I Got Introduced To An Ancient Philosophy (Stoicism)

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A few days ago, a friend called me and told me that he stumbled upon a philosophy called stoicism. He told me, "Wesley, I came across a philosophy called stoicism, and I really think that this is something that fits with us as we are both into improving ourselves on many different levels." I also noticed on YouTube a lot of suggested videos about this topic, so apparently YouTube's algorithm knows I find this topic interesting, and I must admit that I do! These suggested videos, together with that phone call from my friend, made me decide to investigate. I did some quick digging to get started, and I want to share with you what I've learned so far. The first question I wanted an answer to, is an obvious one in my opinion, and that is: What exactly is stoicism about? 


What is stoicism about?

The friend who called me, also sent me a link to a YouTube video from Ryan Holiday. I will leave a link down below in the description for those who are interested. Ryan has a YouTube channel called Daily Stoic. Maybe you're familiar with it, maybe not, but in that video I just mentioned, Ryan mentions that stoicism is about becoming your best self. Well, as you all know, this channel, Maximize Your Life, is about the exact same thing, so that's definitely something we have in common. Additionally, Ryan says it's about becoming your best self morally, physically, spiritually and intellectually. That it's about rising to meet the challenges of life on the one hand, and then also rising to the level of your potential. That it's the idea that we don't control what happens, but that we do control how we respond, and that we should always respond with excellence. When I heard this, I immediately felt that I wanted to explore this philosophy further. 


Besides this YouTube video, I also went searching on the internet, and I came across a website called whatisstoicism.com. Here they describe stoicism as a philosophy of personal ethics and a methodology for seeking practical wisdom in life. This sounds great, doesn't it? And when I read further, they say actually kind of the same as what Ryan said, but word it slightly differently. They say that a key principal of stoicism, is that we should not worry about things beyond our control, because everything in life can be divided into two categories – things that are up to us, and things that are not, and you know what? All too often in my life, I have worried about things I have no control over. I might have even said that in one of my previous videos. Stoicism encompasses a lot of things, but this key principle is definitely a life-changing one. At least, it is for me. I was, and sometimes still am, very good at creating problems that don't exist (yet). I am someone who thinks a lot, and I am very happy about that because I think it gives me a good overview, but on the other hand, it can be difficult as well, because it becomes easy to imagine all kinds of potential scenarios to think of what MAY happen. There's nothing wrong with coming up with a plan B, of course, but sometimes I can go too far, causing problems that don't really exist. I know for certain that I'm not the only one doing this, so if you catch yourself doing that as well, stick with me here! If you're on a journey to maximize your life as well, we gotta handle this together. But ok! 


More exploration is required

This philosophy is something I want to explore some more, so we will talk about this more often. Make sure to subscribe to my channel and to give this video a thumbs up, and see you in the next one. Keep maximizing.



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