Stoicism for a Better Life

Pursue goals with NO reservations and at ANY cost. Go GRAB the BULL by the horns. You get to your goal QUICKLY (preferably quicker than your competition) and you WILL find happiness. We've all been taught this garbage over and over again growing up at home, school and on TV. Today...this is a core pillar of your misery.

If you can answer this problem, then you don't need to listen to this episode: Freewill...does it truly exist? Yes, you are choosing to read this. But science tells us everything is predetermined, hence formulas that can very accurately predict things. How do you reconcile these two? How can we have freewill, if we live in a world bound by universal rules that can be predicted?

Neil Armstrong may be best known for his quote "One small step for man...", but his greatest contribution to posterity, in my opinion, is the attitude he practiced and preached after he came back from stepping on another celestial object and staring back at everything he ever knew: Life is a short term phenomenon.

See the world as it is...not as you see it. This is possibly the greatest trick the devil ever pulled (the fact that we don't even realize we're on the hedonic treadmill). We forget we are a small spec... unspecial in every way....and we freely throw false value judgments on everything.

Here's the first Q&A of the season. We've got three (technically four) questions starting with pets and ending with introspective reflection.

Strap in for some incest, murder, genocide and extinction. We're talking about how homo sapiens exterminated all other human species despite being one of the least successful species (yeah I said it...prove me wrong). Oh yeah...there's some Stoicism in there somewhere too...perhaps some wisdom, but no promises and no refunds.

You've already heard it a million times..."it's not the destination, it's the journey". Let's explain that real quick quick. Don't forget, the Q&A airs in two episodes, so get your questions in on your read-along or wtv. Instagram is a good bet or any other link on StoicismForaBetterLife.com - Let's Talk. I'm excited! Are you?

This is the way...literally. For two millennia, people have been preaching these philosophical precepts and claiming it gave them freedom and peace from within. It may not be the answer for you, but then again, it might.

Growing up I never read the preface of a book. I always thought "what the hell, I bought the book to read the damn thing...why are you bothering me with a short mis-en-context to put the whole thing into perspective in a convenient package." If only I knew then what I know now, I would have gotten so much more value out of the same effort. A preface puts the entire book into the context...

As I do every year, I am looking to adapt the podcast and try something new. I was going to wrap it all up and call it a day on these series, but I got inspired to do three more seasons before I potentially hang up the towel. I'm just trying to do what I can and make the world a better place one conversation at a time. This season will have LOTS of opportunities to interact. Keep an eye out fo...

A prayer is just a form of meditation. And even though the origins of the prayer as e know it today are not exactly from Stoic sources (just like the terms Amor Fati and Memento Mori). However, we still use them today to summarize a collection of ideas that are representative of our school. The Serenity / STOIC prayer is no different and as Prokoptons we should all be reminded of this once in a AL...

The MOST powerful tool we have in our arsenal is our own rational mind. For millennia, intelligent and self-aware individuals have kept rigid journals/logs in a disciplined manner. One of our school's most popular books is quite literally the journal of a Roman Emperor (or what survives of it). Journalling is clearly a powerful tool and over the past decade, I have spent my time perfecting my jour...

I'm not sure how everyone else does it, but I can't help being angry and emotional. I feel them daily, no matter how 'focused' or 'present' or 'mindful' I am. But I've kind of found a way to deal with it.

This episode is all about one of those "BEAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" meditations (Stoic or otherwise). I came up with this gem of a meditation a few years back while I happened to be binging on Epictetus et al...and while watching the second season of the awesome TV series Lucifer. I shamelessly usurped a catchphrase from who else but the most stoic of all angels ... Lucifer Morningstar. Come...

We bond and unite under many banners. Corporations...school...family...gang...sports teams.... so I figure why not also unite under a banner that stands for doing the RIGHT thing ONLY because it is the right thing to do, PERIOD. Or at least try their best to do so. That's SFBL.

If we live and exist in the present moment only, then we can only feel / think / assess one thing at a time. So the capacity to find virtue no matter what, anytime anywhere is a Stoic superpower that allows you to find peace and equanimity whenever YOU feel like it. 

Being stronger is good. It's good for you and good for the world, for you are part of the world. But is there such a thing as too much? Like anything else, of course, there is. And naturally, the next question will be 'so how much is too much?' The answer, as always, will depend on you, your reality, your purpose...essentially it will depend on (you guessed it) your necessities.

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Who can honestly say that they LOVE making mistakes? A true Stoic can and I'll explain why while Epictetus explains how.

One of my favourite things in my newfound life is being wrong. Most of us hate being wrong (come on...be honest...) but we should instead rejoice at the idea. If one can detach from emotions, we can easily see that being wrong immediately provides us with an opportunity to better ourselves or our fortune somehow. Trying to force ourselves to do what we inherently don't want to do, is just as wrong...

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Hope, who met a gal named Fear and they lived happily ever after...or something like that. Check-in to see what Epictetus has to say about it.

I have a confession to make. I have vices. I enjoy pleasure. And boy do those things cause me distractions. If you happen to have a similar disposition, boy oh boy are you gonna enjoy the episode...or my dad joke at the end...or both...or neither.

We've all seen pictures of earth from space. We saw the same pictures...no borders. Those imaginary lines that we grew up with...and spent hours in "History" classrooms learning which border moved in what direction when...they don't actually exist. Some people made them up and we all kind of go along with it for simplicity's sake. But when those imaginary lines begin causing conflict and for gener...

Love is hard and confusing right? Nah...it's JUST an emotion. A strong emotion...possibly one of the strongest emotions along with anger, hate and fear... but LOVE is still only an emotion. So, don't let emotions take you away from your ruling faculty. Epictetus may have some words of clarity and encouragement for you, and I'm rocking a man bun with the new microphone. Let's do some Stoicism.

What I forgot to say is that I received the new mic last night. That's why I was re-recording last minute....Nothing but the best for you guys. 😘 By now we all know about the duality within. As we work to strengthen our real selves (that is, our rational minds/consciousness/spirit/soul/tomato/etc.) we ALSO strengthen our animal minds. So if we don't pay attention, we may lose the ruling faculty f...