Stoic Coffee Break

Are you a victim? Do you put yourself in the role of a victim rather than owning up to and taking responsibility for yourself? Today I want to talk about why we fall into the role of victim and how we can step up and be responsible for ourselves. “An ignorant person is inclined to blame others for his own misfortune. To blame oneself is proof of progress. But the wise man never has to blame anothe...

Do you think that life should be all pleasure and no pain? This week I want to talk about the balance between pain and pleasure and why if you want more pleasure, you may have to add more pain to your life. “If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.” —Epictetus The Paradox of Pain and Pleasure A few weeks ago, I had an episode called Suffer Well, and in tha...

Why do you set goals? Why is it important for you to accomplish those goals? Today I want to talk about why we should try to accomplish goals, even we never achieve them. “That which we desire lies across an ocean of hard won knowledge.” — @TheStoicEmperor (twitter) Achievement Because we live in an achievement driven culture we often feel like if we don’t achieve certain things that we are fallin...

Are you always looking for the lazy solution? Do you try to find “one and done” solutions to the problems in your life? Today I want to talk about how most progress is not just about knowing what to do, but about doing it consistently. “How do you move forward? One step at a time. How do you lose weight? One kilo at a time. How do you write a book? One page at a time. How do you build a relationsh...

Do you think of yourself as a “self”? What if we had no part of us that was an enduring self? How would that change how you acted in the world? Today I want to talk about the idea of how we would view the world different if there was no self. Who Am “I”? “It is not so much what happens to you as how you think about what happens.” ― Epictetus “Your happiness depends on three things, all of which ar...

Do you struggle with getting the things that you want in you life? Are you unhappy because you are unable to achieve the success you want in life? Today I want to talk about an idea call the Inverse Law of Desire, and how it may be keeping you from accomplishing your goals in life. "We humans are unhappy in large part because we are insatiable; after working hard to get what we want, we routinely...

Do you worry about what others think of you? Does it keep you from doing or saying things that you would like do? Today I want to talk about thinking errors and projection and how we can use stoic ideas to clean up our thinking. “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”  — Epictetus A lot of what we do in our lives...

Do you give up on things because they’re hard? How willing are you to suffer for the things that you truly want in your life? Today I want to talk about how to get what you want, and why it’s important to learn how to suffer well. "Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind."  — Seneca Life is Suffe...

Do you have enemies? Are there people that you don’t like? Are there people who don’t like you? May there is someone who makes your life more difficult? Today I want to talk about the importance of having people in our lives that challenge us. “There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.” — Antisthenes On...

How do you handle change? Does it overwhelm you? Do you try to ignore it or do you embrace it? Today I want to talk about understanding change and how we can use stoicism to help us through some rocky times. “Nothing endures but change.” — Heraclitus “There are two of the most immediately useful thoughts you will delve into. First that things cannot touch the mind: they are external and inert; anx...

Are you afraid to take risks? Do you continually play it safe? Are you living a life that is comfortable but unchallenging? Today I want to talk about how we can push ourselves to take more risks and live life more fully. While we wait for life, life passes.  —Seneca Our brains are always looking to keep us safe in any situation. It’s part of the reason why we have evolved as a species and wh...

Are you a pessimist? Do you see the glass as half empty? Do you often get depressed when you think about the state of the world? Today I want to talk about how stoicism can help make you an optimist. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. — Marcus Aurelius Have you ever noticed how most of the movies about the future of mankind are usually p...

How well do you manage your emotions? Do you feel like you’re on top of things or do you feel like you let situations get under your skin? Today I want to talk about a model I came across that can be a useful tool for managing your emotions, and handling situations like a stoic. "Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it."  — Seneca The Harvar...

Does your past weigh heavy on you? Do you let your past mistakes keep you from making the changes you want in your life? Today I want to talk about how changing our perspective on the past can help us make better choices for the future.  “Remind yourself that the past and future are ‘indifferent’ to you, and that the supreme good, and eudaemonia, can only exist within you, right now, in the p...

Do you always act the way you want to? Do you struggle to accomplish what you set out to do? Do you find it challenging to make choices that are in line with what you think you want? Today I want to talk about learning to understand why often make choices and do things that don’t line up with that we think we really want.  "No man is free who is not a master of himself."  — Epictetus A f...

Do you get overwhelmed with the challenges of life? When life gets to stressful do you shut down and bail out? Today I want to talk about why we let things overwhelm us and what can we do to stay on track. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” — Marcus Aurelius   L...

A wide ranging conversation with Brian, the host of the LOTS project. You can find out more information about Brian and living off the grid at https://thelotsproject.com/ --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House Community !  Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and buy some gr...

When life throws you curveballs, how do you handle them? Do you freak out? Do you roll with it? Do you look at it as an opportunity or a disaster? Today I want to about how to keep a perspective on life that helps you keep on moving when things don’t go as planned. We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. — Epictetus First, I want to apolog...

Do you take care of your body? To you treat it like a temple? Do you exercise it and strengthen it as much as your mind? Today I want to talk about how important it is to treat your body as good as, if not better than your mind. It is impossible to live a pleasant life without living wisely and well and justly, and it is impossible to live wisely and well and justly without living a pleasant life....

Life is full of challenges that can knock you down, but the question is, are you going to stay down? As a romance novelist, Crystal Jackson might seem an odd choice for a guest on a podcast about stoicism, but Crystal has seen her fair share of hard knocks, and has some great lesson to share. We talk about how sometimes, the greatest challenges in our lives are also the greatest teachers. You can...

The stoics teach us that our perspective on life is one of the most important things that we can control. It’s our perspective that informs how we approach everything. Today I want to talk about a powerful way to look at the world using stoic principles that can help us become more resilient, and better able to handle stresses in our lives. If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is n...

Last weeks podcast got a quite a few responses and questions. Some of them turned into some back and forth discussions about some of the ideas, so I want to dig into them a little deeper. Deserve The first question was from a listener who asked:  “What if instead of looking at human existence as, "you don't deserve anything", we instead look at it as “you deserve exactly what you receive?” No...

Do you think that life is fair? Do you think it’s unfair? Are others “winning” when you are not? Today I want to talk about how fall into a pretty bad way of thinking that reduces our ability to take responsibility for ourselves, and blame our unhappiness on the world outside of us. Complaining about a problem without posing a solution is called whining. — Teddy Roosevelt There is only one way to...

This weeks episode is an interview I did with Dr. John Chancey of the Knowledge Brews Supreme podcast. It was really fun to dive into all kinds of interesting philosophical topics with John. He's sharp, warm, and fun. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed chatting with John. --- Hello friends! Thanks for listening. Want to take these principles to the next level? Join the Stoic Coffee House C...

Are you afraid of your feelings? Do you avoid, numb, or shut down your emotions? How much stress and anxiety do you create trying to avoid uncomfortable emotions? Today I want to talk about the power of emotions, and how to reduce your suffering by feeling your emotions all the way through. Too many people believe that everything must be pleasurable in life.  — Robert Greene Emotions are powe...