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Stoicism for beginners: a 7-day starter plan

You do not need a stack of books to begin. Stoicism is learned by doing. This plan takes about ten minutes a day for a week and uses exercises the Stoics themselves described.

Keep a notebook or a notes app open. Writing makes each exercise concrete.

The plan

1. Day 1, sort your worries. Write down what is on your mind, then split it into what is up to you and what is not. Only the first list deserves your energy (Epictetus, Enchiridion 1).
2. Day 2, catch a judgment. When something bothers you, write the event in one neutral sentence, then write the judgment you added to it. Ask which one hurts more.
3. Day 3, rehearse a setback. Pick one thing you fear and think through what you would actually do if it happened. Seneca recommended meeting misfortune in thought before it arrives.
4. Day 4, look from above. Picture your problem as seen from far above: your street, your country, the planet. Marcus Aurelius used this view to restore proportion.
5. Day 5, review your evening. Ask what you did well, what you did badly and what you will change tomorrow. Seneca describes the philosopher Sextius doing this each night (On Anger 3.36).
6. Day 6, choose a small discomfort. Skip one convenience on purpose, such as a hot drink or a comfortable seat, and notice that you are fine. Never risk your health.
7. Day 7, choose one habit. Decide which exercise helped most and attach it to something you already do every day.

A Stoic on practising discomfort

Seneca suggested a small experiment in doing without, so that the fear of losing comforts loses its grip.

“Set aside a certain number of days, during which you shall be content with the scantiest and cheapest fare, with coarse and rough dress, saying to yourself the while: "Is this the condition that I feared?"”

Seneca, Letters to Lucilius 18 (Gummere translation)

What to read first

1. Epictetus, Enchiridion. It is a short handbook, and free translations are online, including Elizabeth Carter's.
2. Seneca, Letters to Lucilius. Warm and practical. Start with letters 1, 13 and 18.
3. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Read a page or two a day instead of cover to cover.

Common beginner mistakes

1. Treating Stoicism as toughness. The aim is clarity and fairness, not coldness.
2. Collecting quotes without practising anything.
3. Trying every exercise at once. One practice repeated beats seven started.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• What is Stoicism?
• Stoic exercises: seven practices
• 30 Stoic journal prompts