Stoicism

Stoicism 1 – Week 1: Up to us, not up to us

Epictetus opens his Manual with one distinction: what is in our power and what is not. 10–15 minutes a day, sorting three worries.

Stoicism 1 – Week 2: Time is ours

Seneca writes to a friend: nothing is ours except time. Each day, keep one stretch of time for something you have chosen.

Stoicism 1 – Week 3: Suffering in imagination

Seneca: we suffer more often in imagination than in reality. Each week, rate how likely three worries are, then look back.

Stoicism 1 – Week 4: Preparing the morning

Marcus Aurelius began the day by expecting the friction he would meet. Five minutes of preparation each morning, one minute to tick it off at night.

Stoicism 1 – Week 5: Those ‘below’ us

Seneca writes about how to treat those who serve us. Each day, one act of respect for someone who is serving you.

Stoicism 1 – Week 6: Evening review

Each evening Seneca reviewed his whole day with three questions, hiding nothing and without torturing himself. 5–10 minutes before sleep.

Stoicism 2 – Week 1: What belongs to us

Epictetus divides training into three areas: desire, action and judgement. Each evening, 20–25 minutes of a three-column journal.

Stoicism 2 – Week 2: Not things, but our opinions of them

The discipline of judgement: before believing a thought, separate it from the event. Each day, write down one situation in three columns: event, first thought, another reading.

Stoicism 2 – Week 3: The inner retreat

Marcus Aurelius writes that we need not travel far to rest: we can retire into ourselves at any time. Three 2-minute retreats a day, with two short principles.

Stoicism 2 – Week 4: Reading a few books deeply

Seneca advises his friend to read few authors but read them well, and to keep one thought each day. Each day, copy one sentence by hand and note what it was used for.

Stoicism 2 – Week 5: Practising mild hardship

Seneca advises choosing a few days of simple living to see that what we fear is less fearful than we think. Two simple days this week, leaving food and sleep untouched.

Stoicism 2 – Week 6: Acting for the common good

The discipline of action: Marcus Aurelius reminds himself to stay simple, kind and helpful. Each day, one small act for someone in one of your roles, and one quality to practise.

Stoicism 2 – Week 7: Attachment and loss

Epictetus compares what we love to a fig given in its season. Each evening, note one thing you value that is 'on loan', and one way to cherish it today.

Stoicism 2 – Week 8: Review

Reread seven weeks of journal, rate yourself on the three disciplines, and choose one small habit per discipline to keep for the long term.

Stoicism 3 – Week 1: Old age and each day

Seneca notices he has grown old while visiting his country house, and draws a habit from it: close each evening as if a whole life were complete. Each evening, write 'Today I have lived' and three lines of review.

Stoicism 3 – Week 2: Fear of what has not come

Lucilius is worried about a lawsuit; Seneca advises measuring the fear instead of letting it grow, and taking the 'mask' off things. Each day, measure one everyday worry in four columns.

Stoicism 3 – Week 3: Life is short

Seneca sees how fast time flies when he looks back, and asks philosophy to teach him that a good life depends not on its length but on how it is used. Log one day hour by hour, then give 30 minutes a day to one thing that matters.

Stoicism 3 – Week 4: Everything passes

Marcus Aurelius reminds himself that all things vanish quickly, and that life and death, honour and dishonour do not make a person better or worse. Each day, watch one thing that is changing and do one task fully.

Stoicism 3 – Week 5: Those who went before

Marcus Aurelius remembers those who went before, and compares a full life to a ripe olive that falls, thanking the tree that fed it. Write an unsent thank-you letter to someone who went before you, and carry on something they left.

Stoicism 3 – Week 6: Review

Look back on five weeks with Seneca and Marcus Aurelius: closing the day, measuring worry, using time, watching change, gratitude to those who went before. Rate the five habits, choose two to keep, and write a letter to yourself one year from now.

Stoicism 4 – Week 1: Rising to do human work

Each morning Marcus Aurelius reminded himself: I am rising to do the work of a human being, and rest is needed too. Each morning name one thing you will do for others today; each evening take a break that is fully away from work.

Stoicism 4 – Week 2: Anger

Seneca writes that the greatest remedy for anger is delay, and that we should be slow to believe what others tell us. Each day, practise one delay before reacting when you are annoyed, at home or at work.

Stoicism 4 – Week 3: The people who work with us

Seneca proposes valuing people by their character, not by their duties, and says friends can be found at home. Each day, see one person you work with as a person, not just a job title.

Stoicism 4 – Week 4: Family

Marcus Aurelius reminds himself to love truly those he lives among; Epictetus teaches that duties are measured by relations. Each day do one thing your role at home asks of you, and spend 10 minutes fully with someone in your family.

Stoicism 4 – Week 5: The circles of concern

Hierocles pictured each person at the centre of many circles, from oneself and one’s family out to the whole human race, and said our task is to draw the circles closer to the centre. Each day, do one small thing for someone in an outer circle.

Stoicism 4 – Week 6: Review

Reread Marcus Aurelius’s two reminders about work and about the people we live among. Rate the course’s five habits and keep the two that fit your daily life.