By adopting certain Stoic habits, we can improve our emotional well-being and lead happier lives.
These habits include focusing on what we can control, practicing gratitude, embracing our mortality, and using negative visualization.
In this article, we will explore these four Stoic habits and how they can help us to become happier and more resilient individuals.
By incorporating these habits into our daily lives, we can cultivate a deeper sense of inner peace and contentment, no matter what challenges come our way.
1. Accepting Life the Way It Comes
Accepting life the way it comes is an important practice for cultivating a sense of peace and contentment. It involves embracing the present moment and acknowledging that life is full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and successes and failures.
When we resist or try to control the circumstances of our lives, we often create unnecessary stress and suffering. However, by accepting things as they are, we can cultivate a sense of gratitude and find meaning in even the most challenging situations.
This does not mean that we should be passive or resign ourselves to a life that is less than what we want. Rather, accepting life means that we approach each moment with an open mind and a willingness to learn and grow from the experiences that come our way.
By letting go of our attachment to outcomes and embracing the present moment, we can live a more peaceful, fulfilling, and meaningful life.
2. Treat Life as Simple as it Is
Life is simple.
We’ve all made it complicated. That’s a problem.
With all the difficulty we’ve added to our lives over the past couple of decades we’re making ourselves unhappy.
We've become accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle filled with constant distractions and endless to-do lists, leading us to feel stressed, overwhelmed, and unfulfilled. However, the truth is that life is meant to be simple.
By simplifying our lives and focusing on what truly matters, we can regain a sense of clarity and purpose.
This can involve decluttering our physical and mental spaces, prioritizing our time and energy, and cultivating meaningful relationships.
By embracing simplicity and letting go of unnecessary complexity, we can live a more peaceful, meaningful, and fulfilling life.
3. Don’t Care About the Things You Don’t Control
Almost all good life lessons sound like cliches, and yet they work pretty darn well.
So does this one.
In Stoicism, the assumption is that there are several things you can care about. Things that are within your control are not.
After all, you do not influence them.
Still, it makes pretty good sense that we worry about all sorts of things. That’s how we’ve been conditioned over the last few decades. Stoicism is the ultimate remedy for that.
I do this an awful lot myself, especially in the current political climate, I can get enormously worked up about things that I have exactly 0 percent influence over, and so it’s pointless.
It only causes you problems in the form of stress and negative thoughts and feelings.
Try to avoid this.
For example, you can try when you get frustrated for any reason to ask yourself if you could have changed something about the outcome. If not, put it aside and calm down.
4. Find Purpose
You need purpose.
Our purpose hasn’t been defined. I’m sure of that. We can all find out our own little bit of destiny.
It's a journey, not a destination. You might not find your purpose overnight, but that's okay. Keep exploring new hobbies, meeting new people, and trying new things. Eventually, you'll find something that ignites a passion within you and helps you define your purpose.
There are a lot of things that come with discovering what you want in life. I did it by:
Meditation
Cold showers
Deep reading/learning
Exploring/traveling
Journaling
Writing in general
You might have other things that enlighten you. That’s okay, find a way for yourself. But there’s one thing we all have or need to have in common: setting a goal.
If you don’t set goals, you won’t get far.
“If you don’t know your destination you will always fail to reach your destination. Set goals.” - Michael Pilarczyk