Are you looking for a way to develop a strong mindset and face life’s challenges with a calm and rational approach? Look no further than Stoicism.
Anyone can become a Stoic, regardless of their innate abilities. By engaging in daily exercises, you can develop the mindset of a Stoic. Epictetus, a well-known Stoic philosopher, argues that there are things within our control and things that are not. This is the foundation of Stoicism.
As humans, we tend to fret about things we can’t change and ignore things that we can change and improve. Epictetus encourages us to recognize that our negative emotions arise from situations beyond our control. If that is the case, we should be willing to accept that “this is not something we should worry about.”
Stoicism is a rare philosophy that provides practical guidance for overcoming crises. In this article, join LotusBuddhas as we explore five specific practices that will help you become a Stoic and confront reality with courage.
1. Don’t waste time on meaningless things
Seneca, the Roman philosopher and another representative of Stoicism, once spoke about how humanity wastes time on useless pursuits. In his book “On the Shortness of Life”, he demonstrates that this has been a serious problem since ancient times.
Seneca highlights the vanity of human beings, who focus solely on material desires to impress others. This is no different from the subjects of the “virtual living empire” on Facebook, Tiktok, and Instagram, where people flaunt their wealth and mundane pleasures.
Seneca believed that life is too brief to be squandered on trivial matters. Instead, by utilizing your time wisely, such as by carefully planning your future step by step, you can achieve what you want.
You cannot truly be a stoic if all of your success is based on luck. Similar to winning the lottery, the happiness will only be temporary and then fade away.
In the end, if we don’t invest our time in achieving our goals, we will fall back into pursuing material pleasures, much like the vain and greedy people Seneca describes.
2. Self-discipline
To achieve success, it’s crucial to do the work in a specific order, from difficult to easy. The idea is to face challenging tasks with obstacles and suffer first, then receive the gift of joy once the work is done.
This principle of “suffer now, reap later” is the potential power that allows us to prioritize tasks that don’t bring immediate gratification. By doing so, we can gain qualities that lead to success later on.
Moral training is highly valued in Stoicism. For Stoic philosophers, the only thing worth contemplating is inner moral values rather than external factors outside of our control.
This is the essence of Stoic discipline: to confront the difficulties of understanding the world instead of giving in to destructive emotions.
3. Understand and utilize your strengths
Investing in oneself is the best investment, especially during times of inflation, according to the Stoics. This investment involves not only developing one’s morality and social skills, but also understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses.
Improving oneself is not about erasing one’s identity, but rather about cultivating the right strengths and gradually overcoming one’s weaknesses. To achieve this, being truthful with oneself is a crucial step.
One should ask themselves questions like, “Who am I?” “What am I doing?” “How is my life going?” and “Is my self-assessment objective?” By doing so, one can identify what makes them proud of themselves and develop an action plan accordingly.
Through applying their strengths to real-life situations and working on their weaknesses, individuals will gradually gain more control over their lives.
4. Living with unpleasant things
Comfort with universal pleasures such as having a lot of material possessions, good food, or money was not the goal the Stoics were aiming for. Over time, your familiarity with comfort will prevent you from facing the unacceptable things of this world.
To be a stoic, you need to know how to face life’s unpleasant challenges. From then on, you will no longer take every pleasant thing that happens in the world for granted. Happiness is not readily available, comfort is not self-evident, and many sacrifices must be made in order for the individual to have those values. Facing discomfort means not giving up or seeking immediate help. Only then will you not suffer from the crazy happenings that frequently occur in this world.
5. Don’t complain!
This practice appears to capture the essence of the previous four practices. Another genuine and straightforward expression is “Accepting!”
This does not imply that the Stoics are self-centered, concerned only with their own training and knowledge, or that they are unfeeling and demanding individuals.
The greater lesson that arises from refraining from complaining is being prepared and anticipating all of life’s events. When you are not in a passive position, you are accountable for the consequences and reap the benefits yourself. You will stop whining and become less angry with yourself and with life.
