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The Why of the Stoic Optimizer
Any life philosophy relies on a few fundamental truths from which all of its practices are derived. This category summarizes these important principles for a Stoic Optimizer and are meant as a guiding light for all aspects of life.
They aim to explain what we should optimize our existence for and most importantly, why.
Refer to them when you're unsure about a big decision you need to make to remind yourself of the values you should prioritize at all times.
Stoicism is one such First Principle. You can find all the posts on Stoicism here.
Are you tired of chasing happiness, only to find it slipping through your fingers like sand? What if the secret to a fulfilling life isn't just about happiness, but something more profound? This blog post will take you on a journey through the wisdom of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics to unveil what truly…
Read More →If you’ve ever heard someone end a sentence with fate permitting - the Stoic reserve clause - you might have thought it’s an obvious statement. Of course you’re not gonna show up to meet your friend for coffee if you’re no longer around tomorrow, so there’s no need to mention it explicitly. While the word…
Read More →Epictetus was the first Stoic author to split the philosophical practice into 3 different disciplines (also known as the 3 topoi): perception, action and will. You can think of them as the 3 essential skills one needs to develop in order to live a happy life according to Stoic principles. Keep reading to find out…
Read More →Stoicism is one of the most practical philosophies out there and as such, its teachers have come up with exercises and meditations for the most common woes of human existence. One such technique is the so-called View from Above Meditation, which asks the Stoic student to use big picture thinking to consider their place in…
Read More →The Stoics did a lot of counter-intuitive things to ensure they lived their best, most virtuous lives. One of them was practicing voluntary discomfort when their lives were good in order to prepare for the times in which the Wheel of Fortune would inevitably turn on them. This post explains what this exercise in Stoicism…
Read More →You may have heard Stoics say that you should strive to live in accordance with nature and instantly had a brief cabin-in-the-woods movie play in your mind. Even though the tranquility and fresh air seemed instantly appealing, you couldn’t help but classify it as yet another unattainable requirement set by someone living in their ivory…
Read More →Philosophies pride themselves on how they define good and evil. Even outside of any school of thought, we might have some idea of what aspects of life fall in each of those categories. What’s more, as anyone who has even been exposed to a major religion can tell you, the most pleasurable actions you could…
Read More →The Stoics believed that the only goal of a life well lived is to achieve arête, a term usually translated into English as virtue, but which is better understood as moral excellence. (This article uses the two interchangeably and assigns no religious element to either.) Drawing from the writings of Plato and Aristotle, Stoic ethics…
Read More →Those who do not understand Stoicism often denounce it as a philosophy that is overly concerned with death, which makes them dismiss it as a way of thinking incompatible with the happy-go-lucky types they identify themselves with. While pondering the end of life does hold an important place in the practice of a Stoic, there…
Read More →Admit it: you rarely think of fate when things go your way, yet you are quick to blame destiny when you’re faced with a path that diverges from your expectations. Having a healthy relationship with your destiny is paramount to achieving inner peace - this is where the Latin concept of Amor Fati comes in.…
Read More →Whether you’re a Stoicism enthusiast who wants to try all of the techniques of the OGs, or just someone who wants to become more resilient in dealing with difficult situations, there’s a negative visualization exercise that can help you lead a calmer life. Keep reading to find out what premeditatio malorum is, why it works,…
Read More →I got the idea to write this post as I was trying to learn more about investing. Yes - it was a book about money that spurred me to write about religion. 🤭 And no - money is not the religion I'm going to talk about, that would be trite. Since I firmly believe that…
Read More →Here's the thing: you can't start living your best life until you've figured out what that life looks like. Self-awareness is the key to understanding how to position yourself in the world in order to live your most authentic life. This makes it one of the main components of the Stoic Optimizer philosophy. Why Is…
Read More →Who gave me permission to start a new school of philosophy? Well, nobody, really. That doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do and I'd like to briefly explain why. When Marcus Aurelius began writing his "Meditations", he didn’t expect that he would still be gathering new followers in the 21st century. He simply…
Read More →To put Stoicism into context, allow me to borrow a quote from a realist French novelist: Flaubert lived in the 19th century, so he couldn't have imagined that Stoicism would be having another cultural moment in the 21st century. But there are striking similarities between the turmoil that was felt in those times and the…
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