The What Is Stoicism? Podcast

If we want to break free from our old opinions, or at least confirm if they are still valid, we must be willing to accept that our way of seeing things might not be OK as it is.We must be willing to examine judgments, let go of long-held views, and potentially give up on an outdated version of ourselves.In this episode, we look at how Stoicism helps us do this.👇 👇 👇📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENTCheck out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:Amongst Friends All Things In Commonhttps://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-amongst

“To live a good life: We have the potential for it,” writes Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations. “If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”This good life is exactly what the ancient Stoics believed the practice of philosophy would allow us to pursue.In this episode, we look at how Stoicism can bring us internal clarity, the value of which far outweighs the pursuit of externals like material gain, wealth, reputation, and status.👇 👇 👇📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENTCheck out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:Amongst Friends All Things In Commonhttps://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-amongst

Erick Cloward is the host of the popular Stoic Coffee Break podcast where every week he discusses how to live a more resilient and happy life using ancient Stoicism and modern wisdom.He's also a Leadership Coach and Speaker, as well as an author who’s just realised a new book called Stoicism 101.In this episode, I talk to Erick about his book, his Stoic background, the problem with Broicism, and more. I hope you enjoy.Erick's book can be found here:https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Stoicism-101/Erick-Cloward/Adams-101-Series/9781507223574👇 👇 👇📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENTCheck out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:Will You Follow Or Be Dragged?https://open.substack.com/pub/whatisstoicism/p/micro-morning-meditation-will-you

There's an old Spanish proverb that says: "Don't speak unless you can improve on the silence."With such restraint comes a question: what should we redirect our attention toward at times when we judge that externalizing our thoughts isn’t necessary?In this episode, we look at how self-reflection can be a worthy alternative.👇 👇 👇📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENTCheck out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:Amongst Friends All Things In Commonhttps://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-amongst

In this episode I talk to Benny Voncken, a writer, speaker, and practicing Stoic who's originally from the Netherlands.He's also the co-founder of an online Stoicism platform called Via Stoica, which offers personalized Stoic coaching services, an online Stoic community, live conversations on X, and their own Via Stoica podcast.I really enjoyed talking with Benny. In the conversation, he shares some of the difficulties he's been through that led to him taking Stoicism seriously as a philosophy of life and how he now uses that experience to help others in his work as a Stoic coach. I hope you enjoy the episode.📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENTCheck out What Is Stoicism? on Substack:https://whatisstoicism.substack.com

The most common misunderstanding about Stoicism is that it’s all about suppressing or burying our emotions.This tends to come from the confusion between Stoicism (upper case ‘S’) and stoicism (lower case ‘s’); the former is the ancient Greek philosophy that we learn about and practice, the latter is simply a “stiff-upper-lip” coping style.In this episode, we look at why it's better to understand and process our emotions rather than dismiss and suppress them.📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENTCheck out What Is Stoicism? on Substack:https://whatisstoicism.substack.com

It can be useful to find parallels between our philosophical pursuits that are inspired by ancient practices and the more modern messages we’re exposed to in our daily lives.Relating things like art, sport, and entertainment to Stoic principles often helps us to remember the concepts and perhaps even better understand how they pertain to modern life.In this episode, we look at two such examples.📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENTCheck out What Is Stoicism? on Substack:https://whatisstoicism.substack.com

The more we do, the Stoic philosopher Seneca tells us in his book On Tranquility of Mind, the more we put ourselves in Fortune's power, the more we tempt her.In other words, the more tasks we take on, the more journeys we make, the more objectives we pursue, the more things there are that can go wrong.In this episode, we look at why that doesn't mean we should limit our ambitions or give up altogether.📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENTCheck out What Is Stoicism? on Substack:https://whatisstoicism.substack.com

If we practice philosophy, it’s up to us to get to know ourselves. It’s up to us to know the principles by which we live and, by extension, what we find reasonable and unreasonable.In this episode, we look at what Epictetus had to say about this responsibility and how our efforts each day can help us live an examined life.📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO + EMAIL CONTENTCheck out What Is Stoicism? on Substack:https://whatisstoicism.substack.com