The Modern Stoic #13: Practical Exercises For Overcoming Fear - a podcast by Jon & Dre

from 2018-01-15T22:50:24

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Tim Ferriss's favourite letter, this week's episode has direct, practical applications. It's time to intentionally do tough things to become sturdier mentally and physically. We explore how to temper the mind as well as the body; to understand our anger; why the how is often more important than what you do; and whether going with less really means we appreciate the more when we have it. 

Do you live in fear? Fear that you can't make change in your life in case you can't pay the rent? Fear of losing all you've gained if you take a risk for a better life...?

Stoicism has a solution – a practice which can eliminate those fears and liberate us to live the life that's waiting for us.

Seneca challenges us to live a few days each month as simply and frugally as possible, to remind ourselves that we can; to temper our nerve so that we don't live in fear of losing what we have.

This is about training the mind as well as the body, to enter the mental gym and to simultaneously toughen our resolve and expand our horizons. This is about a discipline which creates even greater freedom.

We also ask how far we weaken ourselves by having fun. How important are festivities and indulgences to you? Is it a ritual practice that has real meaning to you and the people around you, or are you indulging in endless distractions which ultimately pull you away from a meaningful life?

How you do something is often more important than what you do. Getting drunk for no reason is very different from getting merrily inebriated with friends; doing something just to be part of the crowd isn't the same as joining the festivities consciously, for your own purposes.

That's not the same as why. Dre dismantles Simon Sinek's influential idea that we have to start with why – outside of marketing, this simply isn't the way to set about our lives.

Jon also reflects on what he learnt during a recent 3-day fast, why he broke his hand on his 21st birthday, and Dre disagrees with Seneca's call to eliminate anger from our lives.

Also Including:

  • Is our Western world on the brink of collapse?
  • How governments control us by enforcing rules that the rich and powerful don't observe
  • Why going teetotal doesn't truly help alcoholics
  • The unexpected benefits and psychology of fasting
  • Can we be successful and happy, or only choose one?

Find Out More:

Be Silly. Be Kind. Be Weird.

Further episodes of Voices in the Dark

Further podcasts by Jon & Dre

Website of Jon & Dre