3 stoic principles to change your life.
Stoicism saved my life in the wake of lockdown.
Here are three transformative stoic practices worth spending some time on.
🔥 Eschew external validation
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this and you will find strength.”
Marcus Aurelius.
Develop an internal locus of control and work hard to be unaffected by external circumstances;
There is a lifetime’s work in this, so enjoy the journey.
🔥 Imagine the worst
“We suffer more in imagination than reality.”
Seneca.
Practise negative visualisation daily and, counterintuitively, gift yourself a more positive outlook;
There are few situations we cannot make worse, so avoid doing that;
and don’t wait until the inevitable tragedy to realise how lucky you are,
we are the luckiest humans ever to have lived.
🔥 Optimism, despite everything
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Viktor Frankl.
Choose a positive outlook, even in adversity
Enjoy today, you ain’t getting it back;
and remember that no one is the perfect stoic,
you’ll fall short, time after time
and when you do,
start again.
