This episode is a welcome return to the podcast for my friend Jon Brooks, creator of the Stoic Handbook.

Jon and I had a great conversation, and he shared a lot of really valuable insights and practical guidance on the topic of voluntary hardship and what that means in the context of Stoicism.

I hope you enjoy the episode and that you find it as useful to reflect on as I did afterward.

Jon's Links:

• Stoic Handbook: stoichandbook.co
• Free Stoic Power Challenge: https://learn.stoichandbook.co/7-day-stoic-power-challenge-unlock-your-inner-resilience
• Emperor Nero: The Dark Reign of Rome’s Most Infamous Emperor: https://www.stoichandbook.co/the-psychopathy-of-emperor-nero/

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📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Let Us Be Clear

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-let-us-be

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we follow Epictetus and Musonius Rufus as they dismantle the illusion that we can control anyone—or anything—outside ourselves.

Through the story of a man desperate to end his brother’s anger and Musonius’s calm endurance in exile, the Stoics remind us that patience and virtue are the only sure defenses against life’s turbulence.

External blows, whether personal slights or imperial banishments, cannot touch the command center within. What matters most is how we shape our own art of living, turning adversity into raw material for strength.

👇 👇 👇

📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: The Stoic Sense Of Humour

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-the-stoic-97d

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode explores the timeless bond between mentors and students, drawing on Plutarch’s portraits of statesmen and Marcus Aurelius’s personal inventory of gratitude.

We trace how wisdom flows not through rivalry but through respect, service, and the steady honoring of those who came before us.

Along the way, we see how these ancient lessons still resonate in modern life, where gratitude and humility can transform competition into collaboration.

At its heart, it’s a meditation on carrying forward the virtues we’ve inherited, letting our teachers’ light shine alongside our own.

👇 👇 👇

📻 FOR MORE STOIC AUDIO CONTENT

Check out one of my latest daily Micro Morning Meditations here on Substack:

☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Are You Oversharing?

https://whatisstoicism.substack.com/p/micro-morning-meditation-are-you-e6b

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.