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Read Time: About 3 Minutes
Hey guys👋
This week’s newsletter is about stoicism. So what is stoicism in the first place? Stoicism is an ancient school of philosophy that was founded by a Greek chap called Zeno who lived in the 3rd century BC. That was over 2000 years ago but it’s still popular today. Zeno and his followers such as Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus gathered at the “Poikile Stoa”, hence the name, Stoicism, or painted porch, of ancient Athens, Rome, where they discussed and taught philosophy.
🧠The Dichotomy of Control
So, one of the core beliefs of stoicism is called the dichotomy of control which is based on the idea that some things in life are within our control and some are outside of our control.
Stoicism says that it is pointless to worry about the things that are outside of our control such as the weather, news, commerce, or what other people think and say about us, and instead, we should focus on the things that are within our control such as our Mindset towards life, our thoughts, habits and actions.
🌿My Take
So, I would say five things are within our control and five things that are outside of our control in everybody’s life.
The five things that are within our control are the things that we do, the things that we see/watch, the things that we say, the things that we hear, and what we think.
If we focus on these things and not waste time worrying about the things that are outside of our control, we will have a much more peaceful life and can help in identifying new sources of happiness that would have existed before but were hidden from our minds.
You might have noticed that I wrote, the things that we hear are also within our control, so what about that? If we have control over the other four things that I said, automatically the things that we hear will also be in our control. So that’s that. The other five things that are outside of our control are what other people think, say, do, see, or hear.
Since these are outside of our control, let’s just not worry about that.
🍁Virtues of Stoicism
The Stoics also had four main virtues which are courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance or moderation, which, if followed properly, would help one to achieve their goal of inner peace and tranquility.
🤔Some More Quotes For The Week
So, that’s it guys. I hope you found this post useful. If yes, feel free to comment about my work! I’d love your feedback!
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Thanks, Guys👋
-The Mindset, The Ultimate Mental Growth Model.