April 2022 - Stoic Athenaeum

Building Better Time Habits And Boundary Forging With Steve Watson

Time is the most valuable currency we have. It’s also the one we trade away the most and spend on things that can turn out to be the opposite of what we wanted.

Time management is a universal concept and in this interview I’m joined by Steve Watson, a UK-based time management coach and the founder of 27andahalf.

An author and creator of the Time Mastery Pyramid, Steve has plenty of insight into how to spend time wisely and it was great to discuss themes of ambition, boundaries, productivity and more.

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10 Tremendous Takeaways From Breakfast With Seneca

The shadow of the Roman politician Seneca looms large in Stoic philosophy. His work is among the most well-preserved and quoted Stoic texts throughout history, and countless generations have been influenced by his insights into the human condition.

Perhaps this is best seen in The Letters to Lucilius, where Seneca discusses universal themes with his friend. While the letters contain timeless wisdom, Seneca’s ideas are spread across hundreds of pages, and distilling them down could seem like an intimidating task to some.

Not for David Fideler.

In Breakfast With Seneca: A Stoic Guide To The Art Of Living, Fideler has provided a wonderful overview of Seneca’s ideas, and here are my ten biggest takeaways from the book.

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Trading The Hedonic Treadmill For The Eudaimonic Treadmill

I was in my last year of university when The Wolf Of Wall Street came out and I saw Leonardo DiCaprio scream to his sales teams “there is no nobility in poverty. I have been a rich man and I have been poor man and I choose rich every fucking time!”

DiCaprio is my favourite actor and sometimes I forgot I wasn’t watching him. I was watching a character who lied, cheated and stole his way to ill-gotten money and justified his actions however he could.

I knew the Jordan Belfort of the film was an unsavoury asshole. But a part of me was still captivated by what he was saying and what he was selling. The idea that things make us happy: money, wealth, big houses, fast cars.

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8 Timeless Life Lessons From Musonius Rufus

There is profound wisdom to be found in philosophy. Little tricks and tips for adjusting to uncertainty and adapting to the highs and lows of life. The ancient Stoics were centuries ahead of their time in shining a light on the human condition and Musonius Rufus is a great example.

While not as well known as his student Epictetus or his contemporary Seneca, Musonius has plenty of wisdom to share across the centuries. There are several timeless lessons from him you can put into practice in your own life.

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