“First say to yourself what you would be;

and then do what you have to do.”

― Epictetus

Stoic philosophy is simple, but definitely not easy.

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Unsplash

There are things that are under your control and there are things that are not. Basic Stoicism, but what often happened to me was that struggled to find the difference between things that were under my control and the things that were not. I found myself thinking more than acting and that didn’t help, I felt stuck. Stoicism is supposed to be a practical philosophy, ready to use at any time.

Life just happens, and sometimes it happens fast. Philosophy should be something that is ready at hand. Almost ingrained on our brains, because most of the times you don’t really have time to think. I fact, most of the time that’s how we act, on instinct. So how could I make Stoicism an instinct?

I needed to find a way of knowing the difference, in a simple manner.

Just like an onion, the same goes for Stoicism and all of life, really. When you think that you have something figured out, bam! Life hits you with more and more lessons to learn.

And so I found the answer to my problem on Stephen Covey’s book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.’

“Every time you think the problem is out there, that is the problem” — Stephen Covey

With this quote, I finally got it.

The problem is never out there

The only thing that you can really control in life is yourself. Sure, you have influence over a lot of stuff, but at the end of the day, the only thing that you can really control is yourself.

This is why, the only real problem you really have is whether or not you take the initiative to control what you can control, yourself, your responses and your attitudes.

A problem of courage, you might say.

You can have as many problems as anyone else, maybe less, maybe more. Regardless of that, the only way you can resolve them is through the actions and attitudes you take towards them. The next time you find yourself in a situation that requires you to act, think about being.

Being is always on your hands, you are doing it constantly. You can always choose to be a better person, to be more courageous, to be more intelligent, to be a good person, to be a stoic. The decision to assume a role in life and act accordingly is always within your grasp, right there..

Isn’t that amazing? This is the solution to all of your problems, being, and it cannot be taken away.

You might not be able to change things outside immediately, but inside? That’s another story. This is were true freedom lies, in knowing this, and applying it.

The problem is never ‘out there’, it never was.

“First say to yourself what you would be;

and then do what you have to do.”

― Epictetus

Just like an onion hey?

a great complement to this read: Separation of Tasks

Subscribe and receive the Askesis ebook to further develop your practice of stoicism.

Subscribe here

Visit our Patreon page for more stoic, Patreon only content. Thanks.

I’m always open to suggestions and am happy to answer any questions. stoicanswers@gmail.com