As human beings, we have an amazing gift - the ability to be conscious of our own thinking. How are you taking advantage of this gift? When we are unaware of the thoughts running through our head, we are relinquishing control of our mind to the old habits and patterns that we have created in our lives and letting ourselves run on autopilot. “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable t...
Aug 27, 2018•9 min•Ep 143•Transcript available on Metacast Why do we feel a sense of injury when disagrees with us? Why do we feel hurt when someone tells us we are wrong? In this week’s episode, we’re going to talk why were worry so much about what others think of us and how to learn to deal with our ego. “Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears.” ― Marcus Aurelius “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” — Anonymous One of the aspect of stoicism that has been most difficult for me has been learning to ...
Aug 20, 2018•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation and how we accomplish the goals that we set out to do. And I think there’s a bit a confusion about motivation and how it helps us get things done. Let’s take a look at the definition of motivation: The state or condition of being motivated or having a strong reason to act or accomplish something And let’s look at the definition of willpower: Control of one's impulses and actions; self-control. Motivation is the reason why you want to do something. It’s t...
Aug 13, 2018•10 min•Ep 141•Transcript available on Metacast “Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.” – Epictetus How do we deal with difficulties? Do we see them as challenges or opportunities? As something that is to be suffered through, or something that teaches us who we are? In today's episode, we're going to talk about difficult circumstances and how they are the things we should be most grateful for. Show Notes: What does that mean? Aren’t tough challenges supposed to make us stronger? The stoics remind us that circumsta...
Aug 09, 2018•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Show Notes: How many times have we made judgments about someone when we first meet them, that later turn out to be completely wrong? “Impressions, striking a person’s mind as soon as he perceives something within range of his senses, are not voluntary or subject to his will, they impose themselves on people’s attention almost with a will of their own. But the act of assent which endorses these impressions is voluntary and a function of the human will.” – Epictetus We are constantly being bombard...
Aug 06, 2018•14 min•Ep 139•Transcript available on Metacast “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” – Seneca Do you think too much about the future that you are not livin...
Jul 30, 2018•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Remain steadfast...and one day you will build something that endures: something worthy of your potential.” ― Epictetus Show Notes: One of most important habits to cultivate is a strong work ethic. Time and dedicated effort make it...
May 25, 2018•6 min•Ep 137•Transcript available on Metacast “The honest and good man ought to be exactly like a man who smells strong, so that the bystander, as soon as he comes near him, must smell him whether he chooses or not.” ― Marcus Aurelius Show Notes: This quote cracked me up. And even though Marcus Aurelius was the Emperor of Rome, I like that fact that he had a sense of humor. His example is a potent reminder that we shouldn’t have to tell people how good we are, they should just notice. Because if someone has to tell people how good a person ...
May 24, 2018•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast “You must know that it is no easy thing for a principle to become a man's own, unless each day he maintain it and hear it maintained, as well as work it out in life.” – Epictetus Show Notes: How often do we hear something, think that we understand it, but yet it still takes us quite a while to make it a part of our daily life? Change is not easy. Studies show that it takes 3-6 weeks for a habit to become ingrained, depending on the complexity of the habit. It also depends on if you are trying cr...
May 23, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. ” ― Epictetus Show Notes: If you were to sit down and write a list of all the things that you want in your life, what would be on that list? Maybe a new house, a new car, new clothes? Would the things that you already have be on the list of things you want? One of the core tenets of Stoicism being grateful for the things that we already have. Because if you can want what you already have, ...
May 22, 2018•5 min•Ep 134•Transcript available on Metacast “Very little is needed for everything to be upset and ruined, only a slight lapse in reason. it’s much easier for a mariner to wreck his ship than it is for him to keep it sailing safely; all he has to do is head a little more upwind and disaster is instantaneous. In fact, he does not have to do anything: a momentary loss of attention will produce the same result. It’s much the same in our case. If you doze off, all your progress up to that point will be negated. To keep a sharp eye on your impr...
May 21, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast “How ridiculous and unrealistic is the man who is astonished at anything that happens in life.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Book 12 Show Notes: How often do we think that something in life shouldn’t happen to us? As if we are somehow immune to the things that happen to anyone else in life. How often do we think that we are owed something? As if we are somehow privileged above others, that we deserve something We may think it’s unfair when something we worked hard for fails to materialize. We ...
May 20, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.” ― Epictetus Show Notes: Have you ever been around someone that uses words they don’t understand? How many times have you said something, then had to say, “Well, what I really meant was….”? What if we took time to make sure that we were saying what we really meant? How many arguments could be cut short if we stopped, thought about what we wanted and what we were trying to convey, and clearly expressed what we really meant or felt? How man...
May 19, 2018•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast “He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary.” ― Seneca Show Notes: How often have you stressed over something or worried yourself sick, only to have the scenario you were so worried about never happen? When you worry about something, and you let your imagination run with something, then you suffer many times before you even get to the event that might happen. Unless you can know the future, worrying about something is inventing problems that may never happen. And that kin...
May 18, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ― Marcus Aurelius Show Notes: So many things in our lives that we experience and accept to be “true” is simply a matter of perception. Often we make the mistake of thinking that just because we see or hear something that because we experienced it, it must be what reality is. That the way the we experience the world is the way the world really is. But the Stoics remind us that everything in our expe...
May 17, 2018•6 min•Ep 129•Transcript available on Metacast “Man is affected, not by events, but by the view he takes of them.” — Epictetus Human beings are creatures that love good stories. Stories are the things that we use to make sense of the things in the world. Myths, such as the Greek and Roman or even Norse gods were used to explain why things happen in the world. Human beings like to give meaning to the things in their lives. It’s part of what makes us human. We give meaning to the expressions on other peoples faces. We give meanings to the word...
May 16, 2018•6 min•Ep 128•Transcript available on Metacast “If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.” ― Epictetus Show Notes: •When I read this quote the first thing that came to mind was “I laugh in the face of evil!” •How often do we get upset at what others say about us? •How often do we let what others say about define who we are? •Why get upset about their opinion, esp if it’s a lie? •Remember, as Stoics we need to open to correction, because what we believe and how we see the world could be totally ...
May 15, 2018•5 min•Ep 127•Transcript available on Metacast “To admonish is better than to reproach for admonition is mild and friendly, but reproach is harsh and insulting; and admonition corrects those who are doing wrong, but reproach only convicts them.” ― Epictetus Show Notes: Stoics believe that we can only control ourselves. But also believe that we are here to help others. As a Parent I’ve tried to be good about correcting there actions, but not make them feel like they’re a person because the make mistakes. I was often told I was bad person for ...
May 14, 2018•6 min•Ep 126•Transcript available on Metacast “Well-being is attained little by little, and nevertheless is no little thing itself.” ― Zeno of Citium Show Notes: •Zeno of Citium was the original founder of the Stoic school of philosophy. •Not much of his writing survived, which is why he is not quoted very often when it comes to Stoic philosophy. •But I really like this quote as it talks about the importances of small habits to help us attain our well being and inner peace. •Working on things daily like recognizing what we can and can’t con...
May 13, 2018•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Transcript: Hello friends, welcome to the Stoic Coffee Break. Today's episode...Stuff “Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We've been using them not because we needed them but because we had them.” ― Seneca One of my favorite George Carlin routines is where he talks about stuff and he talks about how we work at our jobs so that we can buy lots of stuff, and then we have to buy a big house so that we can store all of our stuff ,and if we buy...
May 12, 2018•5 min•Ep 124•Transcript available on Metacast “If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.” ― Seneca Show Notes: •How often do we wish the world would change for us? •How often do we think that we can run from our troubles? •Maybe we work at a place where we feel like if our coworkers or our boss would just get their shit together then we’d be happy with our jobs. •Maybe we’re in a relationship where we feel like if the other person would just c...
May 11, 2018•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Other people's views and troubles can be contagious. Don't sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.” ― Epictetus It’s important to be careful about the ideas we entertain. Because the ideas we hold determine who we are How we show up in the world How we treat others Let’s take money for example. If you hang around people that think that money is the measure of a person, you will treat people differently than someone that d...
May 10, 2018•7 min•Ep 122•Transcript available on Metacast “Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the injury that provokes it.” ― Seneca Show Notes: •Today’s topic is one that is a bit personal to me. It’s something that I struggle with at times. •I’ll get upset about something, and because I let anger get the best of me, I make the situation far worse than the event that I got angry about in the first place. •And getting angry also causes me to ruin my inner peace. We make myself unhappy by not dealing with anger in a construc...
May 09, 2018•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ― Seneca Are you a lucky person? The Stoics understood that most things in life are out of our control. The reason that they stress that ideas so much, that we try so hard to control things around us. Trying to control things outside yourself causes yourself and others a lot of suffering. Other people, events, and circumstances are certainly outside of our control. So much of our life is simply up to chance. The people we meet and become...
May 08, 2018•6 min•Ep 120•Transcript available on Metacast “Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.” ― Epictetus Show Notes: •Stoics believed strongly that we are all in control of our own emotions •One of the strongest emotions we have to deal with is anger •From an evolutionary standpoint it seems to makes sense. We feel threatened and we respond in a way that we think will deal with the threat. •But the thing is, fear is usually the response to a physical threat. A...
May 07, 2018•5 min•Ep 119•Transcript available on Metacast “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca Show Notes: Does Seneca mean that we shouldn’t think about the future and strive for anything? Se...
May 06, 2018•5 min•Ep 118•Transcript available on Metacast “Even as the Sun does not wait for prayers and incantations to rise, but shines forth and is welcomed by all: so should you not wait for clapping of hands and shouts and praise to do your duty; nay, do good of your own accord, and you will be loved like the Sun.” ― Epictetus One of the ideas that is common in a lot of religions is the idea of doing good works without the fanfare of other people. That we should do things because they are the right things to do, not because everyone will see what ...
May 05, 2018•5 min•Ep 117•Transcript available on Metacast “As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.” ― Seneca We live in a time where the average lifespan is almost double what it was 200 years ago. Advances in medicine, sanitation, and agriculture have made it possible for more people to live longer. And in many other ways, the physical and external parts of life are better. Life is certainly much easier than it was 200 years ago. But as we work on increasing our lifespans, are we working on increasing the qua...
May 04, 2018•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast “You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone.” ― Marcus Aurelius Have you ever considered the possibility that you don’t need to have an opinion about something? That you don’t need to pass judgment on everything? Before you spend your time worrying about something, what if you took the time to decide if it was worth having an opin...
May 03, 2018•4 min•Ep 115•Transcript available on Metacast “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” — Epictetus Have you found your tribe? Have you found that group of people that are your “chosen” family, who just make you feel good? Where you feel like you are accepted and understood? Where you don’t feel like you have to be on your guard? You can make mistakes. When you find your tribe, you thrive. It took me years to find my tribe. And the reason that I knew it was my tribe was that I felt l...
May 02, 2018•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
