The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

Most advice for overthinking has you focus on the thoughts themselves. Journal them. Replace negative ones with positive ones. Breathe. Meditate. Run. But what if the thoughts aren't the problem?

Epictetus taught that it's not events that disturb us, but our judgements about them. Overthinking isn't a volume problem — it's a judgement problem. Somewhere in the loop, you added a meaning to something that was otherwise neutral. And that meaning is what's keeping you awake.

In this episode I walk through phantasia — the Stoic science of impressions — and three exercises for catching the judgement before it spirals: stripping back to the first impression, applying the dichotomy of control to your thoughts, and the rational observer technique.

Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co
The Stoic Vault (weekly practice + coaching): stoicvault.com

Watch the video version of this podcast here: https://youtu.be/cY4AMcWhSko
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For most of my adult life, I had this low-level 
hypervigilance running in the background. I tried 
everything to fight it — books, breathwork, control 
techniques, willpower. The harder I fought, the 
worse it got.

In this episode, I share the breakthrough that came 
when I stopped fighting and started welcoming. It's 
a Stoic-Nietzschean reframe called amor fati — the 
love of fate — and it changed my relationship with 
anxiety completely.

We'll explore:

— The two layers of suffering, and why fighting 
anxiety creates the second one
— What Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus understood 
about welcoming difficulty
— Why Nietzsche called amor fati "the formula for 
greatness"
— The Stoic concept of indifferents — and why 
anxiety isn't intrinsically bad
— A daily practice for treating anxiety as a 
training partner rather than an enemy

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If you'd like to go deeper into Stoic practice, 
the Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge walks through the 
core practices step by step.

→ stoicchallenge.co

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Sources referenced:

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Hays translation)
Epictetus, Discourses & Enchiridion (Hard translation)
Nietzsche, The Gay Science
Donald Robertson, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

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Thanks for listening. Go well.

Watch the full video of this episode here.
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You've quit every hard goal for the same reason — and it's not lack of willpower.

The Stoics figured this out 2,000 years ago. Instead of fighting discomfort with more discipline, they asked a single question that bypasses the willpower battle entirely. In this video I walk through the Stoic framework of virtue, vice, and the "indifferents" — and the one question from Epictetus that replaced willpower in my own life, including the 12-pound cut I'm currently on.

You'll learn:
- Why discipline is a finite resource and willpower always loses
- The Stoic distinction between good, bad, and indifferent
- The single question that reframes hunger, hard conversations, and difficult training
- How to turn discomfort into material for character instead of an enemy to defeat
- The preferred indifferents caveat — why the Stoics weren't masochists

Some mornings the dread arrives before the alarm. A tightness in the chest, a list already forming, a quiet resistance to the day ahead. This guided Stoic practice meets you there — not with forced optimism, but with honest preparation.
You'll practise the ancient Stoic technique of premeditatio malorum: facing what you're afraid of before it has power over you. Not to make yourself anxious — to take the charge out of it. When you name what you're dreading, it shrinks.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Vzg67EtqNK8
Most people hear "focus on what you can control" and think Stoicism means stop caring about everything else. That's not what it means — and it might be one of the most misunderstood ideas in the entire philosophy.
It starts with a Marcus Aurelius line that most people skip: "You can commit injustice by doing nothing." This isn't an invitation to detach. It's a call to show up.

Three Stoic approaches for responding to injustice without losing yourself: premeditatio malorum (pre-rehearsal of what's coming), redirecting anger into one concrete act of kindness, and a daily question — "what is within my power right now?"

Practical Stoicism for anyone who cares about the world and refuses to look away.

This video was inspired by a question from a member of our Stoic Vault community.