I’m delighted to announce, that after a long and arduous journey, The Little Book of Stoicism is finally out!

Nothing changed my life as favorably as Stoic philosophy, and this is the book I wish existed when I started my journey.

I honestly believe it's the most practical and beginner-friendly book on Stoicism on the market. Not only does it give you an overview of its core philosophers and cornerstone principles, but it also gives you 55 ready-made practices you can put to immediate use.

Whether you're new to Stoicism or have known it for a long time, I guarantee you'll learn something valuable from this easy-to-read book.

Get the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blackwells, or Kobo now.

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What follows now is part of the introduction to The Little Book of Stoicism.

Stoicism – you’ve encountered it before.

However, encountering Stoicism in one way or another is the easy part. Understanding and explaining exactly what it is, though, is the tricky part. Recognizing and seeing exactly how it’s relevant today and how it can help you, is the challenging part. Fully grasping it and putting it into practice, is the ambitious part—that’s where the gold is hidden.

What the Stoics taught and practiced in the era of gladiators fighting for their lives and Romans socializing in steaming baths is still remarkably applicable in the era of Game of Thrones and Facebook. The wisdom of this ancient philosophy is timeless, and its value in the quest for a happy and meaningful life is undeniable.

With this book, you’re holding the treasure map in your hands. It introduces you to the leading philosophers. It gives you an easy to understand overview of the philosophy. It teaches you the core principles. It provides you with 55 Stoic Practices and helpful hints for the application in your challenging life. And most importantly, it shows you how to translate it from book page to action in the real world.

Whatever you’re going through, there’s advice from the Stoics that can help.

Despite the philosophy’s age, its wisdom often feels surprisingly modern and fresh. It can help you build stamina and strength for your challenging life. It can help you become emotionally resilient so you’ll neither get jerked around by outside events nor will others be able to push your buttons. It can teach you to handle yourself and stay calm in the midst of a storm. It can help you make decisions and therefore drastically simplify everyday living.

“He who studies with a philosopher,” Seneca says, “should take away with him some one good thing every day: he should daily return home a sounder man, or in the way to become sounder.” Practicing Stoicism helps you improve yourself as a person; it teaches you to mindfully live by a set of desirable values such as courage, patience, self-discipline, serenity, perseverance, forgiveness, kindness, and humility. Its many anchors offer security and guidance and will level up your confidence.

And you can get that too. In fact, Stoic philosophy made the good life a reachable goal for everybody, cutting through social classes—whether you’re rich or poor, healthy or sick, well-educated or not, it makes no difference to your ability to live the good life. The Stoics were living proof that it’s possible for someone to be exiled to a desert island and still be happier than someone living in a palace. They understood very well that there’s only a loose connection between external circumstances and our happiness.

Stoicism teaches us to live by a set of values that contribute to emotional resilience, calm confidence, and a clear direction in life. Just like an old reliable walking stick, it’s a guide to life based on reason rather than faith, a guide that supports us in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance, and wisdom. Stoicism makes us better human beings and teaches us how to excel in life.

People Only Grow Older, Not Happier

Many people don’t get any happier when they grow older, they don’t improve whatsoever. They mindlessly stroll through life lacking clear direction, repeatedly make the same mistakes, and won’t be any closer to a happy and meaningful life in their eighties than they were in their twenties.

It should really be a no-brainer for many of us to adopt a philosophy of life that offers guidance, direction, and a larger meaning to life. Without that compass, there’s the risk that despite all our well-intentioned actions, we’ll run in circles, chase worthless things, and end up living an unfulfilling life full of emotional suffering, regrets, and frustration. And since it doesn’t take much effort to give Stoicism a chance as your guiding philosophy of life, there’s really nothing to lose and much to gain.

The promise of this book is really the promise of Stoic philosophy: It teaches how to live a supremely happy and smoothly flowing life and how to retain that even in the face of adversity. It prepares you to be ready for anything, like a tower of strength—unshakable, deep-rooted, emotionally resilient, and surprisingly calm and mindful even in the midst of a hellfire.

Stoicism can improve your life in good times, but it’s in bad times when its efficacy becomes most apparent. It can be the light showing you the way through pitch-black depressive moments. It holds your hand when you need confidence to minimize emotional suffering by taming the bad guys like anger, fear, and grief. It can be your stepping stool to reach that tranquility you need when you’re knee-deep in shit. It can be your strong backbone when you need to act courageously even if you’re shaking like a leaf.

In short, Stoicism not only shows you the way but also hands you the key to the good life. All you need to do is walk the path, turn the key, and enter. So, Stoic teacher Epictetus asks, “How long are you going to wait?”

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best of yourself?”

You’re no longer a child but a full-grown person, and yet you procrastinate, Epictetus reminds himself. “You will not notice that you are making no progress but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.” From now on, he warns himself, and all of us, to live like a mature human being and never set aside what you think is best to do. And whenever you encounter anything difficult, remember that the contest is now, you are at the Olympics, you cannot wait any longer.

We don’t have the luxury of postponing our training, because unlike the Olympic Games, the contest we participate in every day—life—has already begun. Life is right now, it’s about time to start our training.

My ultimate aim of this direct and straightforward approach to Stoicism is to help you live a better life. I believe we can all become a little wiser and happier by practicing this wonderful philosophy.

Get the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Blackwells, or Kobo now.