Philosophy of a Good Life has two components:<ul><li>What in life is worth pursuing — one’s own tranquility</li><li>How to gain the things that are worth having — experience few negative emotions but an abundance of positive emotions, especially joy</li></ul> Modern vs Stoic Philosophers<ul><li>Modern philosophy will analyze what “good” and “a life” means and explain why each of these meanings is logically muddled then come to the conclusion that it makes no sense to ask how to live a good life</li><li>However, having a coherent Philosophy of Life will make decision making simpler</li></ul>

Philosophy Of Life - How To Live A Good Life

Live in accordance with nature, what men are meant to live. <ul><li>Set aside personal desires for lust, fame and wealth aside so we can perform our duty to serve our fellow humans the best we can</li><li>Stoics are convinced that there was something in life bigger than themselves </li><li>Want what you already have, don’t strive for what you don’t have - that’s a recipe for unhappiness. Grass is not always greener and it’s hard to be satisfied </li></ul>

Live In Accordance With Nature

<ul><li>We should become self aware: observe how we responded to a day’s events. When did we experience negative emotions. How did we respond to an insult or stressful situation? How to apply Stoic psychological strategies to these events</li><li>Use reasoning to overcome negative emotions: master our desires and don’t chase after fame and fortune, as those will disrupt our tranquility. Tranquility lost will outweigh the pleasure gained</li><li>Enjoy but don’t cling to wealth, and contemplate its loss</li><li>We are social creatures and we have a social duty</li></ul>

Advice For Anyone Seeking Tranquility

Conquering insatiability: <ul><li>Negative visualization technique: contemplate the impermanence of things</li><li>Imagine losing things we value and what could be worse. This helps us be satisfied and happy with what we already have</li></ul>Conquering worrying:3 Buckets1) what you have complete control over<ul><li>Spend time on this - like our goals and values</li></ul>2) what you have some control over<ul><li>Internalize goals here - like focus on doing your best in a competition, and not on winning</li></ul>3) things you have no control <ul><li>Fatalistic to external world - like what has happened, what is happening now are out of our control, so let it go</li></ul>

Conquering Two Sources Of Unhappiness: Insatiability And Worry

<ul><li>Refuse to think of yourself as a victim — if you refuse to let your inner self be conquered by your external circumstances— you will have a good life</li><li>Make your happiness depend as little as possible on external circumstances</li><li>Accept the responsibility for our happiness — we are responsible for our own happiness and unhappiness</li></ul>

Our Happiness Depends On Inner Self, Not External Circumstances 

Joy is a choice.Visualize losing certain things or people in your life - this exercise will help you be grateful for having them in the first place.Negative visualization teaches us to desire what we already have in our lives. This practice prepares us for changes in our lives and gives us the confidence that no matter what happens, we can experience durable and unwavering joy.

Negative Visualization for Lasting Joy

Negative visualization in Stoicism is similar to:<ul><li>Mindfulness meditation where you observe the details of everyday life, take note of them and show appreciation for having them in your life.</li><li>Buddhism where you are asked to contemplate the impermanence of life. Nothing lasts forever. Cherish the time you have with it. </li><li>Christianity where saying grace before dinner allows you to be grateful for all that you have.</li></ul>No matter the technique or religion, always practice gratitude.

The Parallels of Negative Visualization

<ul><li>Don’t act on desires</li><li>Work on wanting things that we already have</li><li>You aren’t sacrificing for your duties as a human. You are merely just being a good human being - your social duties - just like being a good parent isn’t sacrificing if you enjoy taking care of your child</li></ul>

Self-Denial And Self-Control

<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Start with negative visualization then practice the trichotomy of control</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Be a collector of Insults and look forward to insults as opportunities to practice Stoicism (and coming up with humorous come backs) </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Be a collector of discomfort and butterflies - put yourself in uncomfortable situations, such as being nervous at a competition or recital to push yourself out of your comfort zone and see yourself grow. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Have self discipline “Those who possess it have the ability to determine what they do with their life. And those who lack it will live life determined by someone or something else” </li></ul>

Practicing Stoicism

One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have. Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own life. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

A Guide to the Good Life

Anna Li