'The Stoic Triangle' Changed My Life - And It Will Change Yours

Stoic theory is one thing, but becoming a practicing stoic is another kettle of fish. It means being attentive to every thought, impulse and desire.

It means facing fears that have been embedded in your subconscious mind since you were a child.

It means having the patience to hold the balance of your emotions when that pr*ck cuts you up on the motorway. Although there's seemingly a lot to it, we can simplify Stoicism with 3 main categories.

The Stoic Triangle

This simple overview of Stoicism is from the book The Litte Book Of Stoicism (one that I recommend everyone reads). So, let's break it down... Eudaimonia This Greek word means being in touch with your your inner daimon, your highest self. Essentially, Eudaimonia means living a thriving, happy life - which you can achieve by embodying the three corners of the Stoic Triangle. Live with Areté To live with Areté, you act like your highest self moment to moment. Essentially it is being the best identity you can be. Living with Areté is marked by the 4 cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, courage, self-discipline. Focus on what you control The second corner of Stoicism is focusing on only what you can control, and not what you can't.

A useful way of categorising this is by thinking that only your actions/character can be either good or bad. Anything else is indifferent, as you can't control it. Being jealous is bad, being wise is good. Getting an unfortunate disease is indifferent. All you can change is how you react to a situation, so why focus on anything else? Taking responsibility The third corner is to take responsibility of ourselves. We've established that the only thing that can affect our emotions is how we react to external situations. That means we have full control of our reactions.

Our boss didn't make us devastated by firing us, we reacted in a devastated manner after he fired us. Obviously there are natural reflexes we can't control, the Stoics understood this, like tears falling or jumping in joy. But we can take a step back, think logically, and decide our next actions using what we can control and our highest self. The Stoic Triangle is the best overview of Stoicism I have found, and I picture it daily when facing different challenges. As an aspiring Stoic, remember that an Olympian wouldn't learn running techniques in a classroom then never step on the track, just as an aspiring Stoic shouldn't just learn the Stoic Triangle and never take responsibility, focus on what they can control and live with Areté.