Stoicism

On waking, anticipate the difficulties of the day. Choose how to meet them.

Before sleep, review the day. Where did I act according to virtue, where did I fall short.

The first Epictetan move. Distinguish what is up to you from what is not. Direct effort only at the first.

Remember you will die. Used to sharpen presence, not to morbidity.

Imagine yourself seen from high enough that the immediate concern shrinks to proper size.

Marcus, Epictetus, Seneca. A short passage daily as orientation.

Vividly imagine losing what you have. Increases gratitude and inoculates against shock.

Brief practices of cold, hunger, hard ground. Train the part that knows you can take it.

Catch a value-laden judgment, return it to the bare description. Same skill as CBT, older lineage.

Wisdom, justice, courage, temperance. Take one per week, practice it as the focus.

Imagine the ideal sage. What would they do here. Bring it down to a single action.

Concentric circles of concern — self, family, city, humanity. Draw the outer in toward the inner.

Practice considering yourself a citizen of the cosmos, not just of one polity.

Move the texts off the page and into the day. Stoicism is a school of action.

Explaining the practice to someone is how it finally becomes yours.