Word Count: 562
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.
“Thinking about things outside of our control is the root of overthinking”
-Jasir Ibrahim→me😉
The Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
🍁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
“The biggest asset that we have is our mindset”
-Gary Vaynerchuk
“He who knows others is learned. But the wise is the one who knows himself. Learning without wisdom is of no use”
-Jainulabiddin (father of Abdul Kalam)
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!
Subscribe to receive weekly insights on mental growth, healing faster, and living happier.
If you feel a friend would benefit from The Mindset, please share it with them.
Read my other posts here!
Thanks, Guys👋
-The Mindset, The Ultimate Mental Growth Model.
If you are interested in reading about mental growth, mental resilience, learning to heal faster, the value of peace and wisdom, getting hurt less, and living a happier life, you can subscribe to receive these insights every week directly in your inbox.
Feel free to leave a comment about what you think of my writings!
Thanks, Guys😊
-Jasir Ibrahim (Author of The Mindset)