Brogo: Stoicism. Let's try that now.

[Stronkey Kong]

 

Right now I'm unemployed and it's great!

 

I'm finishing a semester of school, and I've got a job lined up to start on May 21, pending a physical and such on Friday morning. But until then, I've got plenty of time to get into the gym and work my butt off and prepare good meals and track nutrition. If I really buckle down, I think I can get below 240 lbs. by the start of my new job.

 

I've also just read How to Be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci. I've always had a spiritual and philosophical streak in me, and I've had problems with depression, anxiety, and some anger. I often go down youtube rabbit holes about philosophy, religion, and society. Recently, I came across some videos on Cynicism and Stoicism, and decided to give Massimo's book a read. As those who've followed me a while I'm fond of Zen Buddhism for its mindfulness, discipline, and compassion, but one thing that always bothered me with it is its disregard of rational thought in favor of spontaneity and emptiness. Stoicism seems to compensate for that well while by replacing these with rational thought, and it's virtues foster mindfulness, discipline, and compassion.

 

So let's shoe horn some goals into the cardinal Stoic virtues... eh?

 

And for once, I'll actually grade things with points. Because a Stoic would collect data and use it to inform future decisions, even if it was time consuming and sometimes frustrating or annoying.

 

Zero week points = bonus points to be distributed freely at challenge end.

 

Goal 1, Wisdom: Practice Stoic meditations in the morning and evening. Journal the results.

 

Morning meditation questions:

Reminder of the previous day.

What challenges do you anticipate today?

How will you overcome these challenges while maintaining your virtue?

 

Evening:

What good deeds did you do today?

In what deeds did you fail to maintain your virtue?

What is left to be done, or improved upon?

 

Do it everyday. 28 days.

1 point for morning, 1 point for evening, 1 point for journaling.

3 points/day.

84 points total

 

Goal 2, Temperance: Track nutrition, regulate food intake for healthy weight loss.

 

MFP everyday.

Hit BMR calories, ~2167 cals.

Stay below, 3000 cals.

At least 100 g Protein

 

1 point each day for tracking. 1 point for keeping cals in range, 1 point for sufficient protein.

3 points/day.

84 points total.

 

Side quests: Limit coffee to one cup before sun up. And avoid alcohol. This is for GI health, and mental clarity. And avoiding alcohol for weight loss.

 

Goal 3, Courage Go to gym.

 

Because lifting stuff makes you braver or something.

 

Go to the gym and lift something then do cardio.

6 hours each of four weeks.

1 point / hour.

24 points total.

 

Goal 4, Justice. Do good deeds. Help other people. Or at the very least, be a fucking adult.

 

1 point for each good deed or adulting task completed.

Aim for 1 per day.

28 days.

28 points.

 

LUYL_1: Figure out what the fuck cardio means in spanish.

 

 

I spent 90 minutes on an elliptical, while I'm glad I burned 900 calories (supposedly), that time might have been better spent studying my Spanish textbook, or consuming some other reading material. Hmm... maybe I should have tried to find a Spanish channel on one of the TVs while I ellipticaled.

 

Basically, this goal is to bring a book to the gym to make good use of lame cardio time.

 

LUYL_2: Keep studying spanish.

 

Duolingo changed everything all of a sudden and now it annoys me. But I should start incorporating and moving on to new ways of learning. Such as:

Working through the Spanish language course

Watching Netflix shows in spanish

Reading Kid's books, newspapers in Spanish.

I should still try to finish the Duolingo tree tho.

 

LUYL_3: Flamenco guitar

 

Daily practice. My teacher dropped hints last week he might invite me to join his Flamenco orchestra this summer. So I ought to keep practicing daily and dilligently.

 

Ugh. Why are my initial posts so damn long?

 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following to watch you learn the Zen of Stoicism.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Stoicism has always interested me. This shall be interesting.

[WolfDreamer]

3 hours ago, Brogo said:

Or at the very least, be a fucking adult.

 

How does one adult? 

 

Seriously, though, your challenge is awesome. Any specific stoics you are most drawn to? I'm partial to Marcus Aurelius myself.

 

Following, of course.

[Stronkey Kong]

Week zero, day 1

 

This shall be a practice week.

 

Goal 1:  Wisdom

 

Morning meditation: not done cuz I hadn't planned it yet.

 

Evening meditation:

Good deeds: In my class this morning, it turned out that I was the only person who got a passing grade on this practice test for our final, which is also a test for a NIMS certificate. The teacher was not good at keeping this a secret, so everyone knew it was me. As a result, I was the designated helper for the day so when anybody had a question they came to me. I helped, or tried to help, a lot of people, much at the expense of progress on my own project. I also went to the gym. I regard this and any other self improvement activity a good deed.

Bad deeds: I did get annoyed by interruptions during my work and and got dismissive of other students after a while. I also hit he snooze alarm a bunch of times as usual, and rushing to my class, I did not have time to prepare a healthy breakfast as I had hoped to.

Unfinished deeds: Obviously my project, which I will be going to open lab on Saturday. This was bound to happen anyway since I was a little behind anyway. But I will exercise the discipline to drag my ass out of bed early on Saturday to get it done.

 

For now we'll consider this journaling. I'm going to have to pick up another journal to keep track. I'd prefer to do this on paper, plus I don't want to put all my bad deeds on the internet. Also, I have a sweet, sweet wooden chair that is perfect for stoic meditation. It's comfortable, but not luxurious, and thus perfect for pondering. I will have to start doing this there with pen and paper, and warm beverage.

 

Points: +3 = 3

 

Goal 2, Temperance:

 

I logged all my food, and with 2197 cals and 142 g Protein I'm just above BMR and have ample protein.

 

Here's what I ate today as an example of how I'll be eating generally this challenge.

Breakfast (7:30 am): 2 Breakfast sandwiches (sausage egg and cheese on a muffin, from the gas station) and a 16 oz. coffee. Then a little later another 12 vanilla latte.

Lunch (late, 3:30pm): Mango/banana lassi with greek yogurt and soymilk.

Dinner: Juice smoothie/soy milk, chicken salad with Ranch dressing, sunflower seeds, and queso fresco.

 

So generally, pretty balanced and healthy with a Mediterranean diet slant. I'm going to have to work on breakfast tho. Now that I have a bunch of Greek yogurt in the fridge it'll be easier to make quick, healthy breakfasts. Yogurt, seeds, fruit, done.

 

Two side goals I should mention:

Limit coffee. I really should try to keep it to one cup a day, if not none at all. This is in relation to the possibility of an ulcer and other GI irritation. And  for mental clarity. I noticed yesterday how agitated and unfocussed it makes my thinking. One cup before sun up.

Avoid alcohol: For the above, but also, for weight loss and mental clarity.

 

Points: +3 = 3

 

Goal 3, Courage:

 

I gymmed today for a solid 2 hours. I did dips and lat pulldowns, then hit the bro carousel (abz machines), then did some Farmer's carries. Then finished with 90 minutes on the elliptical. It started as, well, I'll make sure go for at least 30, take a break for water then if I'm into it, 60. Wound up doing 90 minutes and I was doing intervals during the last 30.

 

Points: +1 = 1

 

Goal 4, Justice:

 

Other than being generally helpful to some classmates, I didn't really do anything outside of ordinary. I also should have cleaned something in the apartment.

 

LUYL_1, Cardio Enrichment: Today's long cardio session inspired this goal.

LUYL_2, Spanish: Nothing done today.

LUYL_3, Flamenco guitar: Just finished practicing before this post. +1 = 1

 

[Stronkey Kong]

23 minutes ago, Wolfen said:

 

How does one adult? 

 

Seriously, though, your challenge is awesome. Any specific stoics you are most drawn to? I'm partial to Marcus Aurelius myself.

 

Following, of course.

 

I ordered Aurelius's Meditations and it's arriving tomorrow. Then I think I'm going to read something by Epictetus or Seneca. Though these are just the big names from ancient times who left behind the most writings. Chryssipus is another big one I think.

 

Though I'm more interested in modern day Stoics to see how people are implementing the philosophy today. Part of what set off this kick was the following video which is an interview with a Stoic and fitness vlogger and Massimo Pigliucci, the author of the book I just read. Phillip,the vlogger, covers a lot of topics on fitness, diet, and mindfulness that fit in with the rebellion mindset. It wouldn't surprise me if he's a member of NF in one way or another.

 

 

[annyshay]

4 hours ago, Brogo said:

Why are my initial posts so damn long?

They're full of plans.

Good plans!

[Ann of Owlshire]

2 hours ago, Brogo said:

2 hours ago, Wolfen said:

I'm partial to Marcus Aurelius myself.

 

 

 

I ordered Aurelius's Meditations

 

Do you know how some people talk about having their "celebrity" boyfriends/girlfriends? I don't have that. I have my historical boyfriend, and his name is Marcus Aurelius. I should dust off Meditations. It's been a while. (Related: I minored in Classical studies in uni.) 

 

A few years ago I read a modern book on Stoicism that I liked (even though it doesn't totally do it for me as a personal philosophy). I wasn't recording my book list back then, but some research indicates it was A Guide to the Good Life. Might be worth looking into if you want more reading material

 

[Jord]

12 hours ago, Brogo said:

So generally, pretty balanced and healthy with a Mediterranean diet slant. I'm going to have to work on breakfast tho. Now that I have a bunch of Greek yogurt in the fridge it'll be easier to make quick, healthy breakfasts. Yogurt, seeds, fruit, done.

 

I was about to ask you how gas station breakfast sandwiches were on the mediterranean diet but then you clarified. I'm doing a lot of yogurt, nuts, and fruit myself. Makes breakfast so much simpler and easier.

[Stronkey Kong]

21 hours ago, Ann of Vries said:

 

Do you know how some people talk about having their "celebrity" boyfriends/girlfriends? I don't have that. I have my historical boyfriend, and his name is Marcus Aurelius. I should dust off Meditations. It's been a while. (Related: I minored in Classical studies in uni.) 

 

A few years ago I read a modern book on Stoicism that I liked (even though it doesn't totally do it for me as a personal philosophy). I wasn't recording my book list back then, but some research indicates it was A Guide to the Good Life. Might be worth looking into if you want more reading material

 

 

A friend of mine from grad school had an Academic crush on the early 20th century geneticist, Sewall Wright

 

 

I've known plenty of chicks like you. You're alright.

 

I've seen William Irvine on a couple stoic reading lists. But the subtitle/caption: "the ancient are of stoic joy" does make me think twice.

 

11 hours ago, Taddea Zhaan said:

 

I was about to ask you how gas station breakfast sandwiches were on the mediterranean diet but then you clarified. I'm doing a lot of yogurt, nuts, and fruit myself. Makes breakfast so much simpler and easier.

 

Did the same damn thing this morning. But, those sandwiches have 21g of protein each so its not so bad, and it's only my early days, Monday and Tuesday.

[Stronkey Kong]

Week 0, day 2

 

Goal 1, Wisdom: 3 +3 = 6

I bought a new Moleskine notebook for being all Stoic in. We're doing this shit.

As for morning meditation. I realized that forseeing the days challenges is really hard. So I am going to make an effort to think about them but writing them down is boring and stupid unless something big is scheduled to happen that day. So as long as I get up, crack open the journal, reflect on the previous day a bit, and write the current date in the book I'll count that as a point. It's a good habit to open the journal and review it every morning so that's all good.

 

Also, for evening meditation, I'm going to do the exercise I described of going over the days events, but only the most profound lesson or notes will be journaled. I don't care to waste time writing every little thing. Only important lessons or notes.

 

I wrote a story about a thing that happened today in my new journal about how I applied some Stoic thought. My roommate has been out of town. She said she was coming back and we agreed to talk about the lease renewal in a couple months. She recently lost her job and I was worried that she was gonna tell me she had to move out because she couldn't pay her share of the rent. I sat down and did my finances to figure out the damage this was going to do. I realized I could squeak through and I've gone longer with less. I also got in touch with my new boss about when I could start. I was worried I might need to buy some tools and steel toed boots and such and I was wondering if I could start a week earlier than we originally planned. It turns out I can start a week earlier and they give everyone a voucher for $100 toward new work boots. Then my roommate came back. It turned out she got a new job with her Dad's company, and that she would be staying until the end of June.

 

Basically, instead of freaking out about the worst case, I put my thinking cap on and planned for it. I got a really clear view of my current financial situation, learned about some perks coming my way, and in the end, reality turned out better than the worst. (Well it could have been way worse than that even) But I was even more greatful for how things turned out because I planned for the worst.

 

This is somewhat like an application of premeditatio malorum (forseeing bad things), a stoic practice where you imagine something horrible like losing a limb or a loved one and then figuring out how you would adapt gaining appreciation for how good you have it now while strengthening yourself against future losses, insults, and injuries.

 

Goal 2, Temperance: 3 +3 = 6

 

Logged and calories within range and sufficient protein.

 

Last night, tho I had a couple pieces of toast after I was tossing and turning a couple of hours after I laid down for bed. I do need to hit a certain number of calories to sleep well. Especially on days I exercise.

 

Goal 3, Courage: 2 +0 = 2

 

Rest day. I need four more hours in the gym to hit goal for the week. I think two tomorrow, then two more on Friday after my physical.

 

Goal 4, Justice:  0 + 0 = 0

 

I am pondering this goal. I may just make it a GTD type of goal. It's all about personal responsibility and helping others.

[Stronkey Kong]

Also, the fucking paper is finally submitted.

 

I am not working on it any more. If it gets accepted great. If it's rejected I'm done.

 

So, its out of my life finally.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Congratulations on submitting your paper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

1 hour ago, Brogo said:

Also, the fucking paper is finally submitted.

 

I am not working on it any more. If it gets accepted great. If it's rejected I'm done.

 

So, its out of my life finally.

Good for you. The middle line is my favorite.

[Jord]

13 hours ago, Brogo said:

I wrote a story about a thing that happened today in my new journal about how I applied some Stoic thought. My roommate has been out of town. She said she was coming back and we agreed to talk about the lease renewal in a couple months. She recently lost her job and I was worried that she was gonna tell me she had to move out because she couldn't pay her share of the rent. I sat down and did my finances to figure out the damage this was going to do. I realized I could squeak through and I've gone longer with less. I also got in touch with my new boss about when I could start. I was worried I might need to buy some tools and steel toed boots and such and I was wondering if I could start a week earlier than we originally planned. It turns out I can start a week earlier and they give everyone a voucher for $100 toward new work boots. Then my roommate came back. It turned out she got a new job with her Dad's company, and that she would be staying until the end of June.

 

Basically, instead of freaking out about the worst case, I put my thinking cap on and planned for it. I got a really clear view of my current financial situation, learned about some perks coming my way, and in the end, reality turned out better than the worst. (Well it could have been way worse than that even) But I was even more greatful for how things turned out because I planned for the worst.

 

This is somewhat like an application of premeditatio malorum (forseeing bad things), a stoic practice where you imagine something horrible like losing a limb or a loved one and then figuring out how you would adapt gaining appreciation for how good you have it now while strengthening yourself against future losses, insults, and injuries.

 

I really appreciate this practice of forseeing bad things when you can use it productively (and not like, freak out). Tim Ferris talks about this when he talks about making leaps to simplify your career or life. I used it to help me switch jobs when I was scared to leave one I felt could be stable indefinitely.

 

It's interesting to see it applied as being a facet of stoicism. I may have to look more into how it is framed in terms of being stoic. Not that this is something I'm going to deep dive into, I just in general am lately into approaching my fears and I think it's helpful to read more about how different trains of thought approach the concept of fear.

[raptron]

FAREWELL, NEVER-ENDING PAPER.

[Stronkey Kong]

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Congratulations on submitting your paper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

22 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Good for you. The middle line is my favorite.

 

4 hours ago, raptron said:

FAREWELL, NEVER-ENDING PAPER.

 

The subject line on my old advisor's email was:

 

Submitted!

 

I'm just like, I really don't give a fuck.

 

I've done what I feel I needed to do to move on.

[Sylvaa]

11 hours ago, Brogo said:

Submitted!

 

I'm just like, I really don't give a fuck.

 

I've done what I feel I needed to do to move on.

 

This is so exciting! Yay!

[Stronkey Kong]

 

Goal 1, Wisdom: 6 + 6 =12

 

I've been reviewing and adding to my Stoic journal. For instance, this morning I read yesterday's entry while I ate breakfast then pondered my intentions and challenges for the day.

 

And I just started Aurelius's Meditations. I read the whole introduction by the editor, and the first two Chapters/sections.

 

Goal 2, Temperance: 6 + 5 = 11

 

Two more days logged. I went over 3000 on calories yesterday. Like 3032. So I lost a point there. Protein intake has been solid.

 

Goal 3,  Courage: 2 + 0 = 2

 

Yup. Still need to get at this.

 

Goal 4,  Justice: 0 + 0 = 0 Edit: 0 +1 = 1

 

I've been quite useless. I think I need to find a cause to volunteer for.

 

Addit: I just submitted a volunteer application to an organization involved in food recovery and meal prep and distribution to needy people.

[Stronkey Kong]

The paper has been accepted... with minor revisions.

 

Of course it was the third reviewer who suggested these revisions.

 

 

But, at least ours was accepted.

 

[Stronkey Kong]

Me gusto Estrello Jalisco Guadalajara lager.

 

Edit: Fuck you! The challenge doesn't start til Monday.

 

Edit 2: Me gusto cerveza!

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

26 minutes ago, Brogo said:

Me gusto Estrello Jalisco Guadalajara lager.

 

Edit: Fuck you! The challenge doesn't start til Monday.

 

Edit 2: Me gusto cerveza!

Quantas cervezas tomaste?

[Stronkey Kong]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Quantas cervezas tomaste?

 

Lo tomo cuatro.

 

Edito: Haces esta seis. Esto es la cerveza ultima.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

4 hours ago, Brogo said:

Edito: Haces esta seis. Esto es la cerveza ultima.

Como se dice "carb loading"?

[Stronkey Kong]

Those seeking gold dig much earth and discover little. -- Heraclitus