Cultivating personal virtue does not need to rely on seeking external validation. Instead, the ancient philosophical system of Stoicism provides a framework for self-improvement through reason, discipline, and ethical action. By training one’s ability to govern judgments rationally instead of emotionally, an unshakable equanimity emerges from within. Undertaking spiritual exercises focused on hardship and difficulty builds resilience and self-control. Contemplating mortality’s inevitability informs prioritizing only meaningful pursuits given life’s impermanence.
1. Live According to Nature
The core foundation of Stoic philosophy is the idea of living in harmony with nature by applying reason. The Stoics believed that the logical structure and rationality inherent in nature are also within every human being. Living “according to nature” meant making judgments and choices based on objective rationale rather than emotion or desire.
We can apply reason to our conduct as nature operates according to self-evident rhythms and laws. Objectivity helps us see events, people, and circumstances clearly without projection or assumptions clouding perception. Reacting hastily often leads to misjudgments because we see imperfect impressions rather than reality. By calmly examining impressions, we can filter out emotional overreactions using the same innate capacity for reason nature displays in elegant constancy.
2. Practice Voluntary Discomfort
Seeking luxury and comfort is often treated as a worthy pursuit. However, the Stoics practiced voluntary discomfort to enhance self-discipline and stem dependence on external pleasures. By avoiding soft living, they hardened themselves physically and mentally to face inevitable difficulties and calamities with stability and resilience.
Facing discomfort, hardship, and even pain leads to mastery over fear. Believing luxury and comfort are essential makes one fragile because life holds no guarantees. Voluntarily enduring difficulties demonstrates we can withstand problems life throws at us. Whether we feel hunger pains, injury, financial trouble, or relationship conflicts, practicing small doses of voluntary discomfort increases readiness to handle such situations. As Seneca stated, “Difficult times show what men are made of.”
3. Focus on What You Can Control
Stoic thinkers emphasized focusing solely on what is within one’s control while accepting externals outside control. As Epictetus declared, “Happiness and freedom begin with realizing two truths: what is and what is not in your control. Many things are beyond your control — reputation, power, and the actions of others. Focus solely on controlling your judgments, words, actions, and will.”
Elements outside our control include situations that happen to us, how people treat us, natural events, difficulties inflicted upon us, and, ultimately, the impermanence of our lives. Accepting powerlessness over exigencies may seem disheartening. But as stoics discovered, acceptance provides freedom from disappointment over not dictating every circumstance. We control our response regardless of situations thrown at us. Amor fati — loving one’s fate — means embracing life’s conditions rather than demanding alternatives.
4. Examine Your Impressions
Stoicism encourages examining one’s impressions rigorously to determine where errors, assumptions, or misjudgments may occur. Impressions include anything we sense or perceive about a person, situation, or occurrence. We tend to react instantly based on impressions instead of examining them closely. Stoics used examination techniques like negative visualization, contemplating death, meditating on pains or pleasures, and discussing perspectives with others.
Considering death’s inevitability or loss of something cherished causes fear or sadness commonly. But objectively viewing them through thoughtful examination over time can unveil that the terrible parts of these outcomes are just impressions we attach to them. Though initially unpleasant, negative visualization loosens bonds to fragile things lost or damaged easily.
5. Remember, We All Will Die
“You live as if you will live forever; your frailty never occurs to you; you don’t notice how much time has passed. But eventually, death arrives, the one thing you haven’t prepared for.” Seneca’s poignant words argue for living urgently and understanding our impermanent, transient lives. Stoics meditated often on mortality, keeping death reflectively in view even amidst life’s duties.
Practicing mindfulness of mortality pulls awareness into the present, appreciating irreplaceable time. Asking, “Is this how I would like to spend my last day?” helps distinguish meaningful and wasteful actions. Visualizing ending at any instant leads to focusing only on morally worthy, significant service.
Yet reflecting on mortality and fragility shouldn’t depress engagement in liveliness. As Marcus Aurelius said, “You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.” Our imminent fate makes seizing opportunities an urgent calling, awakened to squeeze delight from fleeting blessings whenever possible. Moreover, accepting impermanence alleviates fretting over external factors eventually lost. By holding our precarious position in clear view, gratitude and motivation for excellence emerge.
6. Perform Your Civic Duty
The Stoics deemed contributing positively within society as a significant ethical obligation for humanity’s welfare. Behaving selfishly was seen as infringing on communal bonds. Just as nature operates through symbiotic, interconnected systems for the biosphere’s wellbeing, Stoics viewed participation through civic duties as necessary for societal health.
Civic duties encompass socially supportive roles, including occupations benefiting others, volunteering services, donations to the disadvantaged, constructive public discourse, and leadership activities bettering communities. Other forms include everyday neighborliness like picking up litter, reporting problems needing fixing, delivering warning or rescue messages, voting to improve collective outcomes, and creating hospitable spaces welcoming marginalized people. Even small acts of citizenship aimed at improving commons reflect Stoic moral interdependence ideals.
7. Treat Others Fairly
Fundamental to Stoic thought is recognizing universal humanity by comprehending innate kinship with fellow citizens. Viewing outsiders as aliens leads to conflict and immoral acts against them. But seeing even marginalized persons as equally human and deserving of justice dispels arbitrary divisions.
Kindness and forgiveness also demonstrate perceiving intrinsic kinship with wrongdoers. Marcus Aurelius observed, “It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong.” Distinguishing people’s humanity from their harm avoids adversarial retaliation. Promoting collective well-being obliges all members, so offering offenders an opportunity for reformation sometimes redeems social purpose better than punishment or banishment. Departing from social connection risks losing one’s humanity when severing communal bonds.
Case Study: Beth’s Journey in Practical Stoicism
Beth is a 30-year-old marketing professional living a busy life in the city. Though she earns a good income and has an active social circle, Beth struggles with staying calm under pressure at her high-paced job. Despite her outwardly successful life, she also grapples with occasional loneliness and lack of fulfillment.
Seeking quiet and simplicity, Beth attends a Stoic philosophy seminar introducing concepts like living logically, voluntarily enduring discomfort to strengthen resilience, focusing attention on controllable factors, and contemplating mortality. The ideas resonate with Beth’s desire for personal growth beyond professional status.
Putting initial Stoic ideas into practice, Beth begins a morning meditation ritual, examining her reactions and perceptions without getting swept up by them. Not reacting reflexively to daily irritations strengthens Beth’s emotional regulation skills. When change at work causes distress, Beth channels the Stoic view of accepting externals outside her control. Though disappointed by the company’s shift, Beth focuses solely on excelling at tasks within her command rather than complaining fruitlessly.
Observing nature’s cycles during park walks reminds Beth that emotional storms, like physical storms, eventually pass if endured patiently. When Beth’s elderly neighbor dies suddenly, life’s fragile impermanence becomes real, motivating Beth to appreciate loved ones and simple joys in the present rather than postponing fulfillment.
Volunteering at a homeless shelter makes Beth aware of her relative fortune and the duty we share towards less privileged members of the human family. Serving regularly cultivates empathy while also benefiting the shelter residents. Back home, Beth lives simply by minimizing reliance on material luxury and comforts. Her growing poise, focus, and self-sufficiency through these Stoic disciplines provide more profound satisfaction than external validation from career and society ever did.
Key Takeaways
- Employ reason over emotion by examining impressions calmly before reacting
- Build resilience through voluntary hardship and discomfort
- Differentiate controllable factors like intentions and non-controllable ones like outcomes
- Scrutinize perceptions, visualizations, and beliefs to filter misjudgments
- Recall mortality’s inevitability when prioritizing how time gets used
- Uphold civic duties benefiting communal welfare through service and leadership
- Regard all people impartially, forgive transgressions, offer rehabilitation over retaliation
Conclusion
The ancient philosophical system of Stoicism provides a framework of principles focused on cultivating virtue, self-mastery, and ethics. Training one’s ability to govern judgments rationally rather than emotionally makes personal poise and level-headedness achievable. Regular spiritual exercises expose oneself to hardship, steel nerves and teach detachment from external dependencies. We are given life’s transience, paying mindful attention to how time gets occupied to engaging only in meaningful pursuits.