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Stoicism for Success
Stoicism is not only for hard times. Prosperity is its own test: it is easy to be virtuous when nothing is at stake. The Stoics warned that good fortune can quietly erode character unless you keep choosing well when it costs you nothing.
Stoic ideas for this
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
Epictetus · Fragments
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
Epictetus · Enchiridion
Circumstances don’t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.
Epictetus · Discourses
“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.”
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
The happiness of those who desire to be popular depends on others; the happiness of those who seek wisdom rests in themselves.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
If anyone is the object of another’s envy, do not concern yourself; remember that no one can be unhappy for the sake of another.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.”
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
To live happily is an inward power of the soul.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
The happy man is he who is content with himself and his lot.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Beauty of the soul is more valuable than beauty of the body, and virtue outlasts the body.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
There is no shame in being outdone by a better man.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
If a man could be persuaded that he is akin to God, he would not think of himself as worthless or mean.
Epictetus · Discourses
No man has ever been great without some share of adversity.
Seneca · On Providence
Keep yourself steady in the face of both good and bad fortune; neither be lifted up by one nor cast down by the other.
Epictetus · Enchiridion
The beauty of the soul is not seen with the eyes, but with the judgment.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Measure yourself not against others, but against what you are capable of.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
Happiness is a good flow of life; and this is living according to nature.
Zeno of Citium · Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers
Give thanks for what is past; it has taught you, and teaching is a kind of gift.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
True pleasure is not in abundance, but in moderation and a contented mind.
Seneca · Letters from a Stoic
A steady mind finds joy in the ordinary, and is not shaken by the extraordinary.
Musonius Rufus · Lectures
Do not act for the praise of others; act for the worth of the act itself.
Marcus Aurelius · Meditations
Put it into practice
A Stoic tool is only useful if you actually use it. Try this small loop the next time success shows up:
- Name it plainly. Say what is happening without the story you are adding on top of it.
- Split what’s yours from what isn’t. Invest your energy only in the part you can actually choose.
- Do one small thing. A single deliberate action today beats a week of intending to.