Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Why the Stoics Never Needed Willpower | 13 Apr 2026 | 00:14:37 | |
You have quit every hard goal for the same reason, and it is not lack of willpower. The Stoics worked this out 2,000 years ago. Instead of fighting discomfort with more discipline, they asked one question that bypasses the willpower battle entirely. In this episode I walk through the Stoic framework of virtue, vice and the indifferents, and the single question from Epictetus that replaced willpower in my own life, including the 12-pound cut I am on right now. We get into why discipline is a finite resource and willpower always loses, the Stoic distinction between good, bad and indifferent, the one question that reframes hunger, hard conversations and difficult training, how to turn discomfort into material for character instead of an enemy to defeat, and the preferred indifferents caveat: why the Stoics were not masochists. Watch the video version: youtu.be/uoAz9VCW0mE Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Morning Practice: Stop Dreading Day Before It Starts | 10 Apr 2026 | 00:07:14 | |
Some mornings the dread arrives before the alarm. A tightness in the chest, a list already forming, a quiet resistance to the day ahead. This guided Stoic practice meets you there, not with forced optimism, but with honest preparation. You will practise the ancient Stoic technique of premeditatio malorum: facing what you are afraid of before it has power over you. Not to make yourself anxious, but to take the charge out of it. When you name what you are dreading, it shrinks. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Own What's Yours: The Dichotomy of Control (From The Vault) | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:13:34 | |
This episode is a full lesson from one of the premium courses inside The Stoic Vault, my membership for people who practise Stoicism rather than just read about it. The lesson comes from the course Stoic Morning Routine: Start Calm and Strong. It covers the dichotomy of control, the single most useful idea in Stoic philosophy, and the one that changes everything when it actually lands. You will take one real concern from your day and sort it into two columns: what is mine and what is not. Outcomes, other people's reactions, delays, not mine. Preparation, breath, tone, when I choose to begin, mine. Then you will pick one controllable action that matters today and state it clearly. This is not theory. You will feel the difference in the body when you stop carrying what was never yours. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The 3 Stages of Stoic Enlightenment | 24 Dec 2022 | 00:10:13 | |
Desire is where most of our suffering starts. In this lesson I lay out three stages of attachment to external things, and three ways the Stoics suggest working with desire so it stops running the show. I am calling it enlightenment loosely. It is really about getting less yanked around by what you want. Read more: www.stoichandbook.co/how-to-gain-the-powers-of-a-stoic-god Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Marcus Aurelius Morning Meditation That Prepared His Mind for Adversity | 13 Dec 2022 | 00:15:05 | |
Marcus Aurelius ran the Roman empire while dealing with a difficult son, a lazy co-emperor, and a steady stream of people trying to antagonise or overthrow him. His days were full of hard social moments. This is the morning meditation he used to prepare his mind before any of it began. It is a guided contemplation, so find somewhere quiet before you start. It belongs to my 10-day course, The Stoic Survival Guide for Navigating Troubled Relationships and Toxic People. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| 2 Types of Desires That Always Cause Disappointment | 29 Nov 2022 | 00:12:15 | |
Some desires are set up to disappoint you no matter what you do. In this lesson I name two of them, what I call impossible desires and slave desires, and show why both leave you suffering even when things go your way. Once you can spot them, you can form intentions that do not quietly set you up to lose. Further reading: www.stoichandbook.co/impossible-desires-cause-disappointment Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Insult Roadmap: Never Be Socially Harmed Again | 13 Nov 2022 | 00:30:47 | |
An insult only lands if you agree with it. That is the Stoic claim, and in this lesson I turn it into something you can actually use. I walk through a step-by-step way of meeting an insult so it loses its sting, drawing on how the Stoics thought about other people’s opinions of us. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| 3 Pillars of Skilful Communication That Will Transform Your Relationships | 02 Nov 2022 | 00:41:02 | |
Most relationship trouble is really a communication problem wearing a disguise. In this talk I lay out the three pillars I keep coming back to: the habits that quietly wreck conversations, a simple way to express yourself well in almost any situation, and the model I use to handle conflict when it does flare up. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Complete Stoic Loving-Kindness Meditation | 20 Oct 2022 | 00:19:15 | |
Loving-kindness is usually taught as a Buddhist practice, but the Stoics had their own version built on the idea that we are made for each other. This is a complete guided meditation that moves through three kinds of compassion: love of people, love of humanity, and love of service. It is a sit-down practice, so find somewhere quiet and give it your full attention. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Can Stoic "Positive Reframing" Go Too Far? w/ Donald Robertson | 17 Oct 2022 | 00:05:28 | |
Reframing a bad event into something useful is one of the classic Stoic moves. But I have always wondered where the line is. Can you reframe too much? Is there a point where turning everything into a silver lining becomes its own kind of denial? I put the question to Donald Robertson, and his answer is more careful than I expected. We get into when reframing helps, when it tips into self-deception, and how to tell the difference. Donald’s website: donaldrobertson.name Donald on Twitter: twitter.com/DonJRobertson Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Gratitude Training: See the Magic of Reality to Find Awe in the Ordinary | 22 Sep 2022 | 00:13:16 | |
Most of what keeps you alive is invisible to you right now. The food and water that arrived without you thinking about it. The atmosphere holding at exactly the right balance. The sheer unlikelihood of having been born at all. This guided meditation is about noticing it again. We let ourselves go numb to ordinary life, and I think that is a quiet mistake. So we slow down and try to feel the awe in a raindrop, in a single cold breath. Find somewhere quiet before you press play. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Path of Stoic Anxiety Mastery | 12 Sep 2022 | 00:45:34 | |
This time I am the one being interviewed. The creator of the WhatIsStoicism blog and podcast had me on to talk through how I have used Stoicism to work with anxiety, and what the path of getting better at it has actually looked like for me. WhatIsStoicism blog: whatisstoicism.com/what-is-stoicism WhatIsStoicism podcast: whatisstoicism.com/podcast Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| What Did Stoics Think About Exercise? w/ Donald Robertson | 08 Sep 2022 | 00:07:59 | |
The Stoics talked about training the body as well as the mind, but it rarely comes up in modern Stoicism. So I asked Donald Robertson what the ancient Stoics actually thought about exercise, and how their view of physical training fits with the rest of the philosophy. More from Donald: donaldrobertson.name Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Vault: What I Built and Why | 02 Feb 2026 | 00:10:20 | |
About two years ago, I hit a wall. I had been teaching Stoicism for years. Writing about it. Making podcasts about it. And I was still losing my temper. Still spiralling over emails. Still lying awake replaying conversations. I knew the philosophy cold, and I could not apply it when it mattered. That is when I started asking what would actually help me. Not more books. Not more content. Something with structure. Accountability. Personal guidance. A quiet place to train. I could not find it, so I built it. In this episode I introduce The Stoic Vault, a training ground for people who have read the books but struggle to apply them. I walk through what is inside, who it is for, and how to join. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Trying to Appear Wise is Unwise | 01 Sep 2022 | 00:07:30 | |
A lot of us get into philosophy and self-improvement not to actually become wiser, but to be seen as wise. Epictetus spotted how badly that backfires. In this lesson I sit with one of his sharper passages and what it asks of us. Epictetus put it this way: “If you want to make progress, put up with being perceived as ignorant or naive in worldly matters, don’t aspire to a reputation for sagacity. If you do impress others as somebody, don’t altogether believe it. You have to realize, it isn’t easy to keep your will in agreement with nature, as well as externals. Caring about the one inevitably means you are going to shortchange the other.” Read the breakdown: www.stoichandbook.co/do-not-wish-to-appear-wise Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| How to Break The Cycle of Stress and Never Lose Peace of Mind | 25 Aug 2022 | 00:13:50 | |
Most of us run a quiet stress loop without noticing it. We tell ourselves we have to worry, or something bad will happen. In this episode I look at that game first, then offer the Stoic alternative Epictetus recommends. Here is the passage I work from: “If you want to make progress, drop reflections like: ‘I will end up destitute if I don’t take better care of my affairs,’ or, ‘Unless I discipline my slave, he’ll wind up good for nothing.’ It is better to die of hunger free of grief and apprehension than to live affluent and uneasy. Better that your slave should be bad than that you should be unhappy.” Epictetus Get the Stoic diagrams for this episode: www.stoichandbook.co/how-to-turn-stress-into-tranquility Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Donald Robertson on Illusion of Mastery, The View from Above, and Time Travelling Stoics | 07 Aug 2022 | 00:25:41 | |
It is easy to read a lot about Stoicism and mistake that for actually practising it. I put this to Donald Robertson, and we get into the gap between knowing the ideas and living them, what he calls the illusion of mastery. We also talk about the view from above as a practice, and end on a fun one: what Marcus Aurelius would make of the modern world if he time travelled into it. More from Donald: donaldrobertson.name Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Superhero Diogenes the Cynic: Be Prepared for Every Fortune | 02 Aug 2022 | 00:06:58 | |
Asked what philosophy had taught him, Diogenes the Cynic said it taught him “to be prepared for every fortune.” I think he is one of the strangest, most useful figures in this whole tradition. The Cynics came before the Stoics, and Diogenes took self-sufficiency to an extreme. He lived in a barrel, ate only when truly hungry, drank only when truly thirsty, and as a result could enjoy a plain cup of water like the finest wine. His most famous moment is the meeting with Alexander the Great. The most powerful man in the world offered him anything he wanted. Diogenes asked him to stand a little out of his sun. In this lesson I look at what that kind of freedom from craving actually buys you. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The "What If Technique" to Untangle the Source of Your Anxiety | 27 Jul 2022 | 00:13:21 | |
When you are anxious, the fear is usually hiding underneath a vaguer worry. The What If technique is a way of following the thread down to whatever you are actually afraid of, so you can deal with the real thing instead of the fog around it. It comes from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, the science-backed approach that grew out of Stoic philosophy. This guided meditation is one of over a dozen in my course, Stoic Anxiety Mastery. Find somewhere quiet before you begin. Stoic Anxiety Mastery: www.stoichandbook.co/what-if-technique Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| How to Use Stoicism to Increase Joy and Peak Experiences w/ Donald Robertson | 18 Jul 2022 | 00:10:52 | |
Modern Stoicism gets sold mostly as resilience and acceptance. But I wanted to ask the obvious follow-up: can it actually make life more joyful? Not just calmer, but richer in awe, laughter, the good stuff. I put that to Donald Robertson. This is the first in a series where I pick his brain on the Stoic ideas I keep wrestling with. More from Donald: donaldrobertson.name Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Donald Robertson Writes The World’s First Stoic Graphic Novel | 12 Jul 2022 | 00:58:38 | |
Donald Robertson spent nearly three years making VERISSIMUS, a graphic novel about the life and philosophy of Marcus Aurelius. It might be the most ambitious philosophy project I have come across: historically accurate, genuinely action-packed, and a real way in for anyone who finds the Meditations hard to start with. In this interview Donald comes back on the show to talk through how the book came together, what he had to leave out, and why a comic turned out to be the right form for Stoic ideas. Order Verissimus (US): www.amazon.com Order Verissimus (UK): www.amazon.co.uk More from Donald: donaldrobertson.name Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Path of the Spiritual Warrior | 01 Jul 2022 | 00:06:12 | |
The spiritual warrior is someone who treats every hardship as training rather than punishment. In this short clip I unpack that idea and how the Stoics turned adversity into an advantage instead of something to merely survive. It is taken from a longer workshop, a bonus module inside my course Stoic Anxiety Mastery. Stoic Anxiety Mastery: stoicanxiety.com Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| James Stockdale and the Power of Realistic Optimism | 24 Jun 2022 | 00:11:06 | |
James Stockdale spent over seven years as a prisoner of war and credited Stoicism with getting him through. What he noticed there became the Stockdale Paradox: the people who broke first were the optimists, the ones who kept saying they would be home by Christmas. In this short lesson I look at why realistic optimism beats the cheerful kind, and what that means for facing anything hard. This is the first in a series of short lessons on my favourite Stoic figures, ancient and modern. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Reframe to Deal with Loss of Any Kind | 11 Jun 2022 | 00:07:18 | |
The Stoics had a hard but freeing way of thinking about loss. Nothing is really yours. Everything you enjoy is on loan, and grief hurts less when you stop treating what was taken as something you owned outright. This episode works from one of the more confronting lines in Epictetus: “Under no circumstances ever say ‘I have lost something,’ only ‘I returned it.’ Did a child of yours die? No, it was returned. Your wife died? No, she was returned. ‘My land was confiscated.’ No, it too was returned.” It is a lot to sit with. I try to take it seriously without pretending it makes loss painless. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| What the Stoics Actually Meant by Practice | 29 Jan 2026 | 00:12:35 | |
Epictetus did not write books. He ran a school where students lived for years, practising responses to insults, hardship and loss. Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations as a daily training regimen, the same ideas over and over, drilling them into his reflexes. Seneca reviewed his day every single night for decades. The Stoics were not building a library. They were building a gymnasium for the soul. Somewhere along the way we forgot this. We turned philosophy into content to consume. We read about the exercises instead of doing them. In this episode I explore what Stoic training actually looked like, why our modern approach would baffle the ancients, and what practice looks like in daily life, not in theory but in the specific exercises you can start today. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| How I Overcame Anxiety Using Stoicism: Interview with Jon Brooks | 20 May 2022 | 01:17:55 | |
I spent years trying to heal my own anxiety, working through a long list of approaches before Stoicism and CBT finally gave me something that held. This interview is where I talk about that openly, and about the course I built out of it, Stoic Anxiety Mastery. My friend and colleague Nic Stubbs interviews me: who the course is for, why I made it, how it works, and why so many people drawn to spirituality avoid the research-backed cognitive tools that actually move the needle. Nic put it like this: “I’ve spent the last 7 or 8 years of my life with the prime objective of healing my anxiety and I have looked at so many different modalities. This course is the one course that I would recommend to anyone who is dealing with anxiety.” Nic Stubbs Stoic Anxiety Mastery: stoicanxiety.com Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Hard Challenges Unlock Inner Superpowers | 17 May 2022 | 00:06:28 | |
The Stoic claim here is bold: whatever lands in front of you, you already hold the inner resource to meet it. Tempted? You also carry self-restraint. The more you practise, the more you trust that no impression can knock you over. This episode is my breakdown of one passage: “For every challenge, remember the resources you have within you to cope with it. Provoked by the sight of a handsome man or a beautiful woman, you will discover within you the contrary power of self-restraint… In time, you will grow to be confident that there is not a single impression that you will not have the moral means to tolerate.” Epictetus, Enchiridion, Chapter 10 Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Pain Is a Problem for the Body, Not The Mind | 05 May 2022 | 00:08:39 | |
The Stoics drew a sharp line between what happens to the body and what the mind does with it. Pain is real. But the suffering on top of it, the part that says this should not be happening, is something the mind adds. This episode sits with that distinction. The passage I work from: “Sickness is a problem for the body, not the mind – unless the mind decides that it is a problem. Lameness, too, is the body’s problem, not the mind’s. Say this to yourself whatever the circumstance and you will find without fail that the problem pertains to something else, not to you.” Epictetus Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Acceptance Contemplation to Reduce Anxiety Over an Uncertain Future | 30 Apr 2022 | 00:06:49 | |
Most of our anxiety about the future is really resistance to the fact that we cannot control it. This guided contemplation works on accepting events as they are rather than fighting the way things unfold, drawing on Chapter 8 of the Enchiridion. It is a sit-down practice, so settle somewhere quiet before you start. Further reading: www.stoichandbook.co/welcome-events-just-as-they-are Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| How to Let Go of Things You Love | 22 Apr 2022 | 00:04:01 | |
How do you enjoy something fully while staying ready to lose it? Epictetus answers with one of his best images, the sailor who goes ashore to gather shells and water but keeps an ear out for the captain’s call. In this episode I work through Chapter 7 of the Enchiridion and what that analogy asks of us. Further reading: www.stoichandbook.co/the-dangers-of-becoming-too-attached-to-life Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoicism is Preparation For the Worst Day of Your Life | 09 Mar 2022 | 00:08:56 | |
A tragedy happened close to home recently, and it knocked me sideways. This episode is me thinking out loud about death, life, and gratitude in the middle of that, and about the uncomfortable truth that a lot of Stoic practice is really preparation for the worst day of your life. It is a more personal one. I do not try to tidy it into a neat lesson. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Deep Dive: How to Gamify Stoic Philosophy To Overcome Fear and Develop Radical Gratitude | 17 Feb 2022 | 01:40:48 | |
Most people have heard of Stoicism. Far fewer have met an actual Stoic, someone as calm and self-disciplined as the people who wrote the books. That gap is what set me off ten years ago. I learn through systems. I track my workouts, my martial arts progress, my habits. So I started asking what it would look like to treat Stoic practice the same way, as something you can measure and gamify rather than just read about. In this one I walk through how I do it, and how it changed my relationship with fear and gratitude. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Epictetus on Foolish Bragging vs. Wise Pride | 12 Feb 2022 | 00:05:33 | |
Epictetus drew a sharp line between two things that feel almost identical from the inside: bragging about what you happen to have, and taking pride in who you have become. One is fragile, the other is yours. In this one I look at why feeling proud of externals, your looks, your money, your status, leaves you exposed, and where a steadier kind of pride actually lives. Read the accompanying breakdown: stoichandbook.co Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| 11 Stoic Strategies to Conquer Fear | 11 Jan 2022 | 00:25:31 | |
Seneca wrote about fear more honestly than almost anyone. He knew it from the inside, the dread that arrives before the thing you dread ever does. In this one I go through eleven of his lines on fear and anxiety and work out how to actually apply them, not just admire them. A note on credit: this audio includes a clip of Jocko Willink, and because it began life as a video where his accounts were on screen, the credit got lost in the audio version. So to be clear, that clip is his. Jocko Willink: youtube.com/c/JockoPodcastOfficial Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Art of Stoic Reading | 01 Jan 2022 | 00:06:01 | |
Reading the Stoics and being changed by them are two different things. You can finish Meditations and carry nothing into Tuesday morning. A listener, Mike Slavin, asked how I actually fold ancient Stoicism into daily life. That question sent me into the reading methods I have landed on over the years, the slow, deliberate ways of getting these texts off the page and into how you live. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Gap Between Knowing Stoicism and Living It | 27 Jan 2026 | 00:11:24 | |
A few months ago I was in a conversation that started to go sideways. I could feel the tension rising, the tightening in my chest, my voice getting sharper. I knew exactly what was happening. I have studied this. I have taught this. I know what Marcus Aurelius would say. And in that moment it was like I had never read a word of Stoicism. If you have spent any time with this philosophy, you have probably had your own version of this. The email lands and you spiral. The criticism stings and you are devastated. Someone cuts you off and you react exactly the way Epictetus said not to. This is the gap between knowing and doing, and it is the central challenge of practising philosophy. In this episode I explore why the philosophy disappears when we need it most, what Seneca confessed about this exact problem 2,000 years ago, and why more reading is not the answer. The Stoics were not building a library. They were building a gymnasium for the soul. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Donald Robertson on Derren Brown and the Stoic View of Anxiety | 16 Dec 2021 | 00:13:11 | |
The Stoics can sound as if they want you to feel nothing. Donald Robertson, who has spent his career bridging Stoicism and modern therapy, takes that head on in this conversation. We talk through the book Happy by Derren Brown and the questions it raises. Is anxiety ever useful? Were the Stoics too hard on it? I came in with my own doubts and Donald gave me a more careful way to hold them. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Wake Up Call: A Guide to Ending Procrastination | 10 Dec 2021 | 00:18:29 | |
This one is meant to be a little uncomfortable. It is a guided reflection built around the questions we tend to avoid. Am I living up to what I could be? Am I wasting time? Am I making excuses and calling it something else? I take you through them slowly and let them land. The discomfort is the point. It is the kind of honest look that tends to get you moving again. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Become Invincible to Insults: Stoic Sting Elimination Training | 02 Dec 2021 | 00:08:37 | |
An insult only stings if you let it through. The Stoics had specific methods for taking the heat out of it, and in this one we do not just discuss them, we drill them. I walk through how the ancients handled verbal jabs, then run an audio simulation where I insult you and you practise meeting each one with a steadier frame. It feels odd at first, maybe even funny, but that is how skills get built. You rehearse them in low stakes so they are there when someone has a go at you in real life. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Radical Gratitude Premeditation of Adversity | 25 Nov 2021 | 00:12:49 | |
This is a guided meditation in the Stoic practice of premeditation of adversity. You will spend time imagining how much harder your life could be, and in doing so you will start to see how much you already have. It also lets you rehearse meeting hardship calmly, before it ever arrives. A gentle note: the imagery here is vivid and some may find it upsetting. If you are sensitive to that, sit with the other meditations first and come to this one when you feel ready. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Framework for Navigating Aversion and Desire | 18 Nov 2021 | 00:09:06 | |
Epictetus had clear advice on the two pulls that run most of our lives: what we want and what we are trying to avoid. This is a guided reflection on both. You will sit with the questions slowly. Is it wise to steer clear of everything outside your control? Where is the line with desire, when does wanting something tip into being owned by it? No rush, just space to consider where you stand. Read more on these ideas: stoichandbook.co Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Object Deconstruction to Reduce Cravings and Attachments | 11 Nov 2021 | 00:09:35 | |
We rarely see the things we crave plainly. We wrap them in a story, and the story is what hooks us. This guided reflection uses the Stoic practice of object deconstruction to strip that story back and see the thing as it actually is. It is built on Chapter 3 of the Enchiridion, where Epictetus suggests naming what something really is, starting small. Fond of a favourite cup? Remind yourself it is a cup, and when it breaks you will not be thrown. Practise this and the same calm becomes available for the bigger attachments too. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Resilience Training: Experience The Death Of Seneca | 02 Nov 2021 | 00:14:25 | |
Seneca met his death the way he had spent years preparing to. This guided visualisation places you inside his body on his last day, so you can feel your way through what he faced. It draws on premeditation of adversity, the Stoic practice of fortifying the mind against what is to come, in its most demanding form: contemplating your own death. As you move through it, notice what rises in you, and let yourself lean toward the steadiness he showed. Find somewhere quiet and give it about fifteen minutes. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Ultimate Stoic Goal Setting Visualization | 20 Oct 2021 | 00:09:40 | |
Stoicism can look paradoxical at first. We are told the outer world is not ours to control and that our energy belongs on the inner one. So where do goals fit? The Stoics were not against having goals. They warned against the kind that quietly set you up for suffering. In this guided visualisation I walk you through their approach to setting and reaching what you want, in a way that raises your chances of getting there while sparing you a lot of needless heartache along the way. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| The Stoic Guide to Overcoming Anxiety | 10 Sep 2021 | 00:15:33 | |
I lived with intense anxiety for the better part of a decade. It sent me down a lot of rabbit holes in personal development and philosophy, and most of what I now teach came out of trying to find my own way through. Anxiety is hard to escape in modern life. The news is built to make us worry, advertising feeds performance and health anxiety, and social media has not made real connection any easier. In this lesson I start with the four scientific models I use to understand where anxiety comes from, then bring in the Stoic side of working with it. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Learning Stoicism: A Systematic Approach to Stoic Praxis | 07 Aug 2021 | 01:09:28 | |
People often treat Stoicism as something you read rather than something you train. This episode is my attempt to lay out a more systematic way to actually practise it. It is a full talk I gave on The Stoa, the open space hosted by Peter Limberg, who runs regular free workshops and conversations with genuinely interesting thinkers. Big thanks to Peter for having me. Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/4PTCMptc-y0 The Stoa: thestoa.ca Peter Limberg: twitter.com/peternlimberg Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Release the Day: 15-Minute Deep Sleep Body Scan | 23 Jan 2026 | 00:15:50 | |
A slow, Yoga Nidra-inspired body scan to help your body soften and your mind go quiet at the end of the day. You will move gently from head to toe, releasing tension as you go, then drift into a calm, spacious stillness that makes it easier to fall asleep. A quiet Stoic thread runs underneath it: release what you cannot change, and come back to the only place you ever actually rest, this moment. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Welcome to The Stoic Handbook Podcast | 01 Jun 2021 | 00:03:33 | |
Welcome. This is The Stoic Handbook, where I share short lessons and guided meditations on using Stoic ideas in modern life. I am not a guru, just someone who has spent years testing this stuff and reporting back honestly. You can find the podcast on Spotify and every other major platform. Hit follow and you will hear whenever a new lesson or meditation goes up. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Stoic Guide to Navigating Troubled and Toxic Relationships | 28 May 2021 | 00:29:06 | |
Difficult people are one of the most reliable sources of suffering we have, and the Stoics knew it. Marcus filled his private notes with reminders to stay tolerant and kind with the people who tested him. His famous line about waking up expecting to meet the meddling and ungrateful, and choosing patience anyway, runs through this whole episode. I share how I try to apply that in my own troubled relationships, without pretending it is easy. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||
| Difference Between "Would" and "Could" | 08 May 2021 | 00:11:08 | |
One Marcus Aurelius line has stuck with me more than most: stop arguing about what a good person should be, and just be one. It cuts straight through the temptation to theorise instead of act. In this one I sit with that quote and the way it feeds into self-discipline and getting free of approval addiction. The distinction I keep coming back to is the gap between what you would do and what you could do. It works as both a reality check and a quiet push toward what actually matters. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com | |||