Brian Johnson introduces ten core ideas from Stoic philosophers including Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. The Stoics teach you to focus only on what you control, practice virtue over theory, and use obstacles as fuel. A key mantra: obstacles make you stronger.
Chapters
Hey, this is Brian with a quick note before we jump into today's show. If you haven't signed up for the Optymyze Premium membership yet, A what are you waiting for? And B, you can now get the first 30 days of optimizing for free. Just cruise on over to Optimize Me and sign up. Over 10,000 people now start their days with Optymyze so they can actualize their potential, including best selling authors, leading entrepreneurs and even NCAA championship teams. Two of them. So again, 30 days of free optimizing at Optimize Me. If you're already a member, thanks for your support. Now for the show, You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to the Optimal Living 101 Masterclass Series. Today I'm thrilled to be chatting about Stoicism101, how to apply the ancient wisdom of Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius to our modern lives. As always, we've got 10 big ideas. Let's take a quick look and then we'll jump in. Alright, Our first big idea is the cast of characters. We'll take a quick look at the founder of Stoicism, Zeno and than the three primary teachers, Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. The second big idea, Eudaimonia. We need to become best friends with our inner Daimon. That's basically the whole point of Stoicism. Then we'll talk about how to go about doing that via virtues four plus one, the four cardinal virtues of Stoicism and the one essential virtue that gets you all the way to being best friends with your inner soul. The third big idea is the philosopher is a warrior of the mind, not a librarian of the mind. One of my favorite distinctions. We're going to look at the fact that it's not about theory, it's about practice. The fact is ancient philosophers wouldn't recognize modern philosophy. The fourth big idea. The number one rule of Stoicism. Here it is. The first lines of Epictetus insuredian rules. Some things, to paraphrase, are within your control, some things are not. The wise sage is able to see which things are within his or her control and which are not, and they focus on what's in our control. The fifth big idea energized tranquility. These Stoic philosophers were engaged in life. They were energized, yet they were tranquil. The Greek word for tranquility, Euthymia. We're going to talk about how important it is to know your path and then to walk it. Decreasing social comparison, decreasing second guessing yourself and playing your role well in service to the greater good. The sixth Big idea. The Reserve clause. The Stoics knew that not everything was within their control. So whenever they said they were going to do something, they always did so with a reserve clause. If fate shall have it or God willing. Deo Valente is how you say that in Latin. God willing. We're also going to talk about Apollo, the patron God of philosophy, who happened to be an archer, which will be relevant to our discussion. The seventh Big Idea is the art of acquiescence. So before you do something, you recognize the fact that, God willing, this will come to fruition after the event has occurred. You practice the art of acquiescence as a good Stoic. In other words, thy will be done. We learn to love what is. We love our fate. As Nietzsche says, amor fati. We'll talk about accepting what is and in fact, loving it. The eighth Big idea. The Equanimity Game. This is my number one practice. We're also going to talk about one of my new favorite practices, Oms O M M S. My new favorite mantra. Obstacles make me stronger. I've been practicing the Equanimity Game for the better part of a decade. This is my number one applied practice from Stoicism. Excited to share more on that. The ninth Big idea. I don't care. This is a great idea from Ryan Holiday, my favorite modern Stoic. Got to check out his book, the Daily Stoic. Basic idea here is I care so much about connecting to my inner daimon, living with you eudaimonia, that I don't care about things like other people's opinions and news, pop culture, et cetera. I don't care. It's a very, very powerful phrase. We will talk more about. And then finally, the tenth Big idea. One of the key practices of the ancient Stoics is to imagine the ideal sage. The ideal sage. Invite them into your life. What would your your favorite hero do in this moment? That's a great way to connect to your inner daimon, your inner soul, your highest self. We'll talk about that as we apply this ancient wisdom to our modern lives. Isn't it a bit odd that we went from math to science to history, but somehow missed the class on how to live? For some wacky reason, optimal living 101 never made the schedule. Of course, it's too late to go back and change that and you're too busy to read full time to catch up yet if you're like us, you're all about optimizing your life and actualizing your potential. So imagine this. Imagine having someone read the best books on optimal living and pulling out the big ideas that can truly change your life. You know those sections you asterisk and underline and mark all up? Then imagine that guy me connecting those ideas to other great books and helping you apply them to your life today. Well, that's what I do with something we call Philosopher's Notes where I break down each great book into a simple 6 page PDF, 20 minute MP3 and 10 minute Philosopher's Notes TV episode. Then imagine me taking the absolute best big ideas from those great books and sharing them with you in fun, inspiring, super practical optimal living 101 classes on stuff like purpose 101, confidence 101, business 101, meditation 101, that sort of thing. You've got a personal trainer? I'm kind of like your personal philosopher. Ancient wisdom plus Modern Science plus Common Sense plus Virtue plus plus Mastery plus Fun. That's what our optimized membership program is all about. We'd love to have you join us. Check us out at BrianJohnson. Me join.
