[SPEAKER_00]: Have you noticed that we live in a time where everything seems upside down?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where people get angry over any little thing on social media?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where we search for happiness and things that only give us momentary satisfaction?
[SPEAKER_00]: And where it seems like we've forgotten what it really means to live with purpose?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's as if all of humanity has lost the map, and now we're going in circles.
[SPEAKER_00]: waiting for someone else to tell us where to go.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the thing no one tells you.
[SPEAKER_00]: More than two thousand years ago, some guys and Togas had already solved these problems.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, the Stoics, those ancient philosophers many believe were bitter people who felt nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: How wrong that is.
[SPEAKER_00]: In reality, they were the only ones who truly understood how to navigate the chaos of human life without losing their minds.
[SPEAKER_00]: In today's episode, I'm going to teach you five stoic lessons that can help you find your direction again in this crazy world.
[SPEAKER_00]: And don't tell me that ancient philosophy doesn't apply to modern problems because humans are still the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're still afraid, still craving approval, still suffering over things we can't control.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only difference now is that we do it with smartphones.
[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you that if you apply these five lessons, not only will you feel more at peace, but you'll begin to see life in a completely different way.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the fifth lesson, that one will change your perspective forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: So get ready, because we're about to dismantle everything you thought you knew about how to deal with modern life's problems.
[SPEAKER_00]: But before we start, let me tell you a story that perfectly illustrates why we need this ancient wisdom now more than ever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their once was a man named Marco, a successful executive who had everything society says you need to be happy.
[SPEAKER_00]: A good job, a nice house, a new car every two years.
[SPEAKER_00]: But every morning he woke up with a feeling of emptiness he couldn't explain.
[SPEAKER_00]: He spent his time scrolling through social media, comparing himself to others, worrying about things that hadn't even happened yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: One day while waiting for the subway, he saw an elderly man sitting on a bench reading an old yellowed book
[SPEAKER_00]: What caught his attention wasn't the book, but the absolute calm that radiated from this man.
[SPEAKER_00]: While all the other passengers were nervous looking at their phones complaining about the delay, this old man seemed to be in perfect peace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Marco approached him and asked what he was reading.
[SPEAKER_00]: The old man smiled and showed him the cover, meditations by Marcus Orelius,
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what's funny?
[SPEAKER_00]: The old man said.
[SPEAKER_00]: This Roman Emperor faced the same problems you do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uncertainty pressure, the feeling that the world is falling apart.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he found a way to stay calm in the middle of the storm.
[SPEAKER_00]: That conversation changed Marko's life forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: He realized he had been looking for peace in all the wrong places, in other people's approval, in external success, in trying to control things that were beyond his reach.
[SPEAKER_00]: The moral of this story is simple.
[SPEAKER_00]: Human problems are eternal, but so are the solutions.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics didn't live in easier times than hours.
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, they faced wars, plagues, political persecution, and constant death.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they learned something we've forgotten.
[SPEAKER_00]: How to maintain inner peace no matter what's happening outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we dive into the first lesson, if you find value in these episodes, please subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss a single lesson that could change your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And trust me, one of these lessons will be exactly what you need to hear today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's begin with the first lesson.
[SPEAKER_00]: Focus only on what you can control.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look, most people live in a constant state of anxiety because they're trying to control things that are completely out of their reach.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like trying to stop the rain with your hands.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can try all you want, but in the end you'll just end up wet and frustrated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Epic Titus, one of the great stoic teachers, put it very simply.
[SPEAKER_00]: There are things that are within our control and things that are not.
[SPEAKER_00]: The things that are within our control are our thoughts, our decisions, our actions, and our reactions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything else and listen carefully.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everything else is outside of our control.
[SPEAKER_00]: What does this mean in practice?
[SPEAKER_00]: It means you can't control whether it rains on your wedding day, but you can control how you react to that rain.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control if you get fired from your job, but you can control what you do afterward.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control what others think of you, but you can control whether you let those opinions define you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you a personal example.
[SPEAKER_00]: A few years ago I spent months worrying about what people thought of my videos.
[SPEAKER_00]: I read every comment, stressed over every criticism, lost sleep trying to figure out how to please everyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I got from that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely nothing except stress and sleepless nights.
[SPEAKER_00]: Until one day I realized something that changed everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't control what people think, but I can control the quality of the content I create and the intention behind it.
[SPEAKER_00]: From that moment on, I decided to focus all my energy on making the best content possible, with the genuine intention of helping others, and let people think what they want.
[SPEAKER_00]: The result?
[SPEAKER_00]: Paradoxically, when I stopped worrying about opinions, the content got better.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so did the audience's response.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like the universe rewards you when you focus on what truly matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: but this goes beyond opinions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about all the things you worry about on a daily basis.
[SPEAKER_00]: Traffic, the weather, the economy, your boss's decisions, your partner's behavior, your parents' health.
[SPEAKER_00]: Most of these things are completely outside of your control, yet we spend ninety percent of our mental energy stressing over them.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics had a very practical technique for this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every time you felt anxious or worried, you'd ask yourself, is this within my control or not?
[SPEAKER_00]: If the answer was no, you'd immediately shift your attention to what you could control.
[SPEAKER_00]: For example, you can't control traffic, but you can control what time you leave the house.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control if your boss is in a bad mood, but you can control the quality of your work and your professional attitude.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control if your partner is having a bad day, but you can control how you respond with understanding and support.
[SPEAKER_00]: This distinction is revolutionary because it frees up an enormous amount of mental energy.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are wasting on useless worries.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like you've been carrying a backpack full of stones thinking it was necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: And suddenly you realize you can just drop the stones and walk much lighter.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, here's the hard part.
[SPEAKER_00]: Applying this consistently.
[SPEAKER_00]: because it's one thing to understand this intellectually and a completely different thing to live it day by day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Especially in a culture that constantly tells us we should be able to control everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: That if something goes wrong, it's because we didn't try hard enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: The truth is, most of the important things in life are out of our control.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control when you're going to die.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control the family you were born into.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't control natural disasters, economic crises, or global pandemics.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the beauty of stoic philosophy.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you fully accept what you can't control, you paradoxically gain more power over your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: because all that energy you were wasting on useless worries can now be directed toward things that truly matter and that you can change.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like being a gardener who spends all day worrying about the weather instead of taking care of the plants.
[SPEAKER_00]: The weather will do what it will do, but your plants need your attention.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when you focus on watering them, pruning them and giving them the nutrients they need, your garden somehow thrives, whether it rains or shines.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you a practical exercise that changed my life.
[SPEAKER_00]: For one week, keep a mental record of every time you feel anxious or frustrated.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you feel it, immediately ask yourself, can I control this or not?
[SPEAKER_00]: If the answer is no, take a deep breath and redirect your attention to something you can control in that moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be surprised how many times a day you worry about things completely outside your reach.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you'll be even more surprised at how liberating it is to let go of those worries and focus on your real sphere of influence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Second lesson.
[SPEAKER_00]: Except the impermanence of all things.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here comes something that might sting a little, but you need to hear it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing you have right now is going to last forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your job, your house, your health, your relationships, even your own life.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all temporary.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that sounds depressing, but stick with me because here's the twist.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics didn't see impermanence as something tragic, but as something liberating.
[SPEAKER_00]: Marcus Aurelius, the most powerful emperor of his time, constantly reminded himself that his power, his wealth, even his life, were on loan.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this perspective didn't make him depressed.
[SPEAKER_00]: It made him free.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because when you truly accept that everything is temporary, you stop clinging to things desperately.
[SPEAKER_00]: You stop living in constant fear of losing what you have.
[SPEAKER_00]: and paradoxically, when you stop clinging, you begin to enjoy what you have even more, while you have it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think of it like this.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you know a movie is going to end, you don't spend the entire film worrying about the ending.
[SPEAKER_00]: You focus on enjoying every scene, but somehow with our lives we do the exact opposite.
[SPEAKER_00]: We spend our time worrying about losing what we have instead of enjoying it fully.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a friend who became obsessed with maintaining his new car,
[SPEAKER_00]: He would wake up early to check on it, get stressed over every tiny scratch, and wouldn't let anyone else drive it.
[SPEAKER_00]: One day I asked him, why have such a beautiful car if you can't even enjoy it?
[SPEAKER_00]: He went quiet for a moment and then said, you're right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've become a slave to my own car.
[SPEAKER_00]: This happens with everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: We become slaves to our possessions, our status, our image, because we're afraid to lose them.
[SPEAKER_00]: but the stoics understood something fundamental.
[SPEAKER_00]: Loss is inevitable, but suffering because of that loss is optional.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you accept that your current job won't last forever, you stop living in constant anxiety over job security, and focus instead on doing the best work you can now.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you accept that your children will grow up and leave home, you stop mourning how fast time goes and start focusing on making the best memories with them now.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics practiced something called meditation on loss.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't massacism.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was mental preparation.
[SPEAKER_00]: They would imagine losing the things that mattered most to them, not to get depressed, but to appreciate them more deeply while they still had them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Senika used to spend one day a month living as if he were poor.
[SPEAKER_00]: He ate simple food, slept on the floor, and wore old clothes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why?
[SPEAKER_00]: To remind himself that wealth was temporary, and that he could be happy without it.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he returned to his normal life, he appreciated what he had much more, but without the fear of losing it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now this doesn't mean you should become indifferent or stop fighting for the things you love.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means you can fight without desperation, care without obsession, and love without the constant terror of loss.
[SPEAKER_00]: Impermanence also applies to the negative moments.
[SPEAKER_00]: that argument with your partner, that stressful project at work, that tough season you're going through.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all temporary too.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics used to say, this too shall pass, and they were right.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you deeply understand that both good and bad moments are fleeting, you develop an inner calm that lets you ride the waves of life, instead of being dragged under by them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Third lesson.
[SPEAKER_00]: Turn obstacles into opportunities.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is perhaps the most counterintuitive of all the lessons, but also the most powerful.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Stoics had a famous phrase.
[SPEAKER_00]: The impediment to action advances action.
[SPEAKER_00]: What stands in the way becomes the way.
[SPEAKER_00]: This means that every obstacle, every problem, every crisis in your life is not something you have to avoid or regret, but something you can use to grow, to strengthen yourself, to become a better version of who you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know it might sound like cheap motivational talk, but the Stoics weren't motivational speakers.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were pragmatists.
[SPEAKER_00]: They understood something we forgotten.
[SPEAKER_00]: Resistance creates strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: Muscles only grow when they encounter resistance and the same applies to character.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you about Ryan Holiday, a modern author who helped revive this stoic idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he was twenty-five, he was publicly humiliated when it was revealed that he had helped a client manipulate the media.
[SPEAKER_00]: His reputation was destroyed.
[SPEAKER_00]: He lost clients.
[SPEAKER_00]: His career seemed over.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead of wallowing or making excuses, holiday used that crisis as a chance to deeply reflect on his values and the direction of his life.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wrote a book called The obstacle is the way, which became a bestseller and established him as one of the most respected voices on stoic philosophy.
[SPEAKER_00]: What seemed like the end of his career became the beginning of something far greater.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this didn't happen by accident.
[SPEAKER_00]: It happened because he chose to view the obstacle as a growth opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Think about your own life.
[SPEAKER_00]: What have been the hardest moments you've gone through?
[SPEAKER_00]: a painful breakup, losing a job, an illness, public failure.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now think honestly, weren't those the exact moments that taught you the most that made you stronger, that helped you grow the most as a person?
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics understood that comfort does not produce growth.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an adversity where you discover what you're truly made of, where you develop inner resources you didn't even know you had.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the key.
[SPEAKER_00]: This transformation isn't automatic.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not enough for bad things to happen to you for you to become stronger.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to consciously choose to view each obstacle as a training opportunity.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like going to the gym.
[SPEAKER_00]: The weight doesn't make you stronger by magic.
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes you stronger because you choose to lift it, because you choose to resist it, because you choose to push through the discomfort.
[SPEAKER_00]: The same goes for life's obstacles.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you lose a job, you can choose to see it as a tragedy, or as a chance to find something better.
[SPEAKER_00]: When a relationship ends, you can see it as a failure, or as an opportunity to grow, and attract a healthier connection.
[SPEAKER_00]: When facing illness, you can view it as a curse or as a wake-up call to appreciate your health and live more consciously.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Stoics were not blind optimists who denied the reality of problems.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were realists who understood that problems are inevitable, but the way we interpret and respond to them determines whether they make a stronger or break us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Marcus Aurelius had a specific technique for this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every time he faced a problem, he would ask himself, how can this make me better?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not, why is this happening to me?
[SPEAKER_00]: But how can I use this to grow?
[SPEAKER_00]: This mindset helped him lead the Roman Empire through plagues, wars, and political crises.
[SPEAKER_00]: Each crisis became a chance to practice his virtues, patience during tough negotiations, courage in the face of battle, justice when making decisions that affected millions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fourth lesson, practice virtue over outcomes,
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's something that will completely change the way you see success in failure.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics believed that the only thing that truly matters isn't what you achieve.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the kind of person you become in the process.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about the outcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about the character you develop while pursuing that outcome.
[SPEAKER_00]: We live in a society obsessed with results.
[SPEAKER_00]: We judge ourselves and others by what they have, not by how they got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: but the stoics understood something much deeper.
[SPEAKER_00]: Outcomes are partially outside of our control, but our character is entirely within our control.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can do everything perfectly and still fail due to external circumstances, or you can do things poorly and still succeed by luck.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if your sense of worth depends on external results, you'll live on an emotional roller coaster.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stoics focused on four main virtues.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance.
[SPEAKER_00]: The question wasn't, did I succeed?
[SPEAKER_00]: But rather, did I act with wisdom?
[SPEAKER_00]: Was I just?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did I show courage when it was needed?
[SPEAKER_00]: Did I practice self-control?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me give you a personal example.
[SPEAKER_00]: A while ago I spent months working on a project I believed would be a major success.
[SPEAKER_00]: I gave it everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Researched thoroughly, collaborated fairly with others, faced fears and doubts with courage and maintained a healthy balance throughout the process.
[SPEAKER_00]: The project failed commercially, by conventional standards I had wasted months of work.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when I applied the stoic perspective, I realized I had gained something far more valuable.
[SPEAKER_00]: I had grown as a person developed new skills, strengthened relationships, and practiced virtues that would make me better in future projects.
[SPEAKER_00]: that failure became the foundation for later successes, not just because I learned technical lessons, but because I developed the character needed to handle bigger and more complex challenges.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you shift your focus from results to virtue, something magical happens, paradoxically your results often improve, because when you're not desperate for success, you make better decisions.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you're not afraid of failure, you take smarter risks.
[SPEAKER_00]: When your self-worth doesn't depend on winning, you can play the game of life with more freedom and creativity.
[SPEAKER_00]: Fifth lesson, Memento Mori.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember you are going to die, and here we arrive at the most powerful lesson of all, the one that can change your perspective forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: the Stoics constantly practiced Memento Mori, which means, remember that you will die.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't about being morbid, it was about clarity.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you truly accept your mortality, when you viscerally understand that your time is limited, everything changes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Trivial things stop mattering.
[SPEAKER_00]: Superficial worries fade away.
[SPEAKER_00]: What truly matters becomes crystal clear.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine getting angry over an hour of traffic if you knew you only had six months to live?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine holding a grudge over something someone said if you knew either of you could die tomorrow?
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine putting off that important conversation that dream trip that expression of love?
[SPEAKER_00]: Death is not the enemy of life, it's its greatest teacher.
[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you what's truly worth your time.
[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you to cherish every moment, every relationship, every opportunity to grow and contribute.
[SPEAKER_00]: Steve Jobs said it perfectly.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remembering that you're going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you accept your mortality, you free yourself from paralyzing fear and start living for real.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's the good news.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to wait until you're on your deathbed to gain this clarity.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can start living with this mindset right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can begin asking yourself, if this were my last day, how would I live it?
[SPEAKER_00]: If this were my last conversation with this person, what would I say?
[SPEAKER_00]: If this were my final project, how would I approach it?
[SPEAKER_00]: The Stoics weren't death-obsessed pessimists.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were realists who used the awareness of mortality as fuel to live more fully.
[SPEAKER_00]: Marcus Aurelius wrote, it is a shame to die, but it isn't even greater shame to live without ever having truly lived.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there you have it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Five lessons from a group of guys in Togas who lived over two thousand years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: but who understood something that we, in our modern world, full of noise and distractions, have forgotten.
[SPEAKER_00]: Focus on what you can control.
[SPEAKER_00]: Accept that everything is temporary.
[SPEAKER_00]: Turn obstacles into opportunities.
[SPEAKER_00]: Practice virtue over outcomes.
[SPEAKER_00]: And remember, your time is limited.
[SPEAKER_00]: These aren't just nice ideas to reflect on.
[SPEAKER_00]: They are practical tools you can use right now to navigate a world that seems to have lost its way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because at the end of the day, it's not about changing the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about not letting the world change you.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this episode helped you, share it with someone who also needs to find their way.
[SPEAKER_00]: And remember, in a world full of noise, wisdom whispers, you just have to be willing to listen.
[SPEAKER_00]: As Seneca once said,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about having time.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about making time for what truly matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make time to apply these lessons.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your future self will thank you for it.