BECOMING A MINDFUL STOIC

Morgan Fielder
3 min readJan 11, 2022

Simple Strategies to Connect & Build Physical Confidence

Strong people have pain. Weak people have pain. Is Pain a cause for us not to live out our potential, or is it a canary?

Where does procrastination, drug abuse, back pain, obesity, staying in sucky ass jobs, or whatever else prevents us from deep connection come from?

When we do connect, what then?

When it does happen Mystics might call it divine. Religionists might call it God. Scientists might call it insight. Athletes might call it full potential. Artists might call it creation. Entrepreneurs might call it profit.

Insight comes out of the ether.

How blind are we mere mortals not to notice this collision a hundred times per day on this gorgeous Earth?

Why is this skill in such deficit? What stops us from seeing clearly, and then acting with an artist’s soul, athlete’s body, and entrepreneur’s mind?

Busy. With a capital B. The enemy. As destructive a force as a DJT, Nero, or the Emperor.

What binds true athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs able to recover from challenges?

What counts in the long run is their attitude and actions. Forge a better attitude and create better habits and you’ve got success.

They take action on what they can and don’t trouble themselves with rumination on what they used to do. They take the time to be introspective, yet they don’t avoid what bothers them.

They neither cower in avoidance of problems, nor wallow in endurance of the rut.

They experience pain, anxiety, and depression like everyone else, but through daily practice they learn to accept fate and commit to moving forward.

The magic is at the collision of mindfulness and Stoic philosophy.

Practices in real life, not just in the head.

They think like a Roman emperor.

Mindfulness: the state of clear observation without judgement.

Stoicism: philosophy of taking action on what you can and not feeling harmed. (The antidote to butthurt.)

Smash these two together like proton beams at the Large Hadron collider underneath Geneva, and now you’ve got a plan for a real life.

These 2 things, thought processes, skills, “active” philosophies — can provide a path or a “Way” for people to experience a real life.

Stoic Attitude + Mindful Awareness = The Way.

The hero’s path = The Way. With a capital W. No two person’s Ways are the same, but these two elements can help create something that touches the divine and help you live up to your full potential.

Do you want to experience the Way toward Physical Arete? Arete, from the ancient Greek, meaning “excellence”, or living up to your full athletic or movement potential?

Where to start?

We know facts don’t change minds very often. Even our own.

But Values do. Culture does. Stories Influence. Belief follows.

Own your own story first.

Level up your attitude and inspire beneficial action with Stoic Journalling. No fancy programs, devices, or supplements needed to buy.

Despite running an empire and being the symbol of the Golden Age of Rome, Marcus Aurelius found the time to journal nightly. This ACTION of journalling brought him closer to his Way and he is widely regarded as one of the most successful and respected Roman emperors. If it worked for him, it can work for you too.

3 Ways Stoic Journaling Can Help Forge Physical Fortitude:

1. Awareness. Memory is notoriously problematic. Only through accurate records can you truly assess where you are at so that you can accept your fate.

2. Reflection. We are meaning-seeking, emotional creatures that need time around the “campfire” to digest and reflect upon our events of the day and journalling can be that experience.

3. Connection. By writing down our thoughts we may start to see the beautiful insights that come from the collisions of our everyday lives and fight against our mortal enemy, Busy.

-Morgan

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Morgan Fielder

Evangelist for sustainable investing. Mom to two gorgeous girls. Wife of a Rebel. Doctor of Physio. Former sailor. Founder of cravetheplanet.com.