Stoicism

Modern researchers have studied the effects of practicing Stoicism in daily life. Stoicism has been found to combine benefits of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy ...

[wisdom](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/wisdom), courage, [self-control](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/self-control), and justice. The originators of modern Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), including [Aaron Beck](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/cognitive-behavioral-therapy) and Albert Ellis, found inspiration in the passage from Epictetus mentioned above as they created CBT. So too does the Serenity Prayer recited at the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”). “Control the controllables," a phrase beloved by sports coaches and elite athletes, captures something of the dichotomy of control. According to the Stoics, we need to let go of the idea that we have direct, complete control over many of the things that concern us, such as what other people think about us, what happened in the past, and even what might happen in the future. All we have direct control over, according to the Stoics, are how we think about things and what we voluntarily do. [philosophy](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/philosophy) (upper-case S) with stoicism (lower-case s), or having a “stiff upper lip." There is, truth be told, some debate amongst modern Stoics about which ideas from ancient Stoicism are of the most value today. Personally, I believe there are three pillars of a wise, modern Stoicism: Participants are asked to complete a set of well-being questionnaires at the start and end of the week, to determine its impact. Another study, from 2020, proved what we had long suspected: That Stoicism (upper-case) had nothing whatsoever to do with stoicism (lower-case). In 2021, over 1,200 people completed the week's activity, and they recorded, on average, a 13% increase in positive emotions as well as a 21% reduction in negative emotions.