato - Day 215

"Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept and carried away. For substance is like river's unending flow, its activities continually changing and causes infinitely shifting so that almost nothing stands still." - Marcus Aurelius <ul><li>Life is a contant state of change. To get upset by things is to wrongly assume that they will last. To blame ourselves or others is grabbing at the wind. To resent change is to wrongly assume that you have a choice in the matter. </li><li>Everything is change. Embrace that. Flow with it. </li></ul>

Everything Is Change - Day 101

<ul><li>The Stoics seek steadiness, stability, and tranquility - traits most of us aspire to but seem to experience only fleetingly.</li><li>These can be achieved by filtering the outside world through the straightener of our judgment. That's what our reason can do - it can take the crooked, confusing, and overwhelming nature of external events and make them orderly.</li><li>If our judgments are crooked because we don't use reason, then everything that follows will be crooked and we will lose our ability to steady ourselves in the chaos and rush of life. Proper judgment is the best way to steadiness.</li></ul>

If You Want To Be Steady - Day 157

"To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden" - Seneca <ul><li>You can take a bite out of any tough situation by bringing a calm mind to it. But considering and meditating on it in advance. And this is not true for just our day-to-day adversities but for the greatest and most unavoidable trial of all: our own eventual death. </li><li>Death could come tomorrow or in another forty years. It could be quick and painless or excruciating. Our greatest asset in that ordeal will not be religion or the wise words of the philosophers. It will be, simply, our calm and reasoned mind. </li></ul>

Taking The Bite Out Of It - Day 146

<ul><li>Instinctively, we protect our physical selves. We don't let people touch us, push us, control where we go. But when it comes to the mind, we're less disciplined. We hand it over willingly to social media, to television, to what other people are doing, thinking, or saying.</li><li>We don't realize how much waste is in it, how inefficient and distracted it makes us.</li><li>To the Stoics, this is an abomination. The mind is ours. We must protect it. Maintain control over your mind and perceptions, they'd say. It's your most prized possession.</li></ul>

Don't Unintentionally Hand Over Your Freedom - Day 213

<ul><li>Philosophy attracts introverts. The study of human nature can make you aware of other people's faults and can breed contempt for others. So do struggle and difficulty - they isolate us from the world. </li><li>But none of that changed that we are, as Aristotle put it, social animals. We need each other. We must be there for each other. We must take care of each other (and to allow others to care for us in return). To pretend otherwise is to violate our nature, to be more or less than what is means to be a human being. </li></ul>

We Were Made For Each Other - Day 83

"You are not your body and hairstyle, but your capacity for choosing well. If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be." - Epictetus<ul><li>You might look beautiful today, but if that was the result of vain obsession in the mirror this morning, the Stoics would ask, are you actually beautiful? A body built from hard work is admirable. A body built to impress gym rats is not.</li><li>That's what the Stoics urge us to consider. Not how things appear, but what effort, activity, and choices they are a result of.</li></ul>

The Beauty Of Choice - Day 222

Do now what nature demands of you. Get right to it if that's in your power. Don't wait for the perfect timing.<ul><li>There is plenty that you could do right now, today, plenty of small steps, were you to take them, would help move things forward.</li><li>Don't excuse yourself from doing them because the conditions aren't right or because a better opportunity might come along soon. Do what you can, now!</li><li>And when you've done it, don't overblow the results and always keep it in perspective. Shun both excuse and ego, before and after.</li></ul>

Start where the world is - Day 2

<ul><li>It's never great to judge other people, but it's worth taking a second to investigate how a life dedicated to indulging every whim actually works out.</li><li>Ever wonder what God thinks of money? Just look at the people he gives it to. The same goes for pleasure. Look how quickly the partying of a young starlet turns to drug addiction and a stalled cancer.</li><li>Ask yourself: Is that really worth it? Is it really that pleasurable?</li><li>Consider that when you crave something or contemplate indulging in a "harmless" vice.</li></ul>

The Grand Parade Of Desire - Day 198

<ul><li>We have an irrational fear of acknowledging our own mortality. We avoid thinking about it because we think it will be depressing. In fact, reflecting on mortality often has the opposite effect - invigorating us more than saddening us. Why? Because it gives us clarity. </li><li>If you had only a week to live, what changes would you make? If you died but were resuscitated, how different would your perspective be? </li><li>There's no risk of getting caught up in petty matters or distractions. Instead of denying our fear of death, let's let it make us the best people we can be. Today! </li></ul>

The Cards We're Dealt - Day 123

"He was sent to prison. But the observation 'he has suffered evil', is an addition coming from you" - Epictetus <ul><li>This is classic Stoic thinking, as you've gathered by now. An event itself is objective. How we describe it - that it was unfair, or it's a great calamity - is on us. Malcolm X went into prison a criminal, but he left as an educated, religious, and motivated man who would help in the struggle for civil rights. Did he suffer an evil? Or did he choose to make his experience a positive one? </li></ul>Acceptance isn't passive. It's the first step in an active process toward self-improvement.

You Choose The Outcome - Day 100

<ul><li>All of us have used phrases like, "I'm going to be straightforward with you here... ", "I'll be honest with you... ", "No disrespect but..." Empty expressions or not, if you say you're being honest now, does that mean you usually aren't? </li><li>What if, instead, you cultivated a life and a reputation in which honesty was as emphatic and explicit as a contract, as permanent as a tattoo? Not only would it save you from needing to use the reassurances that other, less scrupulous people must engage in, it will make you a better person. </li></ul>

Honesty As Our Default - Day 66

<ul><li>Today there will be endless interruptions: calls, mails, visitors. A philosopher knows that their default state should be one of reflection and inner awareness. That's why they protect their personal space and thoughts from the intrusions of the world. </li><li>Senaca reminds us that while we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries. Property can be regained - some of it still untouched by man. But time? Time is our most irreplaceable asset - we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible. </li></ul>

Spendthrifts Of Time - Day 125

<ul><li>Think of all the things you can be grateful for today. That you are alive, you live in a time of peace, you have enough health and leisure to read these entries. What of the little things? The person who smiled at you, that song you like on the radio, the pleasant weather. </li><li>Gratitude is infectious. It's positivity is radiant. </li><li>Even if today was your last day - would there still be plenty to be grateful for? How much better would your life be if you kicked off every day like that? If you let it carry through from morning to night and touch every part of your life? </li></ul>

Give Thanks - Day 145

<ul><li>It's pretty obvious that one should keep away from the wicked and two-faced as much as possible. Marcus is reminding us to avoid false friends.</li><li>But what if we turn it around? We've all been frenemy at one point or another. We've been nice to their face - usually because there was something in it for us - but later, in different company, we said how we really felt. Ore we've strung someone along, cared only when things were going well, or declined to help even though someone needed us.</li><li>This behaviour is beneath us - and worth remembering the next time we accuse someone else of being a bad friend.</li></ul>

Frenemies - Day 73

"That which isn't good for the hive, isn't good for the bee. That which doesn't harm the community can't harm the individual." - Marcus Aurelius Just because something is bad for you doesn't mean it's bad for everyone. Just because something is good for you definitely doesn't mean it's good for everyone. A good stoic understands that proper impulses, and the right actions that arise from them, naturally carry the good of the whole, which is the wise person's only good. Conversely, good and wise actions by the whole are what's good for the individual.

All For One, One For All - Day 59

Try praying differently, and see what happens: instead of a 'way to get rid of him,' try asking for 'a way to not crave his demise.' <ul><li>Prayer has a religious connotation, but in life we all find ourselves hoping and asking for things. </li><li>We want divine intervention so that our lives will magically be easier. But what about asking for fortitude and strength so you can do what you need to do? What if you sought clarity on what you do control, what is already within your power? You might find your prayers have already been answered. </li></ul>

A Different Way To Pray - Day 39

<ul><li>Self-deception and ego are the sworn enemy of our ability to learn and grow. We will be unable to improve, to learn, to earn the respect of others if we think we're already perfect, a genius admired far and wide.</li><li>In this sense, ego and self-deception are the enemies of the things we wish to have because we delude ourselves into believing that we already possess them.</li><li>So we must meet ego with the hostility and contempt that it insidiously deploys against us - to keep it away, if only for twenty-four hours at a time.</li></ul>

Self Deception Is Our Enemy - Day 219

<ul><li>A Zen master who had a beautiful cup would repeat to himself, "The glass is already broken." He enjoyed the cup and used it, but in his mind it was already broken. And so one day when it actually did break, he said, "Of course."</li><li>Devastation - that feeling of shock - is a factor of how unlikely we considered the event. No one is wrecked by the fact that it's snowing in the winter, because we've accepted (and even anticipated) this turn of events. What about the occurrences that surprise us? We might not be so shocked if we took the time to consider their possibility. </li></ul>

The Glass Is Already Broken - Day 108

<ul><li>A virtuous person does not jump to hasty judgements about other people. A virtuous person is generous with assumptions: that something was an accident, that someone didn't know, that it won't happen again. This makes life easier to bear and makes us more tolerant. Meanwhile, assuming malice - the most hasty of judgements - makes everything harder to bear. </li><li>Be deliberate and accommodating with your assumptions about other people and you'll find, as Marcus says, calmer dead and fairer weather. </li></ul>

Give People The Benefit Of The Doubt - Day 70

"If the breaking day sees someone proud, the ending day sees them brought low. No one should put too much trust in triumph, No one should give up hope of trails improving. God mixes one with the other and stops fortune from resting, spinning every fate around. No one has has so much divine favor that they could guarantee themselves tomorrow. God keeps our lives hurtling on, spinning in a whirlwind"-Seneca<ul><li>No amount of prosperity, no amount of difficulty, is certain or forever. A triumph becomes a trial, a trail becomes a triumph. Life can change in an instant. Remember, how often it does today.</li></ul>

Someone Else Is Spinning The Thread - Day 92

<ul><li>Philosophy is intimidating. Where does one start? With books? With lectures? With selling worldly possessions?</li><li>Epictetus is saying that one becomes a philosopher when they begin to exercise their guiding reason and start to question the emotions and beliefs that others take for granted. Perhaps we could say that we begin our journey into philosophy when we become aware of the ability to analyze our own minds.</li><li>Can you start with that step today? When you do not want you'll find that from it we really come alive, that we live lives - to paraphrase Socrates - that is actually worth living.</li></ul>

Where Philosophy Begins - Day 206

<ul><li>The events that will transpire today are the same things that have always occurred. This moment right now, is a quotation of the moments that have come before and will come ever after. </li><li>This idea is expressed beautifully in the Christian hymn Gloria Patri. "As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and to the ages of ages." This fact can have a calming, centering effect. No need to get excited, no need to wait on pins and needles. If you haven't seen this before, someone else has. That can be a relief. </li></ul>

Behold, Now As Ever - Day 106

<ul><li>First, we must consider what we should desire and what we should be averse to. Why? So that we want what is good and avoid what is bad. It's not enough to just listen to your body - because our attractions often lead us astray.</li><li>Next, we just examine our impulses to act - that is, our motivations. Are we doing things for the right reasons? Or do we act because we haven't stopped to think? Or do we believe that we have to do something?</li><li>Finally, there is our judgment. Our ability to see things clearly and properly comes when we use our great gift from nature: reason.</li></ul>

The Three Areas Of Training - Day 174

<ul><li>Some of the most powerful and important people in the world seem to have almost no self-awareness. We can be guilty of the same sin. </li><li>We ignore Socrates's dictum to "know thyself" - often realizing we have done so at our peril, years later, when we wake up one day and realize how rarely we have asked ourselves questions like: Who am I? What's important to me? What do I like? What do I need? </li><li>Now - right now - you have the time to explore yourself, to understand your own mind and body. Don't wait. Know yourself. Before it's impossibly late. </li></ul>

Know Thyself - Before It's Too Late - Day 133

<ul><li>Think of the maniac people in your life, the ones whose lives and choices are in disorder. Everything is soaring highs or crushing lows; the day is either amazing or awful. Don't you wish they has a filter through which they could test the good impulses versus the bad ones?</li><li>There is such a filter. Justice. Reason. Philosophy. If there's a central message of Stoic thought, it's this: impulses of all kinds are going to come, and your work is to control them, like bringing a dog to heel. Put simply: think before you act. Ask: Who is in control here? What principles are guiding me?</li></ul>

Steady Your Impulses - Day 183

Let's get into the tasks:<ol><li>Choice - to do and think right</li><li>Refusal - of temptation</li><li>Yearning - to be better</li><li>Repulsion - of negativity, of bad influences, of what isn't true</li><li>Preparation - for what lies ahead or whatever may happen</li><li>Purpose - our guiding principle and highest priority</li><li>Assent - to be free of deception about what's inside and outside our control (and be ready to accept the latter)</li></ol>This is what the mind is here to do. We must make sure that it does - and see everything else as pollution or a corruption.

Seven Clear Functions Of The Mind - Day 154

How can people prove their words to be their own - by putting into practice what they've been preaching. <ul><li>There was a lot of borrowing among the philosophers. That's because they weren't concerned with authorship. More important, they believed that what was said mattered less than what was done. </li><li>You're welcome to take all of the words, feel free to tweak and edit and improve. Adapt them to the real conditions and put them into practice. Speak with your actions more than anything else. </li></ul>

Make the Words Your Own - Day - 6

<ul><li>"Hard winter training" is the notion that there is no such thing as part-time soldering (or part time anything for that matter). In order to achieve victory, one must dedicate every second into preparation and training. </li><li>The same is true for us. We can't do this life half heartedly. There's no time off. There aren't even weekends. We are always preparing for what life might throw at us - and when it does, we're ready and don't stop until we've handled it. </li></ul>

First, A Hard Winter Training - Day 28

<ul><li>The stoics give us a marvelous concept: the Inner Citadel. It is this fortress, they believed, that protects our soul. Though we might be physically vulnerable, our inner domain is impenetrable. </li><li>But history teaches us that impenetrable fortress can still be breached, if betrayed from the inside. The citizen inside the walls - if they fall prey to fear or greed - can open the gates and let the enemy in. </li><li>This is what many of us do when we lose our nerve and give in to fear. You've been granted a strong fortress. Don't betray it. </li></ul>

Protecting Our Inner Fortress From Fear - Day 38

<ul><li>Anyone can get lucky. There's no skill in being oblivious, and no one would consider that greatness. </li><li>On the other hand, the person who perseveres through difficulties, who makes it to their destination through hard work and honesty? That's admirable because their survival was a result of fortitude and resilience, not birth right and circumstance. </li><li>A person who overcame not just the external obstacles to success but mastered themselves and their emotions along the way? That's much more impressive. </li><li>The person who has been dealt a harder hand, understood it, but still triumphed? That's greatness. </li></ul>

Anyone Can Get Lucky, But Not Everyone Can Persevere - Day 41

We don't abandon our pursuits because we dispair of ever perfecting them. <ul><li>Psychologists speak of cognitive distortions - exaggerated thoughts which include </li></ul><ol><li>If you're not with me, you're against me. </li><li>Because this wasn't a complete success, it is a total failure </li></ol><ul><li>This sort of extreme thinking is associated with depression and frustration. Perfection rarely begets perfection - only disappointment. </li><li>We're never going to be perfect. We're human after all. Our pursuits should be aimed at progress, however little that it's possible for us to make. </li></ul>

Perfection is the enemy of Action - Day 4

<ul><li>Since the vast majority of our words & actions are unnecessary, confining them will create an abundance of leisure & tranquility. We must also confine unnecessary thoughts, too, so needless acts don't tag along after them. </li><li>What vanity obligates us to do, what greed signs us up for, what ill discipline adds to our plate, what a lack of courage prevents us from saying no to. All of this we must cut, cut, cut. </li></ul>

Confining The Unnecessary - Day 13

"Better to trip with the feet than with the tongue." - Zeno<ul><li>You can always get up after you fall, but remember, what has been said can never be unsaid. Especially cruel and hurtful things. </li><li>So it's always better to think twice before you say something which makes you regret a lifetime. Cruel words are like double-edged swords. It's going to hurt both sides. Choose wisely. </li></ul>

Words Can't Be Unsaid - Day 60

<ul><li>The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiation between what we can change and what we can't. What we have influence over and what we do not. </li><li>There's something called Serenity prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." </li><li>If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control and what parts are not, we will not only be happier, we will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle. </li></ul>

Control And Choice - Day 148

<ul><li>One of the hardest things in life is to say "No." To invitations, entertainment and obligations. Even harder is saying no to certain time-consuming emotions: anger, excitement, obsession, lust. These don't feel like a big deal, but they become commitment like anything else. </li><li>Saying no may hurt some feelings. It may turn people off. It may take some hard work. But the more you say no to the things that don't matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do. This will let you live and enjoy your life - the life that you want. </li></ul>

Be Ruthless To The Things That Don't Matter - Day 150

"Here's a lesson to test your mind's mettle: take part of a week in which you have only the most meager and cheap food, and ask yourself if this is really the worst that you feared. It is when times are good that you should gird yourself for tougher times ahead, for when fortune is kind the soul can build defenses against her ravages. So it is that soldiers practice maneuvers in peacetime, erecting bunkers with no enemies in sight and exhausting themselves under no attack so that when it comes they won't grow tired." - Seneca

Preparing On The Sunny Day - Day 35

<ul><li>Marcus Aurelius used to say that we don't own anything and that even our lives are held in trust. </li><li>We may claw and fight and work to own things, but those things can be taken away in a second. The same goes for other things we like to think are "ours" but are equally precarious: our status, our physical health or strength, our relationships. How can these really be ours if something other than us - fate, bad luck, death and so on - can disposses us of them without notice? </li><li>So what we do own? Just our lives - and not for long </li></ul>

You Don't Own That - Day 120

<ul><li>"Live each day as if it were your last" is a chiche. Plenty say, few actually do it. </li><li>A better analogy would be soldiers who are about to leave on deployment. Not knowing whether they'll return or not, what do they do? </li><li>They get their affairs in order, handle their business, tell their children or family that they love them. No time for quarrelling and other petty things. </li><li>When ready to go - hoping to come back in one piece but prepared for the possibility that they might not. Let us live today that same way. </li></ul>

Pretend Today Is The End - Day 117

<ul><li>We're going to get caught off guard from time to time. Not just by a terrorist attack or a financial panic - but also minor, unexpected occurrences. Your car battery dies, you don't feel well suddenly. These situations may throw us into confusion and disarray. </li><li>That's perfectly OK! It happens. A line of infantry men will face withering attacks. Musicians will experience technical difficulties. It just matters that they get into position as fast as possible. </li><li>The same is true for you today. The order and peace might be interrupted by a new scenario. Get a hold of yourself and find your way back. </li></ul>

Maintain Composure, Maintain Control - Day 46

<ul><li>Self-awareness is the ability to objectively evaluate the self, to question our own instincts, patterns, and assumptions. But even our own eyes deceive us.</li><li>I can't even trust my own senses? Because our senses are often wrong, our emotions overly alarmed, our projections overly optimistic, were better off not rushing to conclusions about anything. We can take a beat with everything we do and become aware of everything that's going on so we can make the right decision.</li></ul>

Don't Trust The Senses - Day 212

From the team that brought you The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, a beautiful daily devotional of Stoic meditations—an instant Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller. Why have history's greatest minds—from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with today's top performers from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities—embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise. The Daily Stoic offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you'll find one of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful glossary of Greek terms. By following these teachings over the course of a year (and, indeed, for years to come) you'll find the serenity, self-knowledge, and resilience you need to live well.

The Daily Stoic

<ul><li>Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself against being carried away by it, let it await your action, tube yourself a pause. After that, bring to mind both times, first when you have enjoyed the pleasure and later when you will regret it and hate yourself.</li><li>Then compare to those the joy and satisfaction you'd feel for abstaining altogether. However, if a seemingly appropriate time arises to act on it, don't be overcome by its comfort, pleasantness, and allure - but against all of this, how much better the consciousness of conquering it.</li></ul>

Pleasure Can Become Punishment - Day 191