The Philosophy That Will Totally Increase Your Resilience Against Life’s Challenges: The Stoic Life

“Let’s face it, most of our mental distress comes from wanting things we don’t have and not appreciating what we have.”

How can an entrepreneur who created a world-leading brand and a philosopher who lived before Christ meet at a common point?

Stoicism encompasses many successful people’s approaches to everyday life, from BC emperors to successful entrepreneurs today. For example, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who ruled one of the greatest empires in history, was also a stoic philosopher. To give an example from today, Tim Ferris, one of the most successful entrepreneurs of recent times, is also someone who has adopted the stoic life.

Let’s first take a look at what stoicism is and then how you can apply the stoic approach to your life.

What is stoicism?

Stoicism was named after the 4th century BC. It takes it from a school founded in Athens in the 19th century by the Cypriot philosopher Zeno. Since its applicability and efficiency in daily life is quite high, it has survived to the present day.

Basically in the thought system; He recommends that people should first live in harmony with themselves and in accordance with nature, avoid unnecessary and exaggeration in their lives, accept every feeling and not be too attached to them.

How does a stoic live? How do we use stoicism in life?

“Very little is necessary for a happy life; All that is needed is inside us and in our way of thinking.” — Marcus Aurelius

According to Stoicism, if you put logic at the center of your life instead of desires and desires, you will have taken the first step towards a happy life.

According to the determination of Marcus Aurelius, we come across three types of events in life:

All three events in life can happen to you frequently. The focus of Stoicism is to focus on the third events and find peace in life. One should not be upset by events that are beyond his control. This does not make the person a loser; but if you don’t make good use of the events that are within your control, then the restlessness begins.

E.g; A person can complain about the country he lives in or his family. In a Stoic approach, the person is aware that these are out of his control and focuses on the things he can change and improve at peace with himself as he builds his future.

Marcus Aurelius says most people spend their free time thinking about things they want but don’t have. A person who achieves what he wants spends his life wanting more.

Stoic thought suggests that one should first know the value of what one has. Constant wanting is one of the biggest obstacles to finding peace.

The Stoics also advise that we should not rely on anything superfluous in life for inner peace, that we should live according to human nature. E.g; If you put money at the center of your life, one day you won’t know how to live when you run out of money and it weakens you. If you put appreciation at the center of your life, you won’t know what to do when you have a downturn in your life.

That’s why it’s key for a peaceful life to put things that cannot be taken away from you, instead of things that can go away and depend on the outside.

To better understand Stoicism, you can look at aphorisms from the Stoic philosopher Seneca.