Being a Stoic does not mean being apathetic; it means being effective. Stoicism is about controlling your response and choosing your actions wisely. A Stoic is emotionally balanced, not devoid of feeling. The podcast explores the misconception of Stoicism as apathy and highlights the importance of aligning actions with principles. It emphasizes self-awareness and living with purpose. The hosts discuss their journey with Stoicism and introduce the Stoic Coffee House, a community for living out Stoic principles.
10:12
AI Summary
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Stoics prioritize effective action over busyness, choosing deliberate and well thought out actions aligned with their principles.
Avoiding apathy and burnout, Stoics select actions based on their core values and capacity, maintaining a purposeful and balanced life.
Deep dives
Being a True Stoic
Stoicism is often misunderstood as promoting apathy, but the opposite is true. Stoics strive to be effective by choosing their responses and focusing on what they can control. They understand that taking deliberate and thoughtful actions is more important than simply being busy. While there are situations where not taking action is the best choice, a true Stoic looks for opportunities to be helpful in a way that aligns with their principles. Living a meaningful life and upholding one's core values are central to Stoic philosophy.
Avoiding Apathy and Burnout
One challenge for Stoics is to avoid falling into apathy and burnout. Stoics are reminded to be selective in their actions, ensuring that they align with their core values and capacity. Avoiding avoidance is important, as sometimes the difficulty of a task or a lack of skills can cause inaction. It's crucial to know oneself, set clear goals, and not succumb to guilt or external expectations. Taking time to reflect on the actions taken, upholding core values, and being effective instead of just busy can help Stoics maintain a balanced and purposeful life.
Applying Stoic Principles
Applying Stoic principles means using rationality to be effective in one's life and the lives of others. Stoics should focus on their tasks, act according to nature's demands, and speak the truth with kindness and humility. Stoicism is not about following rigid rules but about knowing oneself, respecting others' agency, and applying oneself where and how they can be most effective. The journey of becoming a good human being and living in accordance with stoic principles requires self-awareness, constant growth, and genuine efforts to make a positive impact.
“Get busy with life’s purpose, toss aside empty hopes, get active in your own rescue — if you care for yourself at all — and do it while you can.”— Marcus AureliusDoes being a Stoic mean you can be apathetic? Does not reacting mean that you just give up? Because Stoicism is about controlling your response, it can easily seem that you just let things just happen and don’t take action. But to be a true Stoic, you are the opposite of apathetic. You are effective. By taking the time to choose your shot, you don’t waste time or energy on the things you can’t control. Often, we confuse action with actually doing something useful. Because Stoicism is about taking responsibility for ourselves, we need to be smart about the actions we choose. When we take the time to make a deliberate and well thought out choice. We want to be effective, not busy.