Stoicism

The path

1. 1
   Level 1Free when it opens

   The Daily Practice

   Two weeks of practice and a first code

   15 Steps, about 32 minutes each. Anyone who wants a steadier mind. No philosophy background needed, just a notebook.

   1. Chapter 1: What's up to you. Learn the one idea everything else rests on, start a morning and evening routine, and log your first full week.
   2. Chapter 2: The core exercises. Practice the classic Stoic exercises on real days: rehearsing setbacks, zooming out, choosing discomfort and naming the virtues.
   3. Chapter 3: Your code. Face the big two (time and death), handle difficult people, and turn two weeks of notes into a written code.

   1. 1
      Sort your worries

      One page that splits today's worries into what's up to you and what isn't.

      Epictetus, a Greek teacher who had been born a slave, opened his handbook with the idea that everything else in Stoicism rests on: some things are up to us and some are not. Up to us are our own judgments, choices, desires and actions. Not up to us are our bodies, our possessions, our reputations, other people, and the results of what we do.

      His point is practical. Most distress comes from treating things that aren't up to us as if they were, by trying to control other people or outcomes, or by staking our peace on them. Effort spent there is wasted and leaves us anxious. Effort spent on what is up to us actually changes things.

      The detail beginners miss is that most worries have parts on both sides. You can't control whether you get the job. You can control how you prepare, how you speak in the interview, and how you respond to the result. Splitting a worry into its two parts is the real skill.

      Here's an example. Worry: "My presentation tomorrow might go badly." Not up to me: whether the audience likes it, whether the projector works. Up to me: practicing twice tonight, getting to sleep on time, speaking clearly, and bringing a backup on a USB stick.

      Done right, the left column gives you something to do, and the right column gives you something to let go of.

      Jared Henderson, 7:23Epictetus (MIT Classics)
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   2. 2
      Read the Handbook

      Read the first 15 chapters of the Enchiridion and mark the five lines that hit hardest.

      Epictetus (MIT Classics)
   3. 3
      Prepare the morning

      A two-minute morning preparation, done in writing, before you look at your phone.

      Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)

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   1. 4
      Review the evening

      Your first written evening review, using Seneca's three questions.

      Daily Stoic, 7:16Daily Stoic
   2. 5
      Catch your impressions

      A one-week log: morning prep, evening review, and one impression caught and questioned each day.

      Philosophy Break
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   3. 6
      Rehearse the worst case

      Use premeditatio malorum on one real thing you're anxious about.

      Andrew Kirby, 9:06Donald Robertson
   4. 7
      Appreciate what you have

      Practice the gentler side of negative visualization: picturing loss to value what's here.

      Epictetus (MIT Classics)
   5. 8
      Take the view from above

      Use the view from above on a problem that feels huge.

      Einzelgänger, 6:15Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)
   6. 9
      Choose some discomfort

      Two days of voluntary discomfort and what you learned from them.

      Seneca (Wikisource)
   7. 10
      Name the four virtues

      A page that defines wisdom, courage, justice and temperance in your own words, with one example each from your own week.

      The Stoic Cat, 11:46Daily Stoic
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   8. 11
      Count your hours

      Read Seneca on the shortness of life and audit one ordinary day.

      Daily Stoic, 11:48Seneca (Standard Ebooks)
   9. 12
      Remember you'll die

      Write a memento mori reflection and one thing you'll stop putting off.

      Daily Stoic, 5:09Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)
   10. 13
       Handle difficult people

       Use Marcus's list of reminders to plan your response to one person who regularly frustrates you.

       Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)
   11. 14
       Keep the streak

       A full second week of morning prep and evening review, with no app or video, just your notebook.

       Michael Tremblay (Modern Stoicism)
   12. 15
       Write your code

       A one-page personal code: 7 to 12 rules for how you want to live, each tied to a virtue.

       Project Gutenberg
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2. 2
   Level 2Unlocks after Level 1

   Hard Situations

   A 30-day streak and a revised code

   15 Steps, about 35 minutes each. People who finished Stoicism 1, or anyone with a daily journaling habit who wants the deeper texts.

   1. Chapter 1: Deeper texts, wider circles. Start your 30-day streak, read Seneca and Epictetus beyond the handbook, and map the roles you play in other people's lives.
   2. Chapter 2: Hard situations. A written plan for anger, fear, criticism, envy and loss, each tested on a real day.
   3. Chapter 3: Living it. Learn Marcus's three disciplines, teach Stoicism to someone, finish 30 days and rewrite your code.

   1. 1
      Aim like an archer

      Rewrite three of this week's goals so success depends only on what's up to you.

      The Roman writer Cicero described the Stoic ideal with an image of an archer. The archer does everything up to them to hit the target: chooses a good bow, practices, aims carefully, draws and releases well. Once the arrow leaves the bow, a gust of wind might still carry it off. The archer's real goal is to shoot well. Hitting the target is preferred, but not up to them.

      This turns any goal into two parts: the aim, which is yours, and the target, which isn't. When you set your heart on the aim, you can fully succeed every time, whatever happens to the arrow. The Stoics also added what's now called the reserve clause, "if nothing prevents it", to their plans. Seneca and Epictetus used it as a quiet reminder that outcomes aren't guaranteed.

      The detail beginners miss is that the archer still wants to hit the target. This isn't lowering your ambition. You aim just as hard. You just stop staking your peace of mind on the result.

      Here's an example. Goal: "Get the job." Rewritten: "Prepare three strong stories, research the company for an hour, and answer honestly and clearly in the interview, if nothing prevents it." You can succeed at that completely, and it's also the best way to get the job.

      Mindfully Stoic, 18:39Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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   2. 2
      Start the 30 days

      Read Seneca's first letter, set up a 30-day tracker and do day one.

      Vox Stoica, 5:00Seneca (Wikisource)
   3. 3
      Read a Discourse

      Read Discourses 1.1 and write how it changes one thing you do this week.

      Eudaimonia, 13:44Epictetus (MIT Classics)

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   1. 4
      Map your roles

      A list of your roles (child, friend, worker, neighbor, citizen) and what each one asks of you.

      Epictetus (MIT Classics)
   2. 5
      Draw Hierocles' circles

      A drawing of your circles of concern and one week of the streak done.

      Wikipedia
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   3. 6
      Make an anger plan

      A written plan for your most common anger trigger, using Seneca's remedies.

      Philosophy Studio, 21:34Seneca (Standard Ebooks)
   4. 7
      Shrink a fear

      Use Letter 13 to separate what you're actually facing from what you're imagining.

      Stoic Journal, 28:38Seneca (Wikisource)
   5. 8
      Take criticism well

      Use Epictetus's replies to criticism on one real piece of feedback or insult.

      Epictetus (MIT Classics)
   6. 9
      Look at loss

      Read Seneca on grief and write a letter of consolation to someone, or to yourself.

      Seneca (Wikisource)
   7. 10
      Strip the shine off envy

      Use Marcus's 'see it as it is' method on something you envy, and finish week two.

      Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)
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   8. 11
      Love what happens

      Practice amor fati on one thing that went wrong this month.

      Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics)
   9. 12
      Learn the three disciplines

      A one-page summary of Marcus's three disciplines (assent, desire, action) with a daily question for each.

      Massimo Pigliucci (TED-Ed), 5:30Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
   10. 13
       Teach someone

       Explain one Stoic idea to a friend in under five minutes, and write what they asked.

       Seneca (Wikisource)
   11. 14
       Finish the 30 days

       Complete the 30-day streak working from your notebook alone, with no app or video.

       Seneca (Wikisource)
   12. 15
       Revise your code

       A second version of your personal code, tested against a month of real days.

       Project Gutenberg
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Where it ends: a written personal code and a 30-day practice

Free lessons in The Daily Practice come from Jared Henderson, Epictetus (MIT Classics), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Marcus Aurelius (MIT Classics), Daily Stoic, Philosophy Break, Andrew Kirby, Donald Robertson, Einzelgänger, Seneca (Wikisource), The Stoic Cat, Seneca (Standard Ebooks), Michael Tremblay (Modern Stoicism), Project Gutenberg, Modern Stoicism, LibriVox, Stoa, Massimo Pigliucci (TEDx). We link to their work and never copy it.