Three Actionable Stoic Ideas to Improve Your Life by Sharpening Your Mind
Stoic wisdom is timeless. Use it to regain lightness of thinking
I behave like a lost child. No idea where to go, so no idea how to get there. I was focused only on my current situation. Mostly being angry or sad because of it.
Stoics with Marcus Aurelius in front had similar problems at different times. They were aware of human imperfections and tried to work them out without blaming the world for their faith.
I was lucky enough to join the renewed movement of bringing stoicism to life. The movement was started by Ryan Holiday. For two years, I internalized quotes from the greatest stoic philosophers enriching their experiences with mine. I compiled their ideas with mindfulness meditation which opened a new realm for me.
The realm of feeling one with the Universe.
Here you have three ideas ready for you to implement now. Every contains actionable steps for you to follow. You’re the only one in charge of your life. You’re amazing because you’re one with the Universe too. Make your life more enjoyable by taking advantage of 2000 years of human thought.
Up your decision-making game
You’re busy. I know. Decision after decision. Problem after problem. Unlock another level of decision-making with the help of Epictetus and stoicism.
Focus only on the things you control.
Prepare two lists—a list of things you control and things you don’t control.
How?
Everything which happens outside of you IS OUT of your control.
Everything you think and do IS under your control.
Review below daily matters and how to categorize them to grasp this profound idea.
You start working.
The deadline is in 2 hours.
Your report is not ready.
The power goes off.
Your old laptop can’t work on a battery, and your phone is dead.
You can’t finish.
Out of your control. Unless you work in the powerplant and made it happen.
Same story as above. You start stressing out, acting crazy. You take it out on your close ones.
Under your control. You create your interpretation of what happens. You create = you can change.
You worked on a project. You released it, and people hated it.
Out of your control. The opinion of others is not something you can change.
You took the opinion of people in and decided to update your project. You focused on making it the best you could.
Under your control. You’re only responsible for making the best effort.
This is how Epictetus would make his decisions. Follow his lead. Focus on the things you control; leave out the rest. There will be much less noise in times of crisis, and you’ll have more energy to work on something that will push you forward.
Meditate like a stoic
Stoics are thinkers in the best possible meaning. They harness the power of thought to deliver exceptional results day after day. Their not-so-secret weapon is self-reflection.
Start with these two methods. They’re simple, easy to follow regularly, and yet powerful.
1. Seneca bedtime meditations
Focus on the things you did good and wrong. Create two lists:
What can you do to invite more good things into your life?
Were you kind to your neighbor?
What if you try again tomorrow?
You stuck to your schedule while being tired after a long day.
What if your schedule is flexible enough to feel satisfied even without 100% completion?
What are the things you don’t want?
You got angry at your mother because of what she did.
Maybe she thought she was doing the right thing?
Maybe it’s wiser to assume good intentions?
Someone called you out in public, criticizing your work. You felt touched.
Maybe you should give yourself a second before reacting?
Maybe you can explain the reason behind how you work?
Maybe all that happened due to two people being stressed by their deadlines?
Seneca was thinking only about what to fix. You can enrich his practice by including positive aspects of your day. This way, you double down on the things bringing you joy and avoid those bringing you down.
How to implement
The most you can get from reflecting on your day is by writing.
Handwriting takes the most effort and gives the best results but lacks easy review because you have to digitize your notes or take them with you.
Writing on pc or phone gives you the liberty of having your reflections with you without carrying additional weight. In my experience, this is the easiest way, and thanks to that, repeatable.
Seneca did it without writing. This, too, is a solution. If you’re disciplined enough to reflect upon your day before going to sleep, go for it.
2. The last time meditation
If you have trouble being grateful for what you have, try meditating about losing things.
Think about losing someone close to you. Feel the pain of not being able to talk to them, hug them, or apologize to them. Imagine how empty the world is without them.
Do it for a couple of minutes, and then let go. Wake up in the world where they’re next to you and enjoy.
How to implement
Do this during mindful meditation. Meditation helps to bring visualizations to life.
If you don’t want to meditate, you can try daydreaming.
The important part is to vividly feel and see the loss of the object of your last time meditation. Only then you can feel the joy and gratitude of still having it.
Use this meditation for everything you can imagine.
Use both those self-reflection tools to make you think sharp and straight. Discover what you have to do to bring more joy into your life and find the things draining your energy.
Separate events from your interpretation
You have this incredible superpower. You can change the world.
The only one you ever experience. The world perceived by your mind.
The best part?
You do it by working on how you think. What you see and feel in the outside world is nothing more than your interpretation of reality.
Why interpretation?
Because this is what we do. We simplify and interpret because the amount of raw data coming to our senses is too huge to handle in real-time. Therefore we only perceive a fraction of what’s there, and our previous experience further simplifies even that fraction.
With this in mind, what is that angry you when someone says “f*ck you”?
Is it the sound the other person makes?
Does the event hold the truth that makes you angry?
Or is it you who interpret the event in a way that makes you angry?
Or is it you who feels threatened?
I’m not saying that you should let this go. I’m saying you’re the one who decides how to react. Your choices are simple:
Be unaware and let your life happen without your input.
or
Take control and decide if you want to get angry by random outbursts of aggression towards you.
This is how you can separate events from your interpretation. There is no magic in here, just you and your thoughts.
Observe your mind. Examine what shows up when someone cuts into your lane. What good will it do to get angry? Your mind will serve you a lot of automatic responses that, in most cases, do more harm than good.
Listen to the truth, no matter who presents it
Stoics were active in everyday life. They didn’t avoid responsibility for the country, for family. Some did better, some worse, but what makes their thoughts worth implementing is clarity.
Like with my favorite idea about routines, that the best ones are the ones you follow, stoic ways are the ones you can follow. There are clear. You know what to do and what it gives you. Before you say it doesn’t work — try it. It worked for many, and it may work for you.
Remember, if you don’t try, you’ll never win. If you try, you give yourself a chance. You can try as many times as you want. It’s like buying lottery tickets. The more you have, the easier it is to win.
Get ready for life, and upgrade your decision-making skills by clearing up what is important to you. What can you control? Focus on that to maximize the results.
To help with knowing what’s important and under control, dive into stoic’s self-reflection tools like bedtime meditations and last time meditation. Use bedtime meditation to draw conclusions and plan your steps. Last time meditation helps you enjoy life by appreciating what you have.
Lastly, take a close look at your reactions to what happens. Find out what makes you react, the event, or your thoughts? Regain control over your response by noticing that event is separate from your interpretation. Therefore you can choose how to react.
Have fun.
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