In a world where comfort and pleasure are sought after above all else, our ability to withstand adversity and challenges has deteriorated.
We quiver away at the faintest indication of hardship.
We cower away back to the places of comfort and pleasure.
Preventing ourselves from enhancement and improvement.
Inevitably, this path leads to a life marked by shallow misery rather than advancement and vitality.
Stoicism offers us a solution.
A way of life that will forge an undefeatable mind.
Founded in Greece in 330 BC, the stoic philosophy guided Marcus Aurelius through his life as Emperor of Rome and Zeno of Citium through financial ruin.
More well-known individuals such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt have been praised for their stoicism during their time in office.
Stoicism has survived over two millennia to find its way to you.
Here are two pillars of stoicism that will help you forge an indomitable mind :
The Dichotomy of Control
“You can't control life events, but you can control how you react to them.”
The events in your life are outside of your control.
You do not influence them.
Trying to control them will only bring difficulty and frustration.
It will inevitably lead to failure because controlling them all is impossible.
Instead, you ought to direct your energy and focus on your response to the situation.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events.”
Don’t let the situation control you, you must learn to control yourself.
Most important of all, you must learn to regulate your emotions.
People generally believe stoicism to be the suppression and elimination of emotions in an individual.
That is a misconception.
Stoics aim to control them, not eliminate them.
Aim to face the challenges life throws at you with a rational and logical approach.
Which can only be achieved through a clear-thinking mind, one that isn’t clouded by emotions.
This is a skill and can only be improved with practice and patience.
The next time you find yourself quick to anger, take a step back and calm yourself down with slow breaths.
Clear your mind of filth and proceed with logic.
Alter Your Perspective On The Situation
"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way"
The modern world has been so obsessed with seeking comfort and pleasure that at the slightest hint of adversity, we complain.
“This is unfair.”
“Why does it have to happen to me.”
What great man in history cowered away from the challenges life threw at them?
Did Alexander the Great cower away when confronted by Darius and his superior forces?
Did Julius Caesar cower away when he was Pompey outnumbered him two to one?
Instead of viewing obstacles and challenges as setbacks, view them as opportunities because that is what they are.
They are opportunities to grow and to better yourself.
Life has allowed you to grow, to develop, to evolve, and you hesitate, you falter, you shy away.
By viewing them as opportunities, setbacks cease to exist.
The way you perceive the situation is inherently what it becomes.
“Never forget that within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our conditions”