A Guide to the Good Life

The definition of “stoic” and the pursuit of stoicism aren't something I was able to differentiate before reading this book. After, though, I realized how much close to home the concepts of stoicism are to strive to behave. It's not often that I encounter a philosophy, or a belief that rings so completely true with my core self.

There were a few concepts that were the most poignant to me. Having a “philosophy of life” is an interesting idea – a way of living. “Negative visualization”- spending time thinking about what could go wrong to appreciate what you have, and be less affected when things don't go your way. The idea of “control” over - things you have complete control (yourself), limited control how over, or no control over – and spending time on those you have complete control over. Asking if you're guided by own values, or following others. There were a few things I disagreed with, but those were usually authors interpretations of the original works, which I more agreed with.

Having used the online alias Dyogenez for 20 years, and having read everything by Diogenes before this, it was amazing to hear such a deep dive into the cynics way of life - and how similar it is to Stoicism.

The definition of “stoic” and the pursuit of stoicism aren't something I was able to differentiate before reading this book. After, though, I realized how much close to home the concepts of stoicism are to strive to behave. It's not often that I encounter a philosophy, or a belief that rings so completely true with my core self.

There were a few concepts that were the most poignant to me. Having a “philosophy of life” is an interesting idea – a way of living. “Negative visualization”- spending time thinking about what could go wrong to appreciate what you have, and be less affected when things don't go your way. The idea of “control” over - things you have complete control (yourself), limited control how over, or no control over – and spending time on those you have complete control over. Asking if you're guided by own values, or following others. There were a few things I disagreed with, but those were usually authors interpretations of the original works, which I more agreed with.

Having used the online alias Dyogenez for 20 years, and having read everything by Diogenes before this, it was amazing to hear such a deep dive into the cynics way of life - and how similar it is to Stoicism.

Most likely the book that had the biggest effect on my life in the past several years. It explained the stoic philosophy in simple terms. It made a valid point that one should have a philosophy of life. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you have a set of values. Otherwise you're just wandering around, living day-to-day, and then wake up one day with that scary thought: what the hell am I doing with my life?

After reading this I read a lot of books from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the bunch. It's, at the same time, insane and awesome how so little has changed in over 2400 years. They had the same problems we have and they developed several practices on how to navigate them. Many of the them resonate with me and I'm trying to live a better life by following them.

And it works. I'm happier, less stressed, have a more positive outlook on life, problems disturb me less,... I'm not saying you have to follow stoic philosophy. But you should have a life philosophy you follow. And this book is as good of an intro as any.