Stoic Coffee Break

Why Socrates Would Hate AI | 391

AI seems to be everywhere at the moment. You can’t go a single day without someone posting about how AI sped up their work and solved all their problems. But with every t

Inner Critic vs. Inner Coach | 390

Beating yourself up doesn’t make you better person. Hating yourself doesn’t motivate you more. So what’s the difference between holding yourself high standards and punish

The Pressure Code: Interview with Performance Coach Jason Stacy | 388

Jason Stacy is a performance coach and author of The Pressure Code. He works with high performers including world tennis champion Aryan Sabalenka. In this episode we talk

The Game You Didn't Know You Were Playing | 388

So much of our lives are governed by rules that we aren’t even really aware of. Many of them we never even really question because we just assume that’s the way things ar

The Danger of Certainty | 387

Certainty and hubris have always been part of being human. It feels good to be certain, to believe that your opinion is the right one. We like leaders who sound certain a

Michael Lukich: The Stoic System Thinker | 386

Michael has built a career at the intersection of data, teaching, and strategy. Always circling the same question: “How do we make better decisions amid a complex reality

Keystone Habits: How One Good Habit Can Change Everything | 385

Habits are a key part of our lives. We have helpful habits that help us accomplish what we set out to do. We also have some that we’d like to get rid of. But what if I to

The Virtue of Reading | 384

When was the last time that you read a book. A serious book. Something stretched your mind? Something that you had to stop and go back and reread a sentence or paragraph

Interview with Jon Brooks: Stoicism and Emotions | 383

Jon Brooks is the host of the Stoic Handbook podcast and Substack page. In this episode we talk about the dangers of over-managing your emotions and finding ways to be a

What Does It Actually Take to Be Courageous? | 382

Courage, one of the four cardinal virtues of Stoicism, is what I consider the fuel for virtue, and really for living a good life. But what does courage actually look like

Interview with Kelly McGinnis: What it Takes to Really Lead | 381

Kelly McGinnis has a long and storied career working her way up the corporate ladder to CFO and later President of Thermo Fischer, a Fortune 100 company. In this episode

What's the Worst that Could Happen? | 380

“What’s the worst that could happen?” We’ve all heard this before. Usually it’s tongue in cheek just before something really bad does happen. But counterintuitively, it’s

Why Searching for Meaning Is Keeping You Stuck | 379

Marcus Aurelius was the most powerful man on Earth. He had every external condition for a meaningful life — wealth, status, purpose handed to him by birth. And yet, his p

Collaborating with Reality: The Stoic Art of Being Present | 378

Far too often we’re never really in the moment. Maybe we’re stuck ruminating in the past over what we wished would have happened, or projecting out into the future our ho

The Power of Paradox: The Stoic Art of Holding Two Truths at Once | 377

Can two things be true at the same time? Can you hold two opposing ideas at the same time? Today I want to talk about how learning be be comfortable with opposites can wi

How Fear Creates the Failure It Fears | 376

Are you motivated by fear? What if that fear is actually at the root of why you’re not getting the results you’re going after? In this week’s episode I want to talk about

Before You Book the Therapist, Build the Foundations | 375

Do you need therapy in order to have a good life? What is the difference between therapy and philosophy? Today I want to discuss the differences and how you need to right

Why You'll Never Reach Your Ideal Self (And Why That's the Point) | 374

Do you have a clear picture of the person you want to become? And what happens when you fall short of that person — not once, but again and again? Today I want to talk ab

The Busy Trap: Seneca on Why You're Optimizing the Wrong Thing | 373

THE PROBLEM Are you too busy? Are you working too hard to be productive with every minute of your time? In today’s episode I want to talk about the perils of over-optimi

Skeptical, not Cynical: How to Think in an Age of Misinformation | 372

In today’s media environment do you know how to think well? How do you know who to trust? Today we’re going to talk about how Stoicism can help you to think critically ab