“When the standards have been set,” Epictetus said, “the work of philosophy is just this, to examine and uphold the standards, but the work of a truly good person is in using those standards when they know them.” Pretty straightforward then: Define your rules. Live by them. In studying their writings for my own practice, I’ve compiled 50 rules from the Stoics, gathered from their immense body of work across two thousand years. These rules functioned, then, as they do now, as guides to what the ancients called “the good life.” Hopefully some of them will illuminate your own path.

1. Focus on what you can control. 2. You control how you respond to things. 3. Ask yourself, <a href="https://forge.medium.com/if-you-seek-tranquility-ask-this-question-1dd89993256f">“Is this essential?” </a> 5. <a href="https://forge.medium.com/theres-no-such-thing-as-quality-time-58db618c099d">Value time </a>more than money and possessions.

6. You are the <a href="https://dailystoic.com/the-power-of-habits/">product of your habits </a>. 7. Remember you have the power to have no opinion. 8. Own the morning. 9. Put yourself up for review. Interrogate yourself.

10. Don’t suffer imagined troubles. 11. Try to see the good in people. 12. Never be overheard complaining—even to yourself. 13. Two ears, one mouth f<a href="https://dailystoic.com/zeno/?mc_cid=28399a691c&mc_eid=47e85155f0">or a reason </a>.

14. There is always something you can do. 15. Don’t compare yourself to others. 16. Live as if you’ve died and come back (every minute is bonus time). 17. “The best revenge is not to be like that.” —Marcus Aurelius

18. Be strict with yourself and tolerant with others. 19. Put every impression, emotion, to the test before acting on it. 20. Learn something from everyone. 21. Focus on process, not outcomes.

22. Define what success means to you. 23. Find a way to <a href="https://dailystoic.com/amor-fati-love-everything-that-happens/">love everything that happens </a>. 24. Seek out challenges. 25. Don’t follow the mob.

27. Every person is an opportunity for kindness. 28. Say no (a lot). 30. Find one thing that makes you wiser every day. 31. What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee.

32. Don’t judge other people. 33. <a href="https://forge.medium.com/why-you-should-study-philosophy-47c53fbc3205">Study </a>the lives of the greats. 34. Forgive, forgive, forgive. 36. <a href="https://dailystoic.com/journaling/?mc_cid=28399a691c&mc_eid=47e85155f0">Journal </a>.

39. To do wrong to one, is to do wrong to yourself. 40. Always choose <a href="https://humanparts.medium.com/will-you-choose-alive-time-or-dead-time-8d7b8ba212">“alive time.” </a> 37. Prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks. 38. Look for the poetry in ordinary things.

41. Associate only with people that make you better. 42. If someone offends you, realize you are complicit in taking offense. 43. Fate behaves as she pleases…do not forget this. 44. Possessions are yours only in trust.

45. Don’t make your problems worse by bemoaning them. 46. Accept success without arrogance, handle failure with indifference. 47. Courage. Temperance. Justice. Wisdom. (Always). 48. The <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/collections/all-books/products/the-obstacle-is-the-way-signed-edition?mc_cid=28399a691c&mc_eid=47e85155f0">obstacle </a>is the way.

49. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ego-Enemy-Ryan-Holiday/dp/1591847818">Ego </a>is the enemy. 50. <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/collections/all-books/products/copy-of-ego-is-the-enemy-signed-edition?mc_cid=28399a691c&mc_eid=47e85155f0">Stillness </a>is the key. I’ll leave you with the one rule that captures all the rules. It comes from Epictetus: “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.” Don’t talk about it, be about it. The whole point of Stoicism is what you do. It’s who you are. It’s the act of virtue, not the act of talking about virtue. Or reading about it. Or writing about it. It’s about embodying your rules and principles. Letting your actions speak for you. So, Marcus Aurelius reminded himself and now us, “Waste no more time talking about what a good man is like. Be one.”

“When the standards have been set,” Epictetus said, “the work of philosophy is just this, to examine and uphold the standards, but the work of a truly good person is in using those standards when…

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50 Very Short Rules for a Good Life From the Stoics

Take pride in your choices not your gifts. ... This is something that's super-important for young people to understand, and for parents to preach to young people. It's really easy for a talented young person to take pride in their gifts: 'I'm really athletic,' or, 'I'm really smart,' or,'I'm really good at math.' That's fine. You should celebrate your gifts. You should be happy. But you can't be proud of them ... What you can be proud of is your choices.How did you decide to use your gifts? Did you study hard? Did you work hard? Did you practice? The people who excel combine gifts and hard work, and the hard work part is a choice. You get to decide that. And that is something that when you're looking back on your life, you will be very proud of.It's about a habit that Bezos calls "super-important," and that has advised over and over. In fact, he explicitly encouraged parents to "preach" it to their kids. And, as a father of four, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/15/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-shares-the-career-advice-he-gives-his-kids.html">he says </a>it's the advice he's tried to give his own children.

Want to Raise Successful Kids? Jeff Bezos Says Practice This 1 Simple Habit. (Science Backs It Up)

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Want to Raise Successful Kids? Jeff Bezos Says Practice This 1 Simple Habit | Inc.com

A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist. Could they be right?

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The long read: A growing chorus of scientists and philosophers argue that free will does not exist. Could they be right?

50 Very Short Rules for a Good Life From the Stoics

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Arvind Sond