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 lose interest in the object of our desire. Rather than feeling satisfied, we feel a bit bored, and i...
Jun 28, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 262
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 is geared towards what we imagine others think about us. We act certain ways, wear certain clothes, ...
Jun 20, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 261
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 Suffering The first principle in Buddhism is that life is full of suffering. It is something that we cann...
Jun 13, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 260
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 One of the hardest things for us as social creatures is to deal with our enemies. Now when I use the w...
Jun 06, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 259
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; anxieties can only come from your internal judgement. Second, that all these things you see will change...
Jun 01, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 258
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 why we are the dominant species on the planet. Because our brains catalog things that can cause us har...
May 23, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 257
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 post-apocalyptic? Meaning that they are generally about the end of the world, or at least the world a...
May 16, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 256
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 Harvard Study of Adult Development, is a longitudinal study that was started in 1938. Researchers followed...
May 10, 2023•8 min•Season 1Ep. 255
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 present moment.” — Donald J. Robertson When we think about our lives and the passage of time, we ofte...
May 02, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 254
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 few months ago, I read a book called Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliot, which is a great book about ...
Apr 25, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 253
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 Life is challenging. Some times we feel overwhelmed at the situations we have in life. When this happ...
Apr 18, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 252
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 great looking shirts and hoodies at the Stoic Coffee Shop . Like the theme song? You can find it here ...
Apr 10, 2023•2 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 251
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 apologize for not getting last weeks episode out. As you know I’ve been struggling with pretty severe inso...
Apr 04, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 250
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. And the wise man needs to take care of his body just as a farmer takes care of his land. — Epictetu...
Mar 22, 2023•10 min•Season 1Ep. 249
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 find more from Crystal here: https://www.crystaljacksonwriter.com/ --- Hello friends! Thanks for lis...
Mar 13, 2023•2 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 248
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 not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any...
Mar 07, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 247
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?” Now, I understand that "you don't deserve anything" seems kind of harsh, but it is what I meant. When ...
Feb 27, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 246
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 happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. — Epict...
Feb 21, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 245
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 Community ! Stop by the website at stoic.coffee where you can sign up for our newsletter, and b...
Feb 06, 2023•2 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 244
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 powerful forces in our lives. They are the drivers of the actions we take. Those actions lead to the res...
Feb 01, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 243
Growing up, many of us feel like we only have a few options in how to live our lives. Like, there is a list of things we need to check off to be happy. Certain careers that are acceptable. Certain kinds of people we should date and marry. Goals we are expected to obtain in order to live life correctly. Often we get stuck in thinking that we have a few choices in life, and we think that’s how it’s supposed to be. How would your life be different if you viewed yourself as something you get t...
Jan 24, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 242
Mind Over Mood: The Stoic Art of Reframing One of the things we talk about a lot in stoicism is that it’s our perspective on something that causes our distress. So how do we change our perspective on things? Are there tools that we can use to help us view things differently? Today I want to talk about some of the things that get in our way of broadening our perspective, and what tools we can use to help change our perspective. It is not the things themselves that disturb people, but their judgme...
Jan 16, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 241
Trever Yarrish is the owner and founder of Zeal Software and The Hiive co-working space. He is also a good friend and one of my favorite people to chat with about stoicism. He's an avid student of stoicism and brings many of the stoic principles and ideas into his companies as well as his personal life. We sat down and had a chat about life, work, family, and the importance of having a process for managing your mind and emotions. Books mentioned in the podcast: The Power of Giving Away Power Exi...
Jan 09, 2023•2 hr 45 min•Season 1Ep. 240
Hey everyone, this year has been an especially rough year for many of us. I can honestly say it has been for me. I had another episode mostly written but I decided that I wanted to change things up and talk about what I have learned over the past year, and ask you about the most important things you have learned. The past few years have been quite a ride for the world. With Covid shutting down so many things and altering our way of life in so many ways, we have all been affected in big and small...
Jan 03, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 239
How do you show up in the world? Are you acting the way that you want to? Are you being the person that you want to? If not, why not? In todays episode, I want to talk about how to live with integrity and be the person you want to be. Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself. —Marcus Aurelius One of the most important things that we can do in our lives is to live with integrity. Now what do I mean by integrity? The word integrity has several definitions but my favorite is “so...
Dec 27, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 238
Are you confident person? Do you have faith in yourself as person? Are you comfortable with who you are? Today I want to talk about how we often will self sabotage ourselves not because we don’t have the skill or capacity to do something, but because we let self doubt creep in and stop us from sharing our gifts and talents. To have self-confidence is to trust in one's own abilities and judgement. It is the foundation of success and happiness. - Seneca Self-confidence is an essential quality that...
Dec 20, 2022•10 min•Season 1Ep. 237
Are you a nice person or are you a kind person? Do you know the difference? Today I want to talk about whether it’s better to be nice or kind. Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. — Seneca I few weeks ago, I stumbled on a discussion on twitter of all place about the difference between being nice and being kind. It was an idea that I had never really thought about, so today I want to look at this idea from a stoic perspective. I’m sure that most of us at ...
Dec 12, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 236
A cross post of a chat with Tanner Campbell of the Practical Stoicism podcast. Tanner is warm, smart, and interesting, with a great podcast. If you enjoy my work then you'll probably enjoy his podcast as well. You can find the Practical Stoicism podcast here: https://stoicismpod.com The three books I mentions can be found here: Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliot Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman & Kaley Klemp -...
Dec 05, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 235
Do you want your life to be easy? Do you complain, get stressed out, or upset when challenges come up in your life? Today I want to talk about why we should not only accept adversity in our lives, but learn to embrace it. The path of least resistance is a terrible teacher. — Ryan Holiday One of the things that I notice all the time are ads on Facebook promising some easy hack to get more clients, make more sales, lose weight faster, etc. It seems as if everything can be reduced to some kin...
Nov 28, 2022•11 min•Season 1Ep. 234
Do you feel like the world is in chaos right now? I know that many of us feel like that. Spend a day on social media and easy to find all kinds of things wrong with the world. Is it that the world is truly more chaotic? Are things really falling apart more so than in the past? Today I want to talk about some of the reasons why some many of us feel like the world is in chaos. The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable. —Seneca It's easy in this modern world to feel anxious. T...
Nov 21, 2022•8 min•Season 1Ep. 233
