The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

Jon Brooks
  • 4.7 (106)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

You've read the books. You know what Marcus Aurelius would do. But when life gets hard, the philosophy disappears. This podcast is for people who want to close the gap between knowing Stoicism and actually living it. New episodes weekly. Start with the free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: https://www.stoicchallenge.co/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-description&utm_content=global

  1. 4d ago

    A Stoic Morning Practice For Grief And Loss

    Some mornings, grief is present before you open your eyes. This gentle guided practice does not ask you to stop grieving or manufacture a better mood. You will make a little room for the weight, notice one source of warmth, and choose one small act of care for the next few hours. The Stoic frame draws on Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.48; the guided structure is a modern adaptation. Use it seated or lying down. If the practice feels too much today, ordinary breathing is enough, and you can stop. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    A Stoic Morning Practice For Grief And Loss

  2. 6d ago

    The Marcus Aurelius Quote He Never Wrote

    One of Marcus Aurelius's most famous online quotes does not appear in the Meditations. In this episode, I look at several fabricated, misattributed and over-smoothed Stoic quotes, including one I used myself. The point is bigger than pedantry. A philosophy built on checking impressions should not be taught through claims nobody checked. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    The Marcus Aurelius Quote He Never Wrote

  3. Sep 3

    Stoic Morning Practice: Be Fair To Yourself

    Some mornings, the first voice you hear is a prosecutor. It lists what you did badly, what you did not finish and what you should have become by now. This guided Stoic morning practice helps you take one honest mistake, separate the facts from the verdict you added, and test that verdict against what you would say to someone you care about. It draws on Seneca's nightly self-review and Epictetus's distinction between events and our judgements about them. Being fair to yourself does not mean pretending nothing happened. It means keeping the fact and dropping the attack. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    Stoic Morning Practice: Be Fair To Yourself

  4. Sep 1

    You Broke the Streak. Now What?

    One missed day is rarely the problem. The story you tell yourself the next day is. This episode looks at the Stoic idea of progress, why trends survive lapses while streaks do not, and the Same Day Return: one tiny action that gets you back into a practice without trying to catch up. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    You Broke the Streak. Now What?

  5. Aug 27

    Stoic Attention Practice: Return Before The Noise

    Before the first message, headline, or demand, practise the Stoic discipline of attention. This guided meditation introduces prosochē: noticing where the mind has gone and returning before an impression becomes an automatic judgement or action. It draws on Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.29, and Seneca, Letters 13.4. The sound, body, breath, and one-word labelling sequence is a modern guided adaptation, not a reconstructed ancient ritual. The point is not perfect concentration. The return is the practice. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    Stoic Attention Practice: Return Before The Noise

  6. Aug 25

    The Stoic Skill Underneath Every Other Skill

    You look up and twenty minutes have gone. The problem is not only the phone. It is the tiny judgements your mind keeps accepting while you scroll. In this episode, I explain prosochē, the Stoic practice of attention, and share Name the Hook: a one-word exercise for catching what has taken hold of you before shame takes over. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    The Stoic Skill Underneath Every Other Skill

  7. Aug 23

    Stoic Morning Practice: Start Before You Feel Ready

    Some mornings, nothing has gone wrong and the day already feels like too much. This guided Stoic morning practice starts from Marcus Aurelius's own argument with the bed in Meditations 5.1. Rather than manufacturing enthusiasm, you will choose one real reason to move and one obstacle to begin. The practice also draws on Meditations 5.20, where Marcus treats an obstruction as material for action. You do not need to feel ready. You need one honest start. Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    Stoic Morning Practice: Start Before You Feel Ready

  8. Aug 18

    Why You Knew Better and Did It Anyway

    We usually explain regret as knowing better but lacking discipline. This episode argues something more useful: in a hot state, the values on your internal scoreboard change. I connect Epictetus with hot-cold empathy gaps, self-control replication research and implementation intentions. Then I give you a four-minute handover note: one specific if-then plan, written while you can still see clearly, for the version of you who will not realise their judgement has changed. Sources and further reading: - Epictetus, Discourses 1.28 - Seneca, Letters 76.34-35 - George Loewenstein, “Hot-Cold Empathy Gaps and Medical Decision Making” (2005) - Hagger et al., “A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect” (2016) - Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran, “Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement” (2006) - Keith Stanovich, Richard West and Maggie Toplak, work on myside bias and rational thinking Free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: stoicchallenge.co The Stoic Vault: stoicvault.com

    Why You Knew Better and Did It Anyway
See All (178)

4.7
out of 5
106 Ratings

About

You've read the books. You know what Marcus Aurelius would do. But when life gets hard, the philosophy disappears. This podcast is for people who want to close the gap between knowing Stoicism and actually living it. New episodes weekly. Start with the free 7-Day Stoic Challenge: https://www.stoicchallenge.co/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show-description&utm_content=global

Information

You Might Also Like