The Strong Stoic Podcast

Ian C. Williams is an author, speaker, and business advisor. He has a Master’s in Public Affairs (MPA) with an emphasis in Leadership Strategy and Organizational Culture from the University of Minnesota. He works primarily with mission-driven organizations to help them grow healthy cultures through process optimization, well-being integration, and environmental restoration. He recently released hi...

It is, of course, a core Stoic idea that it is not situations that upset us but rather our opinion of them. This points to a very deep connection between opinion and character: one’s opinion dictates one’s character. That doesn’t sound overly obvious. Isn’t an opinion just some arbitrary thing? And isn’t it outside of our control to some extent? In this episode, I discuss the connection between ch...

Peterson is known to say some crazy stuff from time to time. When looking at a quote like the above, it’s easy to get a little hesitant - how can we alter the structure of reality? I think there’s a lot to unpack in this quote. Firstly, it does seem to be the case that our thoughts form our reality, at least in some part. There is an objective reality out there, though we mere humans don’t always...

We have a tendency to take everything that we already have for granted. Perhaps you spend months craving the latest iPhone. You save your money and when the day comes, you trade it in for that shiny, shiny model. However, come next year, you have the same feelings. Now, the iPhone that, at one point in time you felt would make you happy ‘till the end of your days simply blends in with the rest of...

It isn’t uncommon for the thought to cross one’s mind “damn, time goes fast!”. Though perhaps Seneca wouldn’t have cursed (but who knows?), he had contemplated much on the shortness of life. Perhaps paradoxically, Seneca also writes on how life can actually be quite long if it is lived properly. What are we to make of these seemingly contradictory ideas from Seneca? The Strong Stoic Podcast is a...

Dr. Megan McElheran is a Clinical Psychologist and the Chief Executive Officer of Wayfound Mental Health Group, practicing in Calgary, AB. Her work over the last 16 years has been exclusively in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of Operational Stress Injuries (OSI) in active-duty military, Veterans, and public safety personnel (e.g., police, firefighters, paramedics, corrections, etc.). Mega...

Truth is an obvious virtue, though it’s not a cardinal virtue. A cardinal virtue is pure; it’s always good, while the truth is not. Still, truth plays a very significant part in any philosophical journey. It is the handmaiden of love. But what does this really mean? This podcast is listener-supported; if you would like to support the Strong Stoic (as well as gain access to exclusive content), you...

In this episode, I have the privilege of speaking with Will Johncock. Will studies how an individual’s thoughts, actions, and attributes, are products of their environments. He works within the fields of continental philosophy, ancient and modern Stoic philosophy, social theory, and sociology. He is also an author, and his newest book Beyond the Individual: Stoic Philosophy on Community and Connec...

Emerson said "the only way to have a friend is to be one". This quote is particularly insightful in today’s hyper-connected world. I use the word “connected'“ loosely, for although many of us have lots of online friends, genuine in-person connections seem to have become rare. So how do we best aim towards making friends? And how can we BE a friend? This podcast is listener-supported...

Wisdom is one of the four cardinal virtues, so it makes sense why the Stoics spent so much time thinking and writing about it. It is often seen as abstract, and hence, it can cause confusion as to what it really is. But what is wisdom? How can we become more wise? Is there a difference between "wisdom" and "knowledge"? And why is humility important in wisdom? Find this episode...

Brian is the author of the new book Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life. He’s an award-winning professor of biblical studies and a transformational coach for pastors and spiritually-minded professionals and also hosts the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast. In this episode, Brian and I discuss personality, teamwork, relationships, leadership, and much...

Logos is a very abstract and difficult idea to understand. It’s present in many ancient philosophies as well as Christianity. One of the confusing aspects is the fact that the definition changes to some degree depending on which philosophy you are talking about. Despite it’s complexity (or perhaps because of it), I think an understanding of what Logos is is crucial for the practicing of Stoicism,...

Tanner is the founder of Practical Philosophy and the host of the Practical Stoicism podcast. He’s currently working on what is in my opinion a very noble goal – a platform for academics to independently share their wisdom with those willing to hear it. He has also authored a book called “Practical Stoicism” and has another, “Stoicism But Brief” coming out very soon so stay tuned for that. In this...

Tom Petty said, “some say life will beat you down, break your heart, steal your crown”. That seems like a rather pessimistic take on life! However, we add pessimism to our heads. Perhaps Petty wasn’t referring to this as an inherently bad thing. Tragedy, heat break, etc. are viewed as indifferents in Stoicism, but they could also be viewed as good if we use them to improve our character. Could we...

Corey Robinson is a former member of Canada’s National Wrestling Team who has also served as both a national and provincial coach of Olympic freestyle wrestling. He is currently a specialist of social impact at Motivate Canada, which is an organization which focuses on youth-driven development all over Canada. He also is a coach at CrossFit Basinview for those of you in the Halifax area. In this e...

There’s a common moral dilemma brought up as a way to illustrate the complexity of situations. These dilemmas are often a version of sacrificing one for the many. If there was an army coming your way, and the leader of the army asked you to either sacrifice one of your friends or to be prepared to be destroyed. What’s the right response here? It’s perhaps easy to justify sacrificing the one to sav...

Dr. Megan McElheran is a Clinical Psychologist and the Chief Executive Officer of Wayfound Mental Health Group, practicing in Calgary, AB. Her work over the last 16 years has been exclusively in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of Operational Stress Injuries (OSI) in active-duty military, Veterans, and public safety personnel (e.g., police, firefighters, paramedics, corrections, etc.). Mega...

I recently did an episode on the vitalness of showing up for yourself. No one else is coming. If you want to make your life better, then YOU must make your life better. As the old adage goes, “you can bring a horse to the water, but you can’t make them drink it”. However, we are also all here for each other. I’ve often said in the past that we should acquire strength, first, to lift ourselves up a...

In 1882, Nietzsche stated in his book The Gay Science that “God is dead”. He wasn’t celebrating this fact; in fact, he was quite concerned about it. Dostoevsky, the author of some of the greatest books of all time, was concerned as well. In 1879, he published The Brothers Karamazov, and in it, one of his characters said “If God doesn’t exist then everything is permissible”. These statements were m...

Shane is an author, educator, and strength and conditioning coordinator. His book “Setting the Bar: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Era of Distraction, Dependency, and Entitlement” is a book that I often recommend to teachers, parents, or anyone else with kids in their lives. He’s dedicated to improving youth development, and my personal exchanges with Shane have led me to the conclusion that t...

Over the past few months, I’ve been releasing episodes on self-improvement, showing up for yourself, and forming good habits, and they seem to be well-received. Of course, my thoughts on these topics are in constant evolution, and I’ve come to ponder the question: if we were to distill down to the essentials what’s important, what would we be left with? And I don’t mean in terms of values, though...

There are two seemingly contradictory ideas in Stoicism. The first is that we should not let externals dictate our actions. The second is that we are all part of a larger whole. In sum, the question becomes: is it Stoic to be a product of your environment? Or perhaps: if you are different around different people, are you still genuinely yourself (and hence, Stoic)? Learn more about your ad choices...

Kristen is an abstract artist here locally in Nova Scotia, Canada. That’s what actually drew me to her – her art is very beautiful and I highly recommend checking out her Instagram and website to have a peak at what she does. She has a background in political philosophy which allowed her to study creativity – quite the thing to study for an artist. Since then, she’s been involved in many projects,...

The idea of showing up for yourself is a bit odd; how could you not show up for yourself? You are you, after all! However, we all fall short of showing up for ourselves. It doesn’t simply mean that we are physically present; on that, surely, we have no choice. Like many philosophical ideas, perhaps it’s best to think of it as being a friend to ourselves, as Seneca would encourage us to do. But wha...

This episode, unlike many of my episodes, is a feely-goody episode. I’m going to talk about friendship. But not just friendship in general, but rather how magical it can be. And I don’t use that term lightly – the things that friendship is able to transcend and overcome is truly remarkable. You and I could be from different parts of the world, have different skin colors, be different heights, and...