AN

INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
D ay 1 : A n In t rod u c tion
to S to i c i s m : Why A ncient
P hi l oso p hy Is Es s ential
Fo r Mo d e r n L i fe

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 hen most people think of “philosophy,”
W their eyes glaze over. It’s the last thing
they want, let alone something they need.
But this, as you already know, is silly and naive.
Philosophy is not just about talking or lecturing,
or even reading long, dense books. In fact, it is
something men and women of action use—and have
used throughout history—to solve their problems and
achieve their greatest triumphs. Not in the classroom,
but on the battlefield, in the Forum, and at court.
As Thoreau put it, “to be a philosopher is not
merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
school...it is to solve some of the problems of life, not
only theoretically, but practically.”
That kind of philosophy has been jotted down
(and practiced) by slaves, poets, emperors, politicians
and soldiers, as well as ordinary folks to help with their
own problems and those of their friends, family and
followers for thousands of years. This wisdom is still
there, available to us.
The best of which is Stoicism—long considered
the most practical of all philosophies.
A brief synopsis on this particular school of
Hellenistic philosophy: Stoicism was founded in Athens
by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but
was famously practiced by the likes of Epictetus, Cato,
Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. The philosophy asserts
that virtue (such as wisdom) is happiness and judgment
should be based on behavior, rather than words. That
we don’t control and cannot rely on external events,
only ourselves and our responses.
But at the very root of the thinking, there is a very
simple, though not easy, way of living: Take the obstacles
in your life and turn them into your advantage, control
what you can and accept what you can’t.
In the words of Epictetus:
“In life our first job is this, to divide and distinguish
things into two categories: externals I cannot control,

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
but the choices I make with regard to them I do control.
Where will I find good and bad? In me, in my choices.”
Amazingly we still have access to these ideas,
despite the fact that many of the greatest Stoics never
wrote anything down for publication. Cato definitely
didn’t. Marcus Aurelius never intended for Meditations
to be anything but personal. Seneca’s letters were, well,
letters and Epictetus’ thoughts come to us by way of a
note-taking student.
And so it was from their example, their actions, we
find real philosophy.
Because other than their common study of the
philosophy, the Stoics were all men of action—and I
don’t think this is a coincidence. Marcus Aurelius was
emperor of the most powerful empire in the history
of the world. Cato, the moral example for many
philosophers, defended the Roman republic with Stoic
bravery until his defiant death. Even Epictetus, the
lecturer, had no cushy tenure—he was a former slave.
And this shouldn’t really be that surprising…
The modern day philosopher and writer Nassim
Nicholas Taleb defines a Stoic as someone who
“transforms fear into prudence, pain into information,
mistakes into initiation and desire into undertaking.”
Using this definition as a model we can see that
throughout the centuries Stoicism has been a common

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
thread though some of history’s great leaders. It has
been practiced by Kings, presidents, artists, writers
and entrepreneurs. Both historical and modern men
illustrate Stoicism as a way of life.
Prussian King, Frederick the Great, was said
to ride with the works of the Stoics in his saddlebags
because they could, in his words, “sustain you in
misfortune.” Meanwhile, Montaigne, the politician and
essayist, had a line from Epictetus carved into the beam
above the study in which he spent most of his time. The
founding fathers were also inspired by the philosophy.
George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his
neighbors at age seventeen, and afterwards, put on a
play about Cato to inspire his men in that dark winter
at Valley Forge. Whereas Thomas Jefferson had a copy
of Seneca on his nightstand when he died.
The economist Adam Smith’s theories on the
interconnectedness of the world—capitalism—were
significantly influenced by the Stoicism that he studied
as a schoolboy, under a teacher who had translated
Marcus Aurelius’ works. The political thinker, John
Stuart Mill, wrote of Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism in his
famous treatise On Liberty, calling it “the highest ethical
product of the ancient mind.” Thomas Wentworth
Higginson was an ardent abolitionist and Civil War hero
who led the first black regiment in the Union army and
was a mentor of Emily Dickinson. He also happened to
be an early translator of Epictetus.

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 But those influenced by the Stoics goes on…
Eugène Delacroix, the renowned French Romantic
artist (known best for his painting Liberty Leading
the People) was an ardent Stoic, referring to it as his
“consoling religion.”
Toussaint Louverture, himself a former slave
who challenged an emperor by leading the Haitian
revolution, read and was deeply influenced by the works
of Epictetus.
Theodore Roosevelt, after his presidency, spent
eight months exploring (and nearly dying in) the
unknown jungles of the Amazon, and of the eight books
he brought on the journey, two were Marcus Aurelius’
Meditations and Epictetus’ Enchiridion.
Indeed, Teddy seems to represent the temperance
and self control of the philosophy beautifully when
he said, “What such a man needs is not courage but
nerve control, cool headedness. This he can get only by
practice”. Likewise he expressed the necessity of action
advocated by the Stoics when he famously remarked,
“We must all wear out or rust out, everyone of us.
My choice is to wear out”.
Today’s leaders are no different, with many finding
their inspiration from the ancient texts. Bill Clinton
rereads Marcus Aurelius every single year, while Wen
Jiabao, the former prime minister of China, claims that

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 5
Meditations is one of two books he travels with and has
read it more than one hundred times over the course of
his life. James Mattis, the current Secretary of Defense,
carried with him Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations while on
deployment. Tim Ferriss, the bestselling author, podcast
host and angel investor, has been one of the best known
and strongest modern day proponents of Stoicism.
You see, Stoicism—and philosophy—are not the
domains of idle professors. They are the succor of
the successful, and the men and women of action. As
Thoreau put it: “To be a philosopher is not merely to
have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school…it is to
solve some of the problems of life not only theoretically,
but practically.”
The mantle is ours to pick up and carry.

6 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
D ay 2 : T h e Stoi c Art
of J o u r n a l i n g

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
 he starting point of any new pursuit is
T critical. Stoicism is no difference. Picking
up the wrong book can derail even the most interested
student.
So where should someone start with Stoicism?
Which philosopher? Which translator? Which edition?
Are there good books about Stoicism? Good articles? Is
the free stuff on the internet any good?
We’ve got you covered.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius — Meditations

is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is
the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man
giving advice to himself on how to make good on the
responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Trained
in Stoic philosophy, Marcus stopped almost every night
to practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic,
generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was
dealing with.
Well, now we have this book. It is eminently
readable and perfectly accessible. You cannot read this
book and not come away with a phrase or a line that will
be helpful to you next time you are in trouble. Read it,
it is practical philosophy embodied.
Make sure you pick up the Gregory Hays translation
from Modern Library. It is the most accessible edition—
completely devoid of any “thou’s” and “shalls”. (We have
also put up an extensive list of lessons and great quotes
from Meditations here).

Letters from a Stoic by Seneca — Seneca, like

Marcus, was also a powerful man in Rome. He was
also a great writer and from the looks of it, a trusted

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
friend who gave great advice to people close to him.
Much of that advice survives in the form of letters.
Now we can read those letters and they can guide us
through problems with grief, wealth, poverty, success,
failure, education and so many other things. Seneca was
a Stoic as well, but like Marcus, he was practical and
borrowed liberally from other schools. As he quipped
to a friend, “I don’t care about the author if the line
is good.” That is the ethos of practical philosophy—it
doesn’t matter from whom or when it came from, what
matters if it helps you in your life, if only for a second.
Reading Seneca will do that. The Penguin translation
is fantastic, both for this collection of letters (which
are more like essays than true correspondence) and the
next recommendation.

On the Shortness of Life by Seneca — This

collection of three short letters—essays, really—might
actually be the best introduction to Seneca. The main

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
one, On the Shortness of Life, is a stringent reminder about
the non-renewability of our most important resource:
our time. One of his most famous quotes comes from
this writing and is worth reflecting upon: “It is not that
we are given a short life but we make it short, and we are
not ill-supplied but wasteful of it.” Just like his letters,
make sure to pick the Penguin edition. This one, part of
Penguin’s Great Ideas series, is small and perfectly fits
in your back pocket.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 5
 Discourses and Selected Writings by
Epictetus — Of the big three (Seneca, Marcus
Aurelius, Epictetus), Epictetus is the most preachy and
for many, the least fun to read. That doesn’t mean he isn’t
brilliant. On many occasions he expresses something
so clearly and profoundly that it will shake you to your
core. Personally, I prefer the Penguin translations, but
I’ve tried a handful of others and found the differences
to be relatively negligible.

6 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 Fragments by Heraclitus — This is as
ephemeral as the Stoics get. While most of the other
recommendations are bent towards hard, practical
advice, Heraclitus might seem a bit poetic. But those
beautiful lines are really the same direct advice and
timeless, perspective-changing observations as the
others.
“Try in vain with empty talk / to separate the
essences of things / and say how each thing truly is.”
“Applicants for wisdom / do what I have done: /
inquire within.”
“Character is fate.”
“What eyes witness / ears believe on hearsay.”
“The crops are sold / for money spent on food.”
Heraclitus is considered as a key influence in Stoic

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 7
thought and this is evident in the numerous references
to Heraclitus that are seen in Meditations. As one scholar
put it in explaining Heraclitus’s influence on Stoicism,
Marcus considered Heraclitus “as one of the great
sages.”

COURAGE UNDER FIRE: Testing

Epictetus’s Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human
Behavior by James Stockdale — United States Navy
fighter pilot James Stockdale was captured by the North
Vietnamese in 1965 where he remained a POW for the
next seven years; two of which were spent wearing leg
irons in solitary confinement. Years later, Stockdale
would write and lecture extensively on Epictetus’s
Enchiridion which he credits for providing the mindset
and strength necessary to endure years of torture.
Stockdale’s exemplary behavior during imprisonment
is an embodiment how Stoicism can provide us with a

8 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
framework for dealing with extreme adversity and the
obstacles that come in our way.

The Inner Citadel and Philosophy as a Way of

Life by Pierre Hadot — Both of these are academic,
yet fascinating books. The Inner Citadel is a biography
of Marcus Aurelius, which should be next on your list if
you loved Meditations. Philosophy as a Way of Life explores
different ‘spiritual exercises’—ideas and thought
exercises from philosophy to help you make better
decisions and live a better life. Don’t let the academic
aspect scare you—Hadot’s books are incredibly readable
and the ideas will stay with you.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 9
 Rome’s Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of
Cato, Mortal Enemy of Caesar by Rob Goodman
and Jimmy Soni — Marcus Cato has certainly earned
his place in the history books—he was the Stoic senator
who led the opposition against Julius Caesar who then
killed himself rather than live under a dictator. Cato
was a soldier, a politician, a thinker and most important,
an example. His unassailable place in Roman culture is
best seen in the old proverbial expression used to make
excuses: “We’re not all Catos.” There’s a lot to learn from
a politician who couldn’t be corrupted. A philosopher
who refused to write. A millionaire who lived among his
soldiers and people. He is Marcus Porcius Cato, a man of
a different epoch—some two thousand years passed—
but a man, who we, without a question, are better off
knowing. (See our interview with author Jimmy Soni
here).

1 0 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 Marcus Aurelius by Matthew Arnold (essay)
— Matthew Arnold was a Victorian scholar who fell in
the category of ‘sage writers’—the type of writer who
instructs and chastises the reader. This is a fantastic
essay on Marcus, who as he remarked in 1863, was a man
who held the highest power and most powerful station
in the world—and the universal verdict of the people
around him was that he proved worthy of it.
Of course, you are also welcome to check out
some of the most popular interviews, articles and lists
on DailyStoic.com:
Stoic Exercises
6 Stoic Rituals That Will Make You Happy
Stoicism at TED — Defining and Overcoming
Your Fears

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1 1
 Doing the Work Is Enough: Stop Letting Others
Dictate Your Worth
10 Insanely Useful Stoic Exercises
Stoicism Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You
Happy
100 Things I Learned in 10 Years and 100 Reads of
Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations
The Philosophy Of Stoicism: 4 Lessons From
Antiquity On Self-Discipline
3 Stoic Exercises That Will Help Create Your Best
Month Yet

Interviews
An Interview with the Master: Robert Greene on
Stoicism
David “DHH” Heinemeier Hansson: The
Entrepreneurial and Unstoppable Stoic
Kevin Rose on Fasting, Cold Showers and Loving
One’s Craft
The School of Life: An Interview With Alain de
Botton
Tim Ferriss on Cultivating Resilience, Favorite
Stoic Practices and How To Shun Comfort

1 2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 A Stoic Response
A Stoic Response to Anger
A Stoic Response to Fear
A Stoic Response to Rejection
A Stoic Response to Bad News

Stoicism Books
28 Books On Stoicism: The (Hopefully) Ultimate
Reading List

For other short essays, articles and online

resources we recommend the following:
Stoicism for Modern Stresses: 5 Lessons from Cato
On The Shortness of Life: An Introduction to
Seneca
The Practicality of Pessimism: Stoicism as a
Productivity System

There is also Stoicism and the Art of Happiness

which is a fantastic blog, the Stoicism community on
Reddit, author Jules Evans’ Philosophy for Life blog,
and of course there is also New Stoa (an online Stoic
registry).

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1 3
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
D ay 3: T h e Sto i c Art of
J ou r n a l i n g

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 pictetus the slave. Marcus Aurelius the
E emperor. Seneca the power broker and
playwright. These three radically different men led
radically different lives. But they seemed to have one
habit in common: Journaling.
In one form or another, each of them did it. It
would be Epictetus who would admonish his students
that philosophy was something they should “write
down day by day,” that this writing was how they
“should exercise themselves.” Seneca’s favorite time to
journal was in the evenings. When darkness had fallen
and his wife had gone asleep, he explained to a friend, “I
examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing
by.” Then he would go to bed, finding that “the sleep
which follows this self-examination” was particularly
sweet. And Marcus, he was the most prodigious of
journalers, and we are lucky enough that his writings
survive to us, appropriately titled, Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν, Ta eis
heauton, or “to himself.”
They were not the only ones to practice the habit
of writing. Foucault observed of this era of history, all
the great minds practiced it.
“In this period there was a culture of what could
be called personal writing: taking notes on the reading,
conversations, and reflections that one hears or engages
in oneself; keeping kinds of notebooks on important
subjects (what the Greeks called hupomnemata), which
must be reread from time to time so as to re-actualize
their contents.”
And of course, many people—Stoic or otherwise—
have fallen in love with and dedicated themselves to
morning or evening journaling in the centuries since.
And for good reason—it works. It clarifies the mind,
provides room for quiet, private reflection and gives
one a record of their thoughts over time.
But in Stoicism the art of journaling is more than
that, more than some simple diary. This daily practice
is the philosophy. Preparing for the day ahead. Reflecting
on the day that has passed. Reminding oneself of the

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
wisdom we have learned from our teachers, from our
reading, from our own experiences. It’s not enough to
simply hear these lessons once, instead, one practices
them over and over again, turns them over in their mind,
and most importantly, writes them down and feels them
flowing through their fingers in doing so.
In this way, journaling is Stoicism. It’s almost
impossible to have one without the other.
So if you’re not doing it, please start! Whatever
form you find is most conducive for you is the one to do
it in. Some like to write or jot notes down on paper. Some
like to pull up an empty document on their computer
and record thoughts. But it is the process that counts.
And its value compounds over time. One cannot
expect wisdom and self-mastery to simply arrive via
epiphany. No, those states are acquired, little by little,
practice by practice. The sooner you start, the better.
We recently created The Daily Stoic Journal for this
very reason. We hope you give it a try and hope you
appreciate the design and the many features we’ve built
into it (and the 52 new meditations included in it). But
at the risk of spoiling the basic premise, we’ll give you
the Stoic recipe for journaling right here right now:
1. Prepare For The Day Ahead: Each morning
you should prepare, plan and meditate on how you aim
to act that day. You should be envisioning everything

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
that may come and steeling yourself so you’re ready to
conquer it. As Seneca wrote, “The wise will start each
day with the thought, ‘Fortune gives us nothing which
we can really own.’” Or think of Marcus’s reminder:
“When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The
people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful,
arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this
because they can’t tell good from evil.”
2. Put The Day Up For Review: Stoicism isn’t
just about thinking, it’s about action—and the best way
to improve is to review. Each evening you should, like
Seneca did, examine your day and your actions. As he
put it, “When the light has been removed and my wife
has fallen silent, aware of this habit that’s now mine,
I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve
done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing
nothing by.” The question should be: Did I follow my
plans for the day? Was I prepared enough? What could
I do better? What have I learned that will help me
tomorrow?

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
Da y 4: Me m e n to Mori: The
T i m el ess Sto i c Exe rcis e

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 et us prepare our minds as if we’d come to the
“L very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us
balance life’s books each day. … The one who puts the finishing
touches on their life each day is never short of time.” Seneca
At a Roman triumph, the majority of the public
would have their eyes glued to the victorious general
at the front—one of the most coveted spots during
Roman times. Only a few would notice the aide in the
back, right behind the commander, whispering into his
ear, “Remember, thou art mortal.” What a reminder to
hear at the peak of glory and victory!
It is reminders like this one that we desperately
need in our own lives—a thought or an idea that we’d

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
rather ignore, do everything to avoid and pretend is
not true. Most often, our ego runs away from anything
that reminds us of the reality that sits at odds with the
comfortable narrative we have build for ourselves. Or,
we are simply petrified to look at life’s facts as they are.
And there is one simple fact that most of us are utterly
scared to meditate, reflect on and face head on: We are
going to die. Everyone around us is going to die.
Such reminders and exercises take part of Memento
Mori—the ancient practice of reflection on mortality
that goes back to Socrates, who said that the proper
practice of philosophy is “about nothing else but dying
and being dead.” In early Buddhist texts, a prominent
term is maranasati, which translates as ‘remember death.’
Some Sufis have been called the “people of the graves,”
because of their practice of frequenting graveyards to
ponder on death and one’s mortality.
Throughout history, Memento Mori reminders have
come in many forms. Some, like the aide behind the
general, were there to humble. Others were invented to
inspire zest for life. The essayist Michel de Montaigne,
for instance, was fond of an ancient Egyptian custom
where during times of festivities, a skeleton would be
brought out with people cheering “Drink and be merry
for when you’re dead you will look like this.”
To us moderns this sounds like an awful idea. Who
wants to think about death? But what if instead of being

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
scared and unwilling to embrace this truth we did the
opposite? What if reflecting and meditating on that
fact was a simple key to living life to the fullest? Or that
it was the key to our freedom—as Montaigne put it, “To
practice death is to practice freedom. A man who has
learned how to die has unlearned how to be a slave.”
In his Meditations—essentially his own private
journal—Marcus Aurelius wrote that “You could leave
life right now. Let that determine what you do and say
and think.” That was a personal reminder to continue
living a life of virtue NOW, and not wait. The French
painter Philippe de Champaigne expressed a similar
sentiment in his painting Still Life with a Skull, which
showed the three essentials of existence — the tulip
(life), the skull (death), and the hourglass (time). The
original painting is part of a genre referred to as Vanitas,
a form of 17th century artwork featuring symbols of
mortality which encourage reflection on the meaning
and fleetingness of life.
Meditating on your mortality is only depressing if
you miss the point. It is in fact a tool to create priority
and meaning. It’s a tool that generations have used to
create real perspective and urgency. To treat our time
as a gift and not waste it on the trivial and vain. Death
doesn’t make life pointless but rather purposeful. And
fortunately, we don’t have to nearly die to tap into this.
A simple reminder can bring us closer to living the life

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
we want. It doesn’t matter who you are or how many
things you have left to be done, a car can hit you in an
intersection and drive your teeth back into your skull.
That’s it. It could all be over. Today, tomorrow, someday
soon.
The Stoic finds this thought invigorating and
humbling. It is not surprising that one of Seneca’s
biographies is titled Dying Every Day. After all, it is
Seneca who urged us to tell ourselves “You may not
wake up tomorrow,” when going to bed and “You may
not sleep again,” when waking up as reminders of our
mortality. Or as another Stoic, Epictetus, urged his
students: “Keep death and exile before your eyes each
day, along with everything that seems terrible— by doing
so, you’ll never have a base thought nor will you have
excessive desire.” Use those reminders and meditate on
them daily—let them be the building blocks of living
your life to the fullest and not wasting a second.
P.S. Check out our popular memento mori medallion,
print and pendant from the Daily Stoic Store!

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
Day 5 : T h e 7 Ste ps Guide
to Co n t rol l i n g Yo ur
Percept i o n s l i ke a S toic

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 he obstacles we face in life make us
T emotional. The only way we’ll overcome
them is by keeping those emotions in check—if we can
keep steady no matter what happens, no matter how
much external events may fluctuate.
The ancient Stoics had a word for this state:
apatheia.
It’s the kind of calm equanimity that comes with
the absence of irrational or extreme emotions.
What follows are the 7 steps you can take to
achieve this state, so you can focus on overcoming your
obstacles, rather than reacting to them.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
 Step 1: Steady Your Nerves
“What such a man needs is not courage but nerve control,
cool headedness. This he can only get by practice.” — Theodore
Roosevelt
During the Civil war troops were unloading a
steamer when it exploded. Everyone hit the dirt except
Ulysses S. Grant, who instead ran towards the scene.
That is nerve.
Like Grant, we must prepare ourselves for the
realities of our situation, steadying our nerves so we can
throw our best at it.
Step 2: Control Your Emotions
“Would you have a great empire? Rule over
yourself.” — Publius Syrus
When America first sent astronauts into space,
they trained them in one skill more than any other: the
art of not panicking.
Here on Earth, when something goes wrong we
trade in our plan for a good ol’ emotional freak-out.
As Nassim Taleb put it, real strength lies in the
domestication of one’s emotions, not in pretending
they don’t exist.

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 Step 3: Practice Objectivity
“Don’t let the force of an impression when it first hits you
knock you off your feet; just say to it: Hold on a moment; let me
see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the
test.” — Epictetus
In our lives, how many problems seem to come
from applying judgments to things we don’t control?
Perceptions give us information at the exact
moment when it would be better to focus on what is
immediately in front of us.
We must question our animalistic impulse to
immediately perceive what happens. But this takes
strength and is a muscle that must be developed.
Step 4: Practice Contemptuous Expressions
The Stoics used contempt to lay things bare and
“strip away the legend that encrusts them.”
Roasted meat is a dead animal. Vintage wine is old,
fermented grapes.
We can do this for anything that stands in our way,
seeing things as they truly, actually are, not as we’ve
made them in our minds.
Step 5: Alter Your Perspective
“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his
existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the
same token, every human being has the freedom to change at
any instant.” — Viktor Frankl
DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
 Remember: We choose how we’ll look at things.
What we must do is limit and expand our
perspective to whatever will keep us calmest and most
ready for the task at hand.
Think of it as selective editing—not to deceive
others, but to properly orient ourselves.
Step 6: Live in the Present Moment
“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at
everything close up.” — Chuck Palahniuk
It doesn’t matter whether this is the worst time to
be alive or the best, whether you’re in a good job market
or a bad one.
What matters right now is right now.
Focus on the moment, on what you can control
right now. Not what may or may not be ahead.
Step 7: Look for the Opportunity
“A good person dyes events with his own color…and turns
whatever happens to his own benefit.” — Seneca
The reality is every situation, no matter how
negative, provides us with a positive, exposed benefit
we can act on, if only we look for it.
Maybe you were injured recently and are laid up
in bed recovering. Now you have the time to start the
book or the screenplay you’ve been meaning to write.

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 That business decision that turned out to be a
mistake? See it as a hypothesis that was wrong. Like
scientist you can learn from it and use it in your next
experiment.
Remember: This a complete flip. Seeing through
the negative, past its underside, and into its corollary:
the positive.
Another way of putting it: Does getting upset
provide you with more options?
Sometimes it does. But in this instance? No, I
suppose not.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 5
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
D ay 6 : P re m e d i ta tio
M al o rum : T h e Sto i c Art of
Neg at i ve V i su a l i zation

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 CEO calls her staff into the conference
A room on the eve of the launch of a major
new initiative. They file in and take their seats around
the table. She calls the meeting to attention and begins,
“I have bad news. The project has failed spectacularly.
What went wrong?”
The team is perplexed: What?! But we haven’t even
launched yet…!
I know it seems strange and maybe even
counterproductive to demand that employees think
negatively instead of optimistically, but in business
circles today, everyone from startups to Fortune 500
companies and the Harvard Business Review are doing

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
this exact exercise. In a direct response to optimistic,
feel-good thinking, these leaders are encouraging their
employees to think negatively.
The technique that the CEO above was using
was designed by psychologist Gary Klein. It’s called
a premortem. In a premortem, a project manager must
envision what could go wrong—what will go wrong—in
advance, before starting. Why? Far too many ambitious
undertakings fail for preventable reasons. Far too many
people don’t have a backup plan because they refuse to
consider that something might not go exactly as they
wish.
In fact, I think more companies need a Chief
Dissent Officer, someone to shoot down the bad ideas
that our blind spots and naive optimism too often
obscure. They can catch us when we are puffed up with
visions of our own greatness and preordained success.
Remember Netflix’s aborted attempt to split into
two separate companies? Or when Google Wave was
marketed as “the next Gmail,” only to be shut down in
a little over a year? If only these great companies had
stopped to envision the possible travails that awaited
them, they might have been able to prevent them.
No one has ever understood this better than former
heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who, reflecting on
the collapse of his fortune and fame, told a reporter, “If
you’re not humble, life will visit humbleness upon you.”

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 The practice goes back much further than just
psychology though. It dates back many thousands
of years, in fact—to the great Stoic philosophers like
Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. And they
had an even better name for it: premeditatio malorum
(premeditation of evils).
A writer like Seneca would begin by reviewing or
rehearsing his plans, say, to take a trip. And then, in his
head (or in writing), he would go over the things that
could go wrong or prevent it from happening—a storm
could arise, the captain could fall ill, the ship could be
attacked by pirates.
“Nothing happens to the wise man against his
expectation,” he wrote to a friend. “. . . nor do all things
turn out for him as he wished but as he reckoned—and
above all he reckoned that something could block his
plans.”
By doing this exercise, Seneca was always prepared
for disruption and always working that disruption into
his plans. He was fitted for defeat or victory. And let’s
be honest, a pleasant surprise is a lot better than an
unpleasant one.
In a case where nothing could be done, the Stoics
would use it as an important practice to do something
the rest of us too often fail to do—manage expectations.
Because sometimes the only answer to “What if?” is, “It
will suck but we’ll be okay.”

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
 We often learn the hard way that our world is
ruled by external factors. We don’t always get what is
rightfully ours, even if we’ve earned it. Not everything
is as clean and straightforward as the games they play
in business school. Psychologically, we must prepare
ourselves for this to happen.
If it comes as a constant surprise each and every
time something unexpected occurs, you’re not only
going to be miserable whenever you attempt something
big, you’re going to have a much harder time accepting
it and moving on to attempts two, three, and four. The
only guarantee, ever, is that things could go wrong. The
only thing we can use to mitigate this is anticipation,
because the only variable we control completely is
ourselves.
The world might call you a pessimist. Who cares?
It’s far better to seem like a downer than to be blindsided
or caught off guard.
If we have prepared ourselves for the obstacles
that are inevitably on their way, we can rest assured that
it’s other people who have not. In other words, this bad
luck is actually a chance for us to make up some time.
We become like runners who train on hills or at altitude
so they can beat racers who expected the course would
be flat.
Anticipation doesn’t magically make things easier,
of course. But we are more prepared for them to be as
hard as they need to be, as hard as they actually are.
4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 You know what’s better than building things
up in your imagination? Building things up in real
life. Of course, it’s a lot more fun to build things up
in your imagination than it is to tear them down. But
what purpose does that serve? It only sets you up for
disappointment. Chimeras are like bandages—they
hurt when torn away.
With anticipation, we have time to raise defenses,
or even avoid them entirely. We’re ready to be driven off
course because we’ve plotted a way back. We can resist
going to pieces if things didn’t go as planned. With
anticipation, we can endure.
We are prepared for failure and ready for success.
P.S. Check out our premeditatio malorum medallion in
the Daily Stoic Store.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 5
 AN
INTRODUCTION
TO STOICISM
Day 7: H e re’s How To H ave
Yo ur Bes t We e k Ever: 7
P rac t i ces Fro m T h e S toics

D A I L Y S T O I C . C O M
 he below is a week of some of the best
T Stoic passages and exercises from The
Daily Stoic book with the idea of creating the perfect
week — seven days of stoic thinking to help you live
better, more resiliently, and more peacefully.

***

Monday: Rise and shine

“On those mornings you struggle with getting up, keep this
thought in mind — I am awakening to the work of a human

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 1
being. Why then am I annoyed that I am going to do what I’m
made for, the very things for which I was put into this world?
Or was I made for this, to snuggle under the covers and keep
warm? It’s so pleasurable. Were you then made for pleasure? In
short, to be coddled or to exert yourself?” — Marcus Aurelius,
“Meditations,” 5.1
Nobody likes Mondays. So it’s comforting to think
that even 2,000 years ago, the emperor of Rome (who
was reportedly an insomniac) was giving himself a pep
talk in order to summon the willpower to throw off the
blankets and get out of bed.
From the time we’re first sent off to school until
the day we retire, we’re faced with that same struggle. It
always seems nicer to shut our eyes and hit the snooze
button a few times.
But we can’t — because we have a job to do. Not
only do we have the calling we’re dedicated to, but we
have the larger cause that the Stoics speak about: the
greater good. We cannot be of service to ourselves, to
other people, or to the world unless we get up and get
working — the earlier the better. So c’mon. Get in the
shower, have your coffee, and get going.
Tuesday: Prepare yourself for negativity
“When you first rise in the morning tell yourself:
I will encounter busybodies, ingrates, egomaniacs,
liars, the jealous, and cranks. They are all stricken with

2 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
these afflictions because they don’t know the difference
between good and evil. Because I have understood the
beauty of good and the ugliness of evil, I know that
these wrong-doers are still akin to me … and that none
can do me harm, or implicate me in ugliness — nor can
I be angry at my relatives or hate them. For we are made
for cooperation.” — Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations,” 2.1
You can be certain as clockwork that at some
point today you’re going to interact with someone who
seems like a jerk (as we all do). The question is: Are you
going to be ready for it?
This exercise calls to mind a joke from the 18th-
century writer and witticist Nicolas Chamfort, who
remarked that if you “swallow a toad every morning,”
you’ll be fortified against any other disgusting thing
that might happen that day.
But there is a second part to this, just as there is a
second half of Marcus’ quote: “No one can implicate me
in ugliness — nor can I be angry at my relative or hate
him.” The point of this preparation is not to write off
everyone in advance. It’s that, maybe, because you’ve
prepared for it, you’ll be able to act with patience,
forgiveness, and understanding.
Wednesday: Clarify your intentions
“Let all your efforts be directed to something, let
it keep that end in view. It’s not activity that disturbs

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 3
people, but false conceptions of things that drive them
mad.” — Seneca, “On Tranquility of Mind,” 12.5
Law 29 of The 48 Laws of Power is: Plan all the way
to the end. Robert Greene writes, “By planning to the
end, you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances,
and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune
and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.”
The second habit in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People is: Begin with an end in mind.
Having an end in mind is no guarantee that you’ll
reach it — no Stoic would pretend otherwise — but not
having an end in mind is a guarantee that you won’t.
To the Stoics, oiêsis (false conceptions) are responsible
not just for disturbances in the soul, but for chaotic and
dysfunctional lives and operations.
When your efforts are not directed at a cause or a
purpose, how will you know what to do day in and day
out? How will you know what to say no to and what to
say yes to? How will you know when you’ve had enough,
when you’ve reached your goal, or when you’ve gotten
off track if you’ve never defined what those things are?
You cannot. And so you are driven into
failure—or worse, into madness—by the oblivion of
directionlessness.

4 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 Thursday: Be ruthless to the things
that don’t matter
“How many have laid waste to your life when you
weren’t aware of what you were losing, how much was
wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and
social amusements — how little of your own was left to
you. You will realize you are dying before your time!” —
Seneca, “On the Brevity of Life,” 3.3b
One of the hardest things to do in life is say “no.”
To invitations, to requests, to obligations, to the stuff
that everyone else is doing. Even harder is saying no to
certain time-consuming emotions: anger, excitement,
distraction, obsession, lust. None of these impulses
feels like a big deal by itself, but run amok, they become
commitments like anything else.
If you’re not careful, these are precisely the
impositions that will overwhelm and consume your life.
Do you ever wonder how you can get some of your time
back or how you can feel less busy? Start today off by
utilizing the power of “no” — as in “No, thank you,” and
“No, I’m not going to get caught up in that,” and “No, I
just can’t right now.”
It may hurt some feelings. It may turn people off.
It may take hard work. But the more you say no to the
things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the
things that do. This will let you live and enjoy the life
that you want.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 5
 Friday: Turn ‘have to’ into ‘get to’
“The task of a philosopher: We should bring
our will into harmony with whatever happens, so that
nothing happens against our will and nothing that we
wish for fails to happen.” — Epictetus, “Discourses,”
2.14.7
A long to-do list seems intimidating and
burdensome — all these things we have to do in the
course of a day or a week. But a get-to-do list sounds
like a privilege — all the things we’re excited about the
opportunity to experience. This isn’t just semantic play.
It is a central facet of the philosopher’s worldview.
Today, don’t try to impose your will on the world.
Instead, see yourself as fortunate to receive and respond
to the will of the world.
Stuck in traffic? A few wonderful minutes to get to
sit there and relax. Your car broke down after idling for
so long? Ah, what a nice nudge to take a long walk the
rest of the way. A swerving car driven by a distracted,
cell-phone-wielding idiot nearly hit you as you were
walking and soaked you head to toe with muddy water?
What a reminder about how precarious our existence is
and how silly it is to get upset about something as trivial
as being late or having trouble with your commute.
Kidding aside, it might not seem like there’s a big
difference between seeing life as something you have

6 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
to do versus seeing life as something you get to do, but
there is. A huge, magnificent difference.
Saturday: Take a walk
“We should take wandering outdoor walks, so that
the mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open
air and deep breathing.” — Seneca, “On Tranquility of
Mind,” 17.8
In a notoriously loud city like Rome, it was
impossible to get much peace and quiet. The noise of
wagons, the shouting of vendors, and the hammering of
blacksmiths all filled the streets with piercing auditory
violence. So philosophers went on a lot of walks — to
get where they needed to go, to clear their heads, and
to get fresh air.
Throughout the ages, philosophers, writers,
poets, and thinkers have found that walking offers the
additional benefit of time and space for better work. As
Nietzsche would later say: “It is only ideas gained from
walking that have any worth.”
Today, make sure you take a walk. And in the
future, when you get stressed or overwhelmed, take
a walk. When you have a tough problem to solve or a
decision to make, take a walk. When you want to be
creative, take a walk. When you need to get some air,
take a walk. When you have a phone call to make, take
a walk. When you need some exercise, take a long walk.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 7
When you have a meeting or a friend over, take a walk
together.
Nourish yourself and your mind and solve problems
along the way.
Sunday: A week in review
“I will keep constant watch over myself and —
most usefully — will put each day up for review. For this
is what makes us evil — that none of us looks back upon
our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are
about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend
from the past.” — Seneca, “Moral Letters,” 83.2
In a letter to his older brother Novatus, Seneca
describes a beneficial exercise he borrowed from
another prominent philosopher. At the end of each
day, he would ask himself variations of the following
questions: What bad habit did I curb today? How am I
better? Were my actions just? How can I improve?
At the beginning or end of each day — and in this
case, at the end of the week — the Stoic sits down with
his journal and reviews what he did, what he thought,
and what could be improved.
It’s for this reason that Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations
is a somewhat inscrutable book — it was for personal
clarity, not public benefit. Writing down Stoic exercises
was and is a form of practicing them, just as repeating a
prayer or hymn might be.

8 DA I LYSTO I C .C O M
 Keep your own journal, whether it’s saved on a
computer or on paper. Take time to consciously recall
the events of the previous day.
Be unflinching in your assessments. Notice what
contributed to your happiness and what detracted from
it. Write down what you’d like to work on or quotes that
you like. By making the effort to record such thoughts,
you’re less likely to forget them. An added bonus: You’ll
have a running tally to track your progress.

DA I LYSTO I C .C O M 9
 The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom,
Perseverance, and the Art of Living offers 366 days of Stoic
insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations
from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright
Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well
as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and
Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you’ll find one
of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical
anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful
glossary of Greek terms.
The book is available on Amazon, Audible, iTunes,
B&N, Kobo and everywhere else books are sold.
You can also get a signed and personalized copy at
BookPeople! Order your copy now!

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