I am writing this on my tablet tonight and was having trouble trying to get quotes from Epictetus, so I decided to give you some quotes from my favorite amateur Stoic philosopher…me.

These are from the first 30 Daily Stoic posts.

Once you’ve made a decision, don’t second guess yourself.

Vacillating once a decision has been made is counter productive. Sometimes you have to change your mind, but indecisiveness helps nobody.

Choose what kind of person you want to be. Refuse to participate in things that go against that.

If you want to be a responsible person, going out and getting drunk all the time go against what you say you want. Act like the person you want to be.

Whatever the world throws at me, sometimes the only thing I have an option in is how do I respond.

All I control is my reactions and actions. As long as I keep a handle on myself, stressing out about the external problems is counter productive.

Always remember, if you’re struggling, it’s in your power to refocus and start again.

A small setback is not a reason to abandon the path that leads to where I want to be.

It is important to have self respect -not self esteem.

Self esteem is a meaningless feeling, but self respect is an earned feeling.

Never let fear hold you back. Especially fear of something that hasn’t or might not happen.

Worrying about the future is not a productive way to spend time.

I need to take care of myself, and not let my impulses keep me lazy.

Motivation is not important, discipline is.

I definitely prefer happiness to envy, and they do not work together.

Being happy with what I have is better than comparing myself to other people.

 

Mental strength is like physical strength, exercise makes it stronger.

The more I practice controlling my anger, the better I get at it.

I like to tell myself “nobody cares” when I feel like complaining, either to myself or at work.

Complaining is just making noise in a futile attempt for sympathy.

What is good is within my power to control, if I make proper choices. What is bad is also within my power to control, if I make poor choices. Indifferent doesn’t mean it has no effect on my life, just that I do not control them and should not worry about them. Easier said than done sometimes.

This is the Stoic philosophy, summed up in a few sentences.

What makes me so special that this thing which can happen to ANYONE, wouldn’t happen to me?

I am not a victim of the world, set up for special persecution, many people have had it much worse.

When I choose to be angry at things I can’t control, I am choosing to have a bad reaction.

There is no accidental anger, I have to choose to let it control me.

Following the Stoic philosophy has no impact on whether or not my life will go well.

Just because I try to be a good person, there is no guarantee of success.

It is not important if I impress other people with how my life appears. It is important that I am able to be happy with how my life is.

Looking at many young couples in the park today working hard for a perfect picture, I wonder if they are truly happy, or just want to make sure they look that way.

I screw up sometimes. It is important to recognize this and “be a person always stretching to avoid error”.

I am still far from perfect, but I am traveling the right direction.

When I choose to get upset, I am bringing a little evil into my life.

All my personal evil is self induced.

I can’t depend on being happy if I use other people or outside things to give me that feeling.

I won’t abandon the Stoic philosophy because I am having a rough week.

 

Life is simple to me. I try to be as honest as possible and treat others well.

 

It doesn’t matter who you learn from, it matters what you learn.

Trying to follow a plan too strictly can cause unnecessary stress when life alters things outside of my control.

I need to do what needs done, and nobody cares how I feel.

try to be a good person and do the “right” thing. It doesn’t matter if anyone sees it or knows about it.

if I know what the goal is it helps to keep me on track. If I had no goal, it would be easy to slowly lose focus on this.

Why did I start studying Stoicism? I needed a “cure for the self”. I have had anger issues for a while, but they were getting worse. I was also becoming lazy and not working out or running.

Kind of short this week, currently in Charleston for work.

 

Hope you all still got your money’s worth.