Afraid of Other People, How to Make Them Your Strength Instead
Look closely at what stops most people, and it is rarely the task itself. It is the other people wrapped around it, what they might think, what they might say, the…
Doing the hard, right thing while still afraid.
Look closely at what stops most people, and it is rarely the task itself. It is the other people wrapped around it, what they might think, what they might say, the…
Cato the Younger was a Roman senator and Stoic famous for an integrity that could not be bought, bribed, or frightened. He spent his life defending the dying…
Epictetus never wrote anything down. His quotes survive only because a student recorded his lectures in the Discourses and the Enchiridion. The result is the…
Epictetus was a Greek Stoic philosopher who lived from around 50 to 135 AD. Born into slavery, he was freed as a young man and went on to found his own school. He…
Faith is something older generations talk about constantly while younger people treat it as outdated. That is a problem, and it is why I want to redefine it. I am…
The Stoics taught that an insult only wounds you if you agree to be wounded. The words themselves are just sounds. The hurt comes from your judgment that you have…
Most people are invisible. I do not mean literally. You can see them walking around, taking up space. But nobody seeks them out. Nobody wants their company, their…
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor who ruled from 161 to 180 AD and the most famous of the Stoic philosophers. He led an empire through war and plague while…
Premeditatio malorum is a Latin phrase meaning the premeditation of evils. It is a Stoic exercise where you deliberately imagine losing what you have, or facing…
Courage is one of the four cardinal Stoic virtues. It is not the absence of fear but the strength to do what is right in spite of it, to face hardship, pain, loss…
A collection of the most powerful Stoic quotes on adversity and hardship, from Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The Stoics did not just endure difficulty…
Stoic resilience is not gritting your teeth and pretending nothing hurts. It is building your sense of wellbeing on things no misfortune can reach, your own…
Stoicism treats failure as information, not identity. A failed attempt touches your circumstances, never your character, and circumstances were never fully in your…
Stoicism handles fear by dragging it into the light. Most fear feeds on the vague, a future disaster that has not happened and usually never will. The Stoics taught…
Have you noticed how often we walk through life quietly asking, am I allowed? Am I allowed to sit here, to speak up in this meeting, to ask for a raise, to say no…
The four Stoic virtues are wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. The Stoics believed these four traits are the only real good, and that a flourishing life is…
That thing that’s been nagging at your mind lately? Let’s talk about it. You know exactly what it is. That relationship where the spark died but you’re still going…
While taking a course on AI and Machine Learning, I realized something interesting. Did you know that AI is deliberately designed to fail approximately 15% of the…
A degree doesn’t make you educated. Neither does watching YouTube tutorials or completing online courses. These are tools, not destinations. They’re pieces of a…
Remember school? Life had this beautiful simplicity to it. We knew exactly what came next. Take these classes. Study these subjects. Pass these tests. I enjoyed…
In a world bustling with uncertainties, chaos, and an overload of information, finding tranquility can often feel like an impossible task. We are bombarded daily by…
A friend of mine used to feel like his life was getting a bit boring, and he just didn’t feel alive anymore. So, one day, he decided to change that by doing a…
Have you ever noticed how easily we all just follow along? I saw it clearly at the airport recently. Our flight sat delayed for hours, information was thin, and not…
Imagine standing high up, where buildings touch the sky, or racing into a building everyone else is running out of because you’re there to save lives. Think about…
Stoicism in the Ring When it comes to the world of combat sports, the physical strength, agility, and technique of a fighter are undeniable pillars of success…
If you’re expecting a feel-good piece, you may want to hit the back button now. This article is about unvarnished truths, the kind that are harsh and uncomfortable…
In our journey through life, whether it’s in our careers, our hobbies, or our personal pursuits, we all start as amateurs. However, we have a distinct advantage: we…
Let me share with you the story of my friend, whom we’ll call Alan. Alan had a stable job as a software engineer, working for a renowned tech company. But there was…
In the capitalist world of today, wealth is distributed unequally. As the rich become more prosperous and powerful, the poor become poorer and often oppressed. The…
How I went beyond “all talk, no game” and learned to be brave enough to be disliked What happens when we think of doing something new? This isn’t something everyone…
Is stress really that terrible all the time? It is sometimes good since we perform better when we are alert and focused , provided the pressure is under our…
Our society idolizes ‘actions’ over someone thoughtful or somebody at peace since we believe that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. So, we seek ‘action’ as a…
We love ourselves more than we love others, but we care more about others’ opinions than of our own. What happens when you think of doing something new, something…
It is rare for us these days to hold ourselves to the same standards as those at the top of their game . As much as we can, we point fingers at all of their moves…
To err is human. Right? The problem is when we choose to stay wrong and be blind to our errors. There’s nothing wrong with being wrong. We are all constantly…
In the picture above, are you the rider or the horse? Are you the calm, composed, and logical rider or the wild, impulsive horse who needs to be tamed? There’s an…
Someone made a comment three days ago and you are still turning it over, still a little rattled, still letting it color your mood. They have not thought about it…
If you only hang out with junkies, what will become of you? What will become of you if you only hang out with serious bodybuilders? The people we surround ourselves…
As bad as you want to address the topic, some things are better left unsaid. The problem is we realize that right after we say something stupid . So why say…
Prepare for the rainy day when the sun is still shining. Think of the worse things that can happen to you? Death of a loved one? Or maybe you lose your job? Or get…
Have you seen the “Stanford Prison Experiment”? The study shows how that everyday person, if given too much power, can become sadistic tyrants. So, this shows our…
Anger is not impressive; it’s a mistake and a weakness but being calm? Well, that is your biggest strength. It is an antidote to your fight and flight responses…
Notice how you fill every spare second. The line at the store, the walk to the car, the moment you wake up, all of it immediately plugged with a screen. We are a…
It’s a new year, and you took a resolution to lose weight, but after a few days, giving up on cake and waking up early to workout doesn’t feel worth it. You also…
Some people never escape reality; they’ll always be stuck in poverty or be victims of war. There are people with no parents, no home, no employment, no medicine, no…
This world gives us more shots if we’re ready to play. What you do is in your control, and you need to work to improve the quality of your lives and deal with the…
Want more clarity this year? Make smart goals that you want to accomplish and think of them as you have already achieved them. Set your intentions for this year…
Want to live and enjoy the life that you want? Then learn to say yes to only things that matter and say NO to things that don’t. If you can’t say NO, just say…
If you’re reading this, then you’re alive, so if your body hasn’t surrendered yet, then don’t let your soul either. With every passing year, most of us feel weaker…
Scroll through anyone’s feed and you will find a wall of borrowed wisdom. A Marcus Aurelius quote here, a Steve Jobs line there, someone else’s insight reshared for…
The idea of becoming a sage isn’t realistic because no one can always do the right thing for a complete 24/7 working on a specific pattern and a schedule. But…
You sat in the meeting knowing something was wrong. A decision that would hurt people, a claim that was not true, a joke that crossed a line. You felt your chance…
Imagine a sword over your head that symbolizes that something terrible can happen to you, too, at any time. We are all mortal, so we should stop behaving as if we…
There are situations in life where we feel everything is lost, and there’s no moving forward. So we start complaining more and dive deep into self-pity. During…
One lifetime isn’t enough to explore it all. It’s a big world, and life is short. But, don’t explore this world for social media or to show it to your friends…
President Truman kept a sign on his desk that read the buck stops here. It meant there was no one above him to pass the blame to, that the responsibility ended at…
Everything you have can change in a single moment. A diagnosis, an accident, a phone call, and the life you thought was stable rearranges itself in an instant…
Think about how you feel when you start something you genuinely love, a project, a craft, an idea that lights you up. You lean in, you give it your patience, you…
Most of us are quietly dishonest all day long, not with big lies, but with a thousand small softenings. We say fine when we are not. We hint instead of state. We…
Most people drift through their days on autopilot, reacting to whatever lands in front of them, with no fixed sense of the line they will not cross. Then they…
At some point, someone will tell you that you cannot do the thing you most want to do. Maybe they will be kind about it, maybe not. Either way, it will land, and it…
Your strongest muscle is your mind. No matter what the outside world inflicts on you, your mind can remain yours and unscathed. Train it well, so external events…
In the long term, what happens to you doesn’t matter; how you react to it matters. So our “trump card” is our ability to decide how we respond to external events…
If your mood rises and falls with other people’s reactions, you are not really running your own life. A compliment lifts you, a cold reply crushes you, silence…
The next time you help a friend with a breakup or make a charity, do think about the possibility that you could be on the receiving end of it too. If something…
Under pressure, you do not rise to the occasion. You fall to the level of your training. In a crisis, an argument, or a moment of temptation, you will not carefully…
Behind every great leader, every great artist, every story worth telling, there is a stretch of real pain. We tend to see only the finished result, the success, the…
We make assumptions about the world and then make our plans on top of those assumptions. But sometimes, those assumptions would fail, and so will your plans. During…
Life is like a dance, as we need to practice balancing and connect with what we’re doing. Sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow. But, what’s essential is…
We admire the person who never changes their mind, who sticks to their guns no matter what. We call it conviction, backbone, strength. But there is a thin line…
Pain, emotional or physical, does something sneaky. It does not just hurt, it hijacks. Left unmanaged, it degrades your judgment, clouds your thinking, and pulls…
You post something you are proud of. A project, an opinion, a photo, a small win. Within an hour someone you have never met has left a comment designed to make you…
We’re all privileged in some way - we have a functioning body, born in a great country with so many opportunities if we’re willing to take small risks. What’s…
Sometimes, we powerfully pine for things and can be very selfish with our requests when we pray. If you have faith in your God, you don’t need to ask anything from…
Everyone has a limit, a point past which fear takes over and you feel yourself start to lose control. It is not a flaw, it is human. But the Stoics discovered…
What if you had less money, less recognition, less time, less energy, and less freedom? What would that look like? Ask yourself, “Why do you want to buy that, or…
The best time to prepare for a crisis is when there is no crisis at all. It sounds obvious, and yet almost nobody does it. When things are going well, we assume…
Fear itself is not the enemy. It is an ancient alarm system, and sometimes it is right. The problem starts when the alarm stops warning you and starts running you…
There is a cruel little pattern in how luck behaves. It seems to turn its back on the person who sits around waiting for it, and it quietly shows up for the person…
Every choice comes with a consequence, whether you like it or not. During those times, you have the power to choose to be happy and grateful. Whatever happens, you…
Whatever you plant in your mind and then nourish it with emotions and repetitions will become your reality. So, learn to use your mind wisely. It can empower you…
Misfortunes are miserable, nobody wants it on purpose, but once we get it under control, we realize that we better understand our capacity and inner strength…
There are people – LeBron James, Bill Gates, Beatles, and others who never took a day off in their 20s because they know that the key to achieving true expertise is…
We want growth to feel good. We imagine becoming wiser, stronger, and more at peace as a pleasant upward glide. The reality is closer to setting a badly healed…
Bad things can happen to any of us, especially when we don’t prepare for them. In addition, things can happen overnight - disasters or a pandemic can hit anytime…
Two people get the same bad news. One tightens into anger and stress and stays there for days. The other, after the initial sting, finds something almost absurd…
We treat failure like a catastrophe to be avoided at all costs, and in doing so we avoid the very thing that teaches us fastest. Ships get wrecked. Plans fall…
The comment section that pulled you in. The family argument you knew was pointless but joined anyway. The petty slight at work you decided to make a stand over. We…
Two people can go through the exact same disaster and come out completely differently. One is broken by it, still bitter years later. The other somehow turns it…
We are all waiting for the starting gun that never fires. When I have more money. When I have more time. When I know a bit more, when the kids are older, when…
Virtue is an old word that has picked up a musty, preachy smell, which is a shame, because the Stoics meant something bracingly practical by it. To them, virtue was…
Someone wronged you, and now you carry it. You replay it, rehearse what you should have said, feel the flush of anger return weeks later at the memory. We hold…
The moment you start improving, something strange happens to the people around you. You cut out drinking, or start a side hustle, or begin taking your health…
We picture leadership as the corner office, the title, the applause. Real leadership looks almost nothing like that. It is quieter, harder, and mostly unthanked. A…
There is a strange comfort in blame. When it is the economy, your boss, your parents, your lack of money or the right contacts, then none of it is your job to fix…
The first battle of your day happens before you are even fully awake. The alarm goes off in the cold dark, and instantly a whole committee of voices in your head…
Somewhere we picked up the idea that if something is right, it should also feel easy, and if it is hard, maybe we are doing it wrong. It is a comforting thought and…
Life will keep handing you things that run directly against your plans. The setback you did not see coming, the door that slams shut, the situation that refuses to…
We love to say that hard times build character. It is a comforting line, but it is not quite right. Hard times do not so much build character as expose it, the way…
You already know some of the patterns that quietly run your life and do not work. The way you always start the argument. The diet you keep restarting the same…
Something goes wrong. The deal falls through, the flight gets cancelled, the results come back bad. In that moment a room usually splits into two kinds of people…
Nobody gets the easy life they imagine other people have. Behind every calm face is someone fighting something you cannot see. Life is a constant, low grade battle…
At some point in almost everything worth doing, a voice shows up and says this isn’t working, maybe you should quit. The job, the project, the training, the…
What does it mean to “blow your own nose?” No, we’re not talking about personal hygiene, rather, it’s about taking responsibility for your actions and dealing with…
At some point you catch yourself thinking it was not supposed to be this hard. The job was meant to be further along. The relationship was meant to be easier. The…
Something in your life is about to go wrong. Not as a threat, just as a fact. Plans fail, things break, people leave, the unexpected arrives without knocking. You…
We all know that one person who seems absurdly lucky. They happen to meet the right client at a random dinner. They happen to hear about the job before it was…
Everyone can move forward when the wind is at their back. The real test shows up later, on the day it stops working, when the plan falls apart and the obvious move…
Someone is rude to you. A snapped reply in a meeting, a stranger who talks down to you, a comment online built to sting. Your whole body wants to fire back, match…
