The Strong Stoic Podcast

"You can be whatever you want to be". Many people in my generation have heard such a thing constantly and consistently while growing up. Certainly, we all have unique strengths and weaknesses, but there is something to be said about hard work and passion.However, what happens shockingly often is we end up accomplishing much less in life than we thought that we would. We graduate high school destined for great things only to end up 45 years old having barely accomplished anything. Why is this the case? And, perhaps more importantly, how can we best stop this from happening to us? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are most people good? Are interactions between two people who do not know each other predominantly positive or negative? Perhaps put in a more practical question, should you assume that strangers you meet are good?Of course, there is no easy answer. After all, many interactions between people (most, in fact) are positive. However, there are those few interactions that result in catastrophe, or at the least, personal trauma. To answer this question, it may be best to explore evolutionary biology and draw upon current research. This episode discusses talking with strangers. I dive into trust issues, biology, and some interesting examples.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Corruption is bad, right? If people were to only stay true to who they are, the world would be better... wouldn't it? Though I've argued this very point in the past, the truth is that this viewpoint - though correct under a certain reference frame - is actually incomplete.If you really think about it, any socio-cultural affects on our personality are essentially corruption to our "true selves". You can imagine if one were to grow up in purgatory how different one's perspective, thoughts, etc. would be. In no way am I implying this is a bad thing - indeed, some corruption is actually required. Why? It's all explained here, in this podcast episode.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talk about self-improvement is all over social media, however, what does it really mean to improve? And, perhaps even deeper, why is it even important to us to improve in the first place? Sure, most people would agree that self-improvement is a good thing, but few actually work on it. Many of us spend our days in quiet desperation, no challenge and no improvement. Imagine the best possible person in the world. You can define them however you wish - strong, compassionate, hard-working - truly, whatever you would like to be. We call this an "ideal", as it is the ideal way a person could be.Listen in on today's episode as I discuss the idea of an ideal, why we need it, how to get there, and why you actually can't get there.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all value freedom, especially in our Westernized world. As a result, we all tend to believe that more freedom is always better, but is this really the case? Is there such a thing as "too much freedom"?For example, what about commitment? By committing to some endeavour or person you are essentially voluntarily enslaving yourself to it. In other words, you are taking away your own freedom. However, commitment has a large number of benefits.This episode will discuss the topic of freedom and the value of imprisoning your heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A question that every person struggles with is: is life worth living? We can easily extend this to those considering having children: is it ethical to bring children into this cruel world?Such is a question that each must answer themselves; no one can answer it for you. However, this thought pattern can be dangerous, as it is the same one that leads to genocide and mass killing.Listen in today as I discuss this often cruel world and what you should be thinking about if you are considering having children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cancel culture is running wild in the 21st century, especially in the USA! We can think about this as a modern form of ostracism, in which your tribe kicks you out for being a weirdo. However, cancel culture isn't good, and it is actually a manifestation of the polarizing of America - left vs. right, maskers vs. anti-maskers.It seems rather odd to cancel people just because they offer a differing opinion or perspective than you. I mean, don't you want to understand the counter arguments to your argument?What's even more odd is how we disregard people because we deem them "controversial". Isn't controversial topics the very ones that we need to discuss? Aren't people who are willing to publicly discuss these issues brave, given that half of the population will hate them?Listen in as I talk (probably controversially) controversy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you want to get better at something, there are certainly specific things you must consider depending on what it actually is. However, the essence of how to improve is actually the same no matter what you are considering.This is because everything is a skill. What this means is that you can really improve on anything you want given that you practice it. Many think about things like carpentry skills or computer skills, but social skills and emotional skills are also things that you can practice and get better at.On this episode, I talk about how to get better at pretty much anything, what you must consider, and, most importantly, what you must do. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We all love to play the blame game. Whether it's pointing the finger at our coworker who delayed the project, or at our parents for putting us through too much trauma, "it's not my fault" is something we all think and say probably a bit too much.The unfortunate thing is that this is true - a lot of the situations we are in are not our fault. However, just because something isn't our fault does not mean that it isn't our responsibilityto fix it.Listen in today as I discuss the idea of fault and why, even though the fault may not be yours, it is still your responsibility to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learning to enjoy the process is something that is commonly said in the fitness industry as well as in the entrepreneurial world. What this essentially means is that you should learn to focus on the process itself as opposed to achieving a specific goal. Goals are important, however, if you only allow yourself to be happy upon realizing a goal, then you will find yourself deeply unhappy throughout most of your life. Enjoying the process allows you to focus on perfecting the craft, which will lead to success, but to also be happy throughout it.Like anything, enjoying the process is something that must be learned. Listen in today to figure out how! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices