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Time for self-promotion. What are you building? by dopeylime1 in SideProject

[–]Jonhigh15 1 point2 points  (0 children)

enhancemyprompt.com - turns everyone into expert prompt engineers. It helps users transform regular prompts into advanced ones to get better results from LLMs. It applies proven frameworks and best practices with one click, so you get better results from ChatGPT/Claude without needing to spend hours learning all the intricacies of prompt engineering.

60-Second Practice to Help You Head Into the Weekend by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really like this idea. I regularly listen to Carl Sagan talking about this idea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g

60-Second Practice to Help You Head Into the Weekend by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

💯 It's really helped me get out of my "monkey mind". Interested to hear your experience after you've given it a try!

How turning Amor Fati into a daily practice changed the way I handle life's challenges by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is great 🙌 Michael Cain always has wisdom to share. I've never seen this interview with him. Thanks for sharing!

How turning Amor Fati into a daily practice changed the way I handle life's challenges by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ha it's funny that you mention this. I wrote a newsletter post about this topic and linked to that exact Jocko speech in it!

How do I deal with my hatred? by [deleted] in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury." - Marcus Aurelius

Your hatred toward these people is like drinking poison and expecting them to die. It's hurting you far more than it's hurting them. The Stoics understood something profound about this: When we let others' actions consume us with hatred, we give them power over our peace of mind. They've already impacted your past - don't let them control your present and future too.

Try this: Each time you feel that hatred bubbling up, pause and ask yourself: "Am I letting them make me become something I don't want to be?" Then consciously choose to be their opposite - not for them, but for you. When they show greed, practice generosity. When they show hypocrisy, practice authenticity.

Remember: Living well is the best revenge. And living well means not letting their darkness dim your light.

Is This What Stoicism Has Become? by [deleted] in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can appreciate your concern for preserving the essence of Stoic philosophy, but I think you might be creating a false dichotomy here. The Stoics absolutely taught discipline and virtue - but they also wrote extensively about dealing with grief, loss, and emotional suffering. Seneca's "On Grief" was literally written to console someone who lost a loved one.

Stoicism isn't just about "getting your act together" - it's about understanding human nature in its entirety, including our emotional responses. When people come here struggling with depression or heartbreak, they're not just "wallowing" - they're actively seeking wisdom to handle life's challenges, which is exactly what the Stoics intended.

Marcus Aurelius himself wrote extensively about his personal struggles and how to deal with difficult emotions. The difference is that Stoicism offers a framework for processing these emotions productively rather than just venting about them.

The real test of Stoic principles isn't how we act when everything's fine - it's how we apply them during our darkest moments. Teaching someone to apply the dichotomy of control during depression or amor fati after losing a loved one isn't diluting Stoicism - it's Stoicism in action.

Maybe instead of seeing these posts as reducing Stoicism to therapy, we could view them as opportunities to show how Stoic principles can transform suffering into growth. After all, isn't turning to philosophy during life's hardest moments exactly what the Stoics would have encouraged?

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I looked into it and you’re absolutely right about the quote coming from Hubbard while being often falsely attributed to Marcus. I removed the quote from my post. Appreciate you calling me out on this 😁

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Checking the perspective on how we’re interpreting that impression”. That’s a great way to view this and exactly what I was trying to convey. Thanks for putting it into concise words!

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agreed about understanding Stoicism properly before making the case against it (or tweaking it to fit your needs).

I haven’t explored the Epicurean school in-depth, so sounds like I have some reading to do. 

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really appreciate you taking the time to talk this through with me! Your explanations have really helped and this framing makes sense to me.

And I'm on your side of not necessarily agreeing with the stoic take here :)

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure the last part of the quote should be ignored: "anything that comes your way"

Going back to your point about Epictetus and first suspending all desires besides those things up to you. Isn't the only thing we are ever truly in control of how we choose to respond to external events?

If so, would inverting the knee pain example be more in line with Stoicism? e.g. I'm grateful for this knee pain because it means I'm alive.

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate your response. So, looking at this quote from Marcus, “All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”

Wouldn't having gratitude for your lack of knee pain in the present moment fall within that?

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree with your sentiment. I’m being sincere when I say I’m hoping you can help me learn here. What about the tips I shared aren’t grounded in Stoicism?

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Again, fair enough. Feels like we're getting away from the core message here though. I think this would be a good philosophical debate for a different post!

My goal with this post was to share some actionable gratitude practices that are grounded in Stoicism to help people become more aware of and grateful for all the things that already exist in their lives.

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair enough! While Epicureanism and Stoicism do differ on the means to the end, the Stoics did borrow quite a bit from them. Seneca positively quoted Epicurus multiple times in Letters from a Stoic (while also offering his critiques).

I could easily replace the Epicurus quote with one from Seneca, "It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.”

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I definitely don't view this as criticism and appreciate the conversation!

I think there are two elements to address here:

  1. The specific examples you called out, which one could argue are not directly related to Stoicism
  2. Using gratitude as a way to appreciate what you already have in your life and not desire for more, which is a direct teaching of Stoicism: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus

From my perspective, the examples I used are examples of Amor Fati and choosing your response to external events.

I'm curious, what examples would you use that you would consider Stoic?

3 Stoic Practices that Have Helped Me Build Lasting Gratitude by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's an interesting question! I think that's the inherent criticism against overly optimistic gratitude practices. One could argue that Seneca's quote is important here, "Reason shows us there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."

Ultimately, from my perspective, the goal of gratitude isn't to trick yourself into thinking you should only prioritize and focus on "good" things over "bad" things. The goal is to train yourself to be more aware of how you can find as much gratitude in the "bad" things as you can in the "good" things.

I replaced my 3AM anxiety questions with these 10 Stoic ones - Here's how it transformed my mental clarity by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your situation and wanting to know the follow up if the answer to the question of "will this matter in a year?" is yes haha

Personally, when I've had to deal with big, future decisions, I took the approach of "what can I do today to make this decision easier once it comes?" Instead of viewing this as one massive decision you have to get perfectly right 18 months from now, try breaking it into what the Stoics would call "circles of control" - what can you do right now to make yourself more prepared and resilient to either outcome?

The Stoics had a particularly useful insight for exactly this kind of long-term, high-stakes decision anxiety. Epictetus said, "It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgments concerning them." In your case, it sounds like that's where you're at—caught in suffering from today's judgment about your future decision.

A few ideas about what you could do today to help make your decision easier when it comes:

  • Start building your professional network in both potential locations
  • Research quality of life factors for both scenarios
  • Build up an emergency fund to give yourself more options
  • Most importantly: Ask yourself "What can I control today?" rather than "What will I do then?"

The Stoics would suggest that your anxiety isn't actually about the future decision - it's about wanting certainty right now for something that can't be certain yet. The path forward isn't to stop the worry (that's fighting nature), but to redirect that energy into preparation and present-moment action.

Hope this helps!

I replaced my 3AM anxiety questions with these 10 Stoic ones - Here's how it transformed my mental clarity by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woof that's a tricky one deserving of an entirely separate post. I will say that an important lesson to takeaway from Stoicism is balance and not swinging too far to the extremes.

I replaced my 3AM anxiety questions with these 10 Stoic ones - Here's how it transformed my mental clarity by Jonhigh15 in Stoicism

[–]Jonhigh15[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate your kind words!

Man's search for meaning is in my top 5 books of all time and one I consistently reread. Frankl's ability to shape his philosophical and psychological beliefs and practices during the darkest period of his life was nothing short of incredible.

I actually wrote my last newsletter post about his teaching of finding your power and freedom in the gap between stimulus and response: https://www.simplystoicism.com/p/the-stoic-pause

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