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  • #1: False Wisdom, Stoic Physical Exercise, and Slaying Inner Demons

#1: False Wisdom, Stoic Physical Exercise, and Slaying Inner Demons

Author

Jon Brooks
September 15, 2022

Hope you're having a virtuous week and finding opportunity in every challenge.

This is the first in a new series of newsletters I'll be sending roughly every month. I create a lot of podcasts, videos, premium meditations, etc., and rather than send you an email for each one I'll do a round-up of the best content so you can access it super easily without inbox overwhelm.

🎧 New Stoic Lessons

✌️ Never Lose Peace of Mind: The Stoic thought process to overcome stress and suffering in the moment. Listen here.​

🧐 Trying to Appear Wise is Unwise: Why caring too much about what others think of you can get in the way of your own development. Listen here.​​

🐉 Slaying Inner Demons with Stoicism: A 45-minute interview I did with the WhatIsStoicsm podcast where I revealed how I used Stoicism to help me defeat my inner demons and past trauma. Listen here.​

💪 Did the Ancient Stoics Lift?

I recently had the privilege of sitting down with Stoicism writer Donald Robertson to ask him a series of questions. In this video, I ask Donald about the Stoic view on exercise. The story about Socrates is my favorite part.

🤕 Seneca on the Value of Past Hardship

One of my favorite motivational quotes from Seneca:

❝

"I know that you have plenty of spirit; for even before you began to equip yourself with maxims which were wholesome and potent to overcome obstacles, you were taking pride in your contest with Fortune; and this is all the more true, now that you have grappled with Fortune and tested your powers. For our powers can never inspire in us implicit faith in ourselves except when many difficulties have confronted us on this side and on that, and have occasionally even come to close quarters with us. It is only in this way that the true spirit can be tested — the spirit that will never consent to come under the jurisdiction of things external to ourselves. This is the touchstone of such a spirit; no prizefighter can go with high spirits into the strife if he has never been beaten black and blue; the only contestant who can confidently enter the lists is the man who has seen his own blood, who has felt his teeth rattle beneath his opponent's fist, who has been tripped and felt the full force of his adversary's charge, who has been downed in body but not in spirit, one who, as often as he falls, rises again with greater defiance than ever. So then, to keep up my figure, Fortune has often in the past got the upper hand of you, and yet you have not surrendered, but have leaped up and stood your ground still more eagerly. For manliness gains much strength by being challenged; nevertheless, if you approve, allow me to offer some additional safeguards by which you may fortify yourself."

Listen to my audio lesson on this quote here.​

🎙 Latest Premium Meditation Release 🧘‍♂️

The latest premium meditation release is called Negative Visualization to Stop Taking Things for Granted.

Here's what it's about:

Negative visualization is a technique that has you rehearse losing things that are dear to you. When you do this, you build resilience because you learn to cope with loss, but more importantly, you learn to stop taking things for granted. We all know the cliche, "You don't know what you had until it's gone." Negative visualization is the systematic training of that idea, so the relationships, possessions, and conditions of your life will once again sparkle through the fresh eyes of gratitude.

If you want to access this meditation plus deep dive audio courses, bonus Q&As, and extended lessons? Sign-up for the Stoic Handbook Premium Podcast. You can claim a free trial so you can test-drive with zero risk.​

🤝 Friend of Wisdom

I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Stoic Handbook Newsletter. Feel free to reply and let me know what you think.

Every so often I will send a round-up of the best content I've released for easy navigation. But don't worry, you will still receive extended Stoic breakdown posts and the usual stuff you love receiving.

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Thanks for reading, and I will be in touch soon!

(Fate permitting)

Jon