50 Stoic Rules
1.Focus on what you can control. What's up to you is 100% your effort, what’s not up to you is 0% your effort
2.You control how you respond to things. What are you going to do about it?
Ask yourself “Is this essential?”
3.Meditate on your mortality every day. This will lessen death anxiety.
Value time more than money/possessions. You can’t get this moment back, the time that’s gone is death’s.
4.You are the product of your habits. Your choices make who you are.
5.Remember you have the power of no opinion.
6.Own the morning. Own the morning to own the day.
7.Put yourself up for review. Interrogate yourself, ask “What have you done today and was it worth it?”
8.Don’t suffer imagined troubles. Don’t feel more than you have to, focus on what’s in front of you.
9.Try to see the good in people
10.Never be overheard complaining… even to yourself. Complaints solve nothing.
11.Two ears, one mouth for a reason. Listen more than you speak.
12.There is always something you can do. Start small, focus on the little things first.
13.Don’t compare yourself to others. Live up to your expectations.
14.Live as if you died and came back. Each day is extra so don’t waste it.
15.The best revenge is to not be like that. Be the opposite of what someone is accusing you of.
16.Be strict with yourself and tolerant with others. Self-discipline, leaving other’s mistakes to them
17.Put every impression, and emotion to the test before acting on it. Choose what you want to be and feel.
18.Learn something from everyone. Everyone is better than you at something, this uses wisdom
19.Focus on the process, not the outcomes. Outcomes are not in our control but effort and process are, everything that happens after the effort and process is a bonus, and success is internal
20.Define what success means to you. Set your own standards, and don’t live off of others.
21.Find a way to love everything that happens. Everything that happens you can use, embrace everything.
22.Seek out challenges. Run towards challenges not away from them.
23.Don’t follow the mob. Think for yourself, do what’s actually right
24.Grab the smooth handle. Every situation has two handles so grab the right one, the positive and helpful one.
25.Every person is an opportunity for kindness. Kindness is the key.
26.Say NO (A lot). If it’s not essential say no, saying no gives you more room to say yes.
27.Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help is refusing to give up, not giving up.
28.Find one thing that makes you wiser every day. Reading this list is a great start so well done :)
29.What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee. Ask yourself “If everyone was doing this thing, would the world be better or worse?” What’s good for you is good for others.
30.Don’t judge other people. Scrub off your own flaws, not others.
31.Study the lives of the greats. Focus on someone who will make you better.
32.Forgive, Forgive, Forgive. Forgiveness is the gift you give to yourself, don’t hold grudges.
33.Make a little progress each day. Become 1% better every day, and assemble your life.
34.Journal. It’s a conversation with yourself on how to be better, paper is more patient than people.
35.Prepare for life’s inevitable setbacks. The things will happen, be pleasantly surprised when they do happen, the only acceptable excuse in this world is “I did not think that would happen.”
36.Look for the poetry in ordinary things. Look for beauty in every new day. Focus on good.
37.To do wrong to one is doing wrong to yourself. Doing good is good for us.
38.Always choose alive time. Live this moment, no moment can be taken for granted.
39.Associate only with people that make you better. You are a reflection of your surroundings.
40.If someone offends you, realise you are complicit in taking offence. You don’t control what people do but you can control how you respond.
41.Fate behaves as she pleases, don’t forget this. Be ready for everything that happens, and understand that it’s not in your control, what comes up must come down.
42.Possessions are yours in only trust. You can only lose what you have, things are yours for as long as you have them, it’s not yours but you can enjoy it whilst having it.
43.Don’t make your problems worse by bemoaning them. Don’t make things worse by complaining.
44.Accept success without arrogance, and handle failure with indifference. Accept the good and bad things whilst they are there, none of them changes who you are and what you can do. Be humble.
45.Courage, temperance, justice, wisdom. Always. You simply need these four things in life.
46.The obstacle is the way. No problem will ever hold you down, if a door shuts a window opens.
47.Ego is the enemy. Be humble, open-minded, and willing to learn, don’t be above or below, be who you are.
48.Stillness is the key. Slow down and see things clearly, be a rock, let the waves crash over, and tune out the crowd.
49.BE a good man, don’t talk and argue about it.
50.Understand people's opinions are just made up things to scare children.
