The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

You can get better at handling difficulty and still forget to enjoy your life.

This half-hour Stoic talk explores six habits for practising joy, including the seven-second control check, the View from Above and the Joy of Enough. It also covers a 24-hour virtue experiment, obstacle training and a morning-and-evening routine.

Choose one habit from the session and give it a place in your day. There's no need to turn all six into another list of things you're failing to do.
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Marcus Aurelius expected to be knocked off balance. His advice was to come back quickly and treat every return as training. This short Stoic practice is for the moment after you’ve snapped or started spiralling.

The Reset uses SPQR as a modern memory aid: Stop, Pause, Question, Reframe. Take one breath, check the story you’re telling yourself, and look at what’s actually here and what your part is. Try one Reset today and record whether you came back.

This is episode two of One Passage. Passage: Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.11, translated by George Long.
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How do you make a decision when you might be wrong? Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci joins me to explore critical thinking and scepticism in everyday life.

Drawing on his book How to Be a (Happy) Skeptic, Massimo explains how the ancient sceptics and Cicero approached uncertainty. We discuss degrees of confidence, how much evidence a decision needs, and why an open mind still needs a way to act.

You’ll hear how to examine a belief you hold strongly, argue for a view you disagree with, and distinguish scepticism from self-doubt. We also explore relationships, meaningful work, unsolicited advice and helping children think for themselves.

Try this after listening: choose one belief you hold strongly. Ask how confident you are, and what gives you that confidence.

Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/VSDxXsN2aC8
Massimo’s book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/806907/how-to-be-a-happy-skeptic-by-massimo-pigliucci/
Figs in Winter: https://figsinwintertime.substack.com/
Massimo’s website: https://massimopigliucci.net/

Go well.
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Your body reacts before you decide anything. Seneca says even the wise still blush and sweat. This short Stoic practice helps you name the first jolt of anger or anxiety and stop mistaking it for a decision.

This is the first episode of One Passage: one ancient passage, one practice to try today. Notice the flinch once, name it, and record whether you caught it. Even noticing it after you’ve reacted counts.

Passage: Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 11, translated by Richard M. Gummere.
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You keep returning to the reply that hasn't come, the decision someone else is making, or the conversation you wish had gone differently. This 13-minute guided meditation uses Epictetus's image of the dice and the player to work with one situation you've been carrying. Settle with the breath, separate what has fallen from the use you can make of it, and choose one next action. The practice is called The Throw And The Play. There is space to reflect throughout, so bring a small, everyday concern and take your time. Source: Epictetus, Discourses 2.5.
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