50 Rules for life from a Stoic’s point of view

/ Mindfulness and Meditation / By

50 rules for life from the Stoics (Daily Stoic website)

 

  1. Focus on what you can control
  2. Control how you respond. How do you respond to things?
  3. Ask yourself, is this essential? Do I need to do it?
  4. Are you meditating on your mortality?
  5. Value your time more than money. You can’t earn more time.
  6. You are the product of you habits. Make good choices as they add up.
  7. Remember that you have the power to have no opinion. You don’t have to judge everything.
  8. Well begun is half done. Own the morning. Dot it early.
  9. Put yourself up for review. What could I have done better?
  10. Don’t suffer imagined troubles. Much of it will never happen.
  11. Try to see the good in people.
  12. Never be overheard complaining, not even to yourself. Complaints don’t work. Figure out a solution.
  13. Two ears, one mouth for a reason. Listen more than talking.
  14. There is always some way to move forward. Even do a little thing to move it along.
  15. Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t envy, you will never feel better doing that.
  16. Life as if you have died and come back to life. What would you do differently?
  17. The best revenge is not to be like that. Be a better person.
  18. Be strict with yourself and tolerant of others. Self-discipline is key.
  19. Put every impression to the test. Pause between the stimulus and the response. Don’t just react.
  20. You can learn something from everything. You can even learn what not to do.
  21. Focus on effort, not outcome. Process and effort is in our control Focus on what’s in front of you.
  22. Define what success means to you. Push yourself to find out. Set your own standards.
  23. Find a way to love everything that happens. It’s something that happens for me.
  24. Seek out challenges. You are better when you must struggle.
  25. Don’t follow the mob. Swim upstream sometimes. Decide for yourself. If the mob is caught up in something, ask yourself is this right?
  26. Grab the smooth handle. It’s the one that makes you better.
  27. Every person is an opportunity for kindness, to listen, to understand, to care…
  28. Say no, a lot. Go back to, is this essential?
  29. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s not weakness, it’s a sign you won’t quit.
  30. What is the path to wisdom? You get better one day at the time. Find something that delivers value every day.
  31. What is bad for the hive is bad for the bee. What would the world look like if everyone did this?
  32. Don’t judge others. Leave them to their own mistakes.
  33. Study the lives of the greats. Choose someone who will make you better.
  34. Forgive, forgive, forgive… even to yourself. Let it go. Don’t hold on to grudges.
  35. Make a little bit of progress every day. One percent improvement adds up.
  36. Journal daily. It’s a conversation with yourself. Reflect on yourself. It’s like windshield wipers for your soul. Spend some time daily writing and thinking about what you said.
  37. Be ready for setbacks. They will happen. Anticipate things.
  38. Look for the poetry in ordinary things. There is beauty everywhere even in the mundane. Focus on the good.
  39. To do wrong to someone else is to do wrong to yourself.
  40. Always chose alive time. Live every moment.
  41. Associate with people who make you better. You can’t change your friends, but you can change your friend.
  42. If someone offends you, you are complicit in taking response. You decide not to feel harmed. Don’t take it personally.
  43. Fate behaves as she pleases. Don’t forget this. Be ready as best as you can. Act accordingly.
  44. Possessions are ours in trust only. They are only ours as long as we have them.
  45. Don’t make your problems worse by bemoaning them. Some things are not fair. Focus on what you can control.
  46. What goes up must come down. Accept it without arrogance and let it go with indifference. No events really change who you are. Be humble when you are on high. Be humble when life has humbled you.Don’t identify with success or failure.
  47. Courage, temperance, justice, and wisdom. There is not situation that does not demand these virtues. Know how to apply them.
  48. The obstacle is the way. You can learn from it. It makes other opportunities. What are you going to do because of this?
  49. Ego is the enemy. Arrogance always makes things worse. Be willing to learn. Be confident because there is evidence in what you have done. Don’t be above or beneath others.
  50. Stillness is the key. Slow down and see things clearly. Tune out the crowd and focus on what’s important.
  51. Don’t talk about your philosophy, rather embody it. Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be… Be one.

These are simple ideas but not always easy to apply. Keep trying.

 

.