Epictetus gives his students crucial actionable advice, if they want to progress in Stoicism, in the 33rd chapter of the Enchiridion .
If they desire peace, lasting happiness and flourishing- he tells them that sheep don’t need to vomit the grass they’ve eaten to prove how well they’ve fed. They simply digest the food and the results show in the abundance and quality of their wool and milk. Elsewhere, he tells them that a good athlete doesn’t show us his gym equipment to prove he’s sensational- he only has to show us how big his shoulders have gotten.
Our studies in philosophy have to work the same way.
Being able to quote Marcus Aurelius word for word has little value. You could explain the dichotomy of control or fill your notebooks with Seneca but none of it matters if it doesn’t change you fundamentally. If you still get angry, or let panic attacks ruin a great moment. If people’s insults matter to you more than your self-opinion. If you let yourself be a slave to pleasure, or you let the idea of your mortality scare you away from living fully.
Words have to become works.
So here are three ways to practice Stoicism today.
1. Delay your first reaction
Give yourself a few seconds before speaking, replying or acting in response to an irritation.
Ask yourself: Who’s in your control here? Is it you- your thoughts, beliefs or judgments? OR is there a specific set of actions you can take so that you’re not out here fuming and whining?
Do that.
What you’ve just done is turned the dichotomy of control into a practice- where you create a mental space between impulse and action to resolve self-sabotage patterns.
2. Rehearse a difficulty before it happens
Think about your day tomorrow and choose what’s likely to test you, perhaps it’s a recurrent thing at work or home. Maybe it tempts you. Or its criticism disorients you.
Now formulate a plan and thought process that you’ll run when this thing happens.
Seneca advocated for the practice- Premeditatio Malorum- whose wisdom is that if you already consider the difficulties you might face, your mind will find it easier to overcome them- instead of instinctually trying to ram yourself against an immovable reality when surprised by happenings.
3. Choose one small discomfort
Today, give up what you’ve become used or addicted to. Alternatively, do something hard. This could be going without coffee for a week, waking up earlier than your usual hours to read, leaving your phone at home, fasting for 24hrs, or going for a run everyday of the week next week.
The point is to declare to yourself who’s in charge.
You’re teaching yourself that you don’t have to indulge every pleasure. Plus, in hardship, you become confident that you can withstand more than you think. You can get stronger from what feels like it could break you.
Do those three things today and you’ll have practiced more Stoicism than you would by reading another twenty pages about it.
That’s the idea behind our private community, The Stoa.
I’m building it for serious readers- new and experienced- who want to practice and integrate Stoicism as a way of life through weekly challenges, exercises, real-life dilemmas, accountability and rich philosophical discourse that traverses all areas of life. This will be a year long program that only requires little of your time in a day, as you’ll spend most of your day living by the principles.
The goal is to make Stoicism so ingrained in you that you automatically turn to it when you actually need it. That’s the only way it can change your life.
We launch in under two weeks. People on the waitlist will be invited first and receive a special launch discount.
If you want to join the waitlist, reply to this email with the word STOIC and I’ll add you.
With love,
Antonius Veritas, M.D
Thank you