Welcome ,
Grab your pen and notebook.
I want us to practice Stoicism together the way I do it. We’ll be sitting down with one passage from the Stoics and explore it with a set of questions, designed the way Socrates taught, so that our soul is dyed the color of our thoughts- the more high quality our mindset is, the happier, more prosperous and peaceful we’ll be in our work, relationships and overall life.
Yesterday we opened with the first chapter of what we’re calling The Stoic Workbook (click here to view). I’ve received a couple of good reviews on it- and now today I want us to do the same.
The goal is simple- I want you to understand yourself better, live to your true potential, increase your capacity for joy, notice where your actions fall short of your principles, see better angles to manage situations and forge a solid way to live better. Done consistently, this small structured action becomes a great practice to shape your judgment, habits, and character. Let’s begin.
September 20 — Cicero on choosing the person you intend to become
The second installment of our Stoic Workbook comes from Cicero. He writes,
Cicero, On Duties (De Officiis) 1.115 - 121
“Each person has been given certain characteristics by nature. Beyond these, however, there is another role that we choose for ourselves. We must decide what kind of person we wish to be, and what manner of life we wish to lead. This choice is among the most difficult decisions we make.
For it is in the years of early youth, when our judgement is most immature, that each of us decides that his calling in life shall be that to which he has taken a special liking. And thus he becomes engaged in some particular calling and career in life, before he is fit to decide intelligently what is best for him.”
Socratic questions for a better life,
Cicero separates the characteristics you were born with from the character you deliberately choose. Imagine your potential was limitless and possibilities endless, which parts of yourself have you treated as fixed simply because you think you were born this way- that it’s just how things have been? (Hint: Look at what you admire or envy for clues)
Which ambitions in your life are genuinely yours? What are you drawn to? Which entered your definition of a successful life because your family, profession, peers, culture, or people you admire seem to value them most?
What characteristics have helped you reach your…