The Little Book of Stoicism: Timeless Wisdom to Gain Resilience, Confidence, and Calmness

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There are three things in life: The good, the bad, and the indifferent things. The first two – good and bad – are things you can change. For example, what you do is either good for your future or present self or bad – eating healthy vs eating junk food. The third category is about the things you can’t change – for example, life and death. Obviously, we should do everything in our power to do things that can be defined as good. My main takeaway: Dominating our emotions and being capable of controlling them even when we’re challenged is essential for our well-being. Notable Quotes:

Because many of us live like we’re going to live forever, squandering our time only to realize too late that we’re running late. I love the idea of looking at life as a big training. It helps develop a growth mindset, lowers the pressure, improves your performance and, finally, it increases your ability to learn from your mistakes. Stoic QuotesSelf-discipline is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will get. So each time you decide to overcome the initial hurdle and do practice, you train yourself in self-discipline and willpower.

Take Responsibility: Get Good from Yourself "If you want anything good, you must get it from yourself ” - Epictetus We don’t have the luxury of postponing our training, because unlike the Olympic Games, the contest we participate in every day—life—has already begun. Life is right now, it’s about time to start our training. The sharpest tool in your toolbox is not your house, your possessions, the money you have in the bank or the fancy tech job, it’s your mind. It’s where you direct your thoughts and how you react to outside stimuli. Take responsibility for your mental state: you are responsible for how you feel. Whatever happens around you cannot impact you negatively unless you allow it Its powerful psychological techniques are almost identical to the ones that are now proven to be effective by research in the scientific study called Positive Psychology. I am not accusing the researchers of theft, but the exercises discussed in Positive Psychology look suspiciously similar to the ones the Stoics used over two thousand years ago. The fact that modern research often goes hand in hand with what the Stoics taught makes the philosophy even more appealing. On top of that, Stoicism isn’t rigid, but open and looking for the truth. As a Latin saying goes: Zeno [founder of Stoicism] is our friend but truth is an even greater friend.

It should really be a no-brainer for many of us to adopt a philosophy of life that offers guidance, direction, and a larger meaning to life. Without that compass, there’s the risk that despite all our well-intentioned actions, we’ll run in circles, chase worthless things, and end up living an unfulfilling life full of emotional suffering, regrets, and frustration. And since it doesn’t take much effort to give Stoicism a chance as your guiding philosophy of life, there’s really nothing to lose and much to gain. We must remember that pain can be an opportunity to test and improve our virtue. We can practice patience and endurance—two noble strengths.

And especially for those things you can hardly change, the art of acquiescence will definitely help improve your life. If you want anything good, get it from yourself. We must seek happiness within ourselves, not in external things; they’re not within our power, they’re neither good nor bad but indifferent. If we don do nothing, we’ll never beet the madness. Or as the author shares in the book, “The only tiling necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Actionable Notes: Easy. Well, at least easy in terms of understanding and remembering the principle. But surely extremely hard to execute. My ultimate aim of this direct and straightforward approach to Stoicism is to help you live a better life. I believe we can all become a little wiser and happier by practicing this wonderful philosophy.

Summary in 100 words or less

Training in Stoicism is a bit like surfing—little theory and lots of practice. Right now, you can’t wait to get started and you imagine yourself standing on the surfboard hitting wave after wave, having the time of your life . . . wait, I have to stop you there. Because in your first surf lesson, you get to learn some theoretical aspects of surfing too. On the dry land, you practice how to paddle, pop up, and stand on the board. In other words, the first part feels annoying—you just wanted to surf, you didn’t sign up for that dry theory lesson. We’re the only ones stopping us from cultivating virtuous behavior, we’re the only ones stopping us from living the good life. As said, Stoicism is all about living a good life. About achieving internal nirvana and reinforcing your spirit – i.e. becoming resilient to the hardships life throws at you. What is Stoicism? “If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it/' - Marcus Aurelius