That’s a really good question.
Many people believe that philosophy is everything abstract — reading books about philosophy, contemplating concepts and ideas found in those books, and staying in that thinking zone that’s far removed from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
But it doesn’t have to be that limited. There is a practical aspect to philosophy too: moving on from learning about it to applying it. We can apply any philosophy to our daily lives by building habits to reinforce it, by adopting a belief and value system if it’s important to us, by practicing critical thinking skills (deciding what is relevant to keep and practice, versus what is less relevant), and by adapting our behavior to fit the philosophy we admire.
When we practice a philosophy, we also do something that is incredibly important to our personal self-development.
We learn more about ourselves.
I’ll give one example of a philosophy that I find very useful, practical, and important to me: Stoicism. I believe it to be a philosophy that has many practical applications in our modern 21st century life.
The original Stoics — Seneca, Zeno, Marcus Aurelius, Musonius Rufus, and Epictetus to name a few — didn’t consider themselves to be exemplary human beings who preached a perfect way to live. That said, they were focused on values and finding ways to live a life of virtue, a more meaningful life, a life that is inward and not outward-focused. And to stay on the path of a virtuous life, they built habits that they would practice for years.
And that’s exactly where the practical application of a philosophy comes in. It’s about building daily habits that can help you navigate more easily through all the surprises, challenges, and obstacles you may encounter as you go through adulthood.
Using the example of Stoicism, here are three daily habits that can help you incorporate this philosophy into your daily life.
#1. Learn to embrace discomfort.
Being stoic isn’t about staying in your comfort zone. That’s the place where you’re surrounded by familiar things, people, and experiences. If you are used to studying for 12 hours at your desk, you keep doing it even if it makes you dizzy and leaves you unmotivated. If you react the same way when you have a problem at work, you continue with the same problem-solving approach even though you know the results won’t be any different. Staying in your comfort zone is the opposite of growth. As soon as you step out of it, you give yourself a chance to experience something new. Yes, you’ll experience growing pains. Yes, you’ll feel discomfort. Yes, you may feel out of place, or not knowledgeable enough, or even silly. Those are all good things. The more you get used to discomfort, the more flexible you’ll be when problem-solving. You can:
- Give yourself permission to feel. Being stoic isn’t about being in denial. You need to process your thoughts and feelings so they don’t overwhelm you. The best way to do this is by giving yourself the time to observe what you’re feeling. Are you scared? Frustrated? Feeling like you don’t belong? Dreading that you’ll fail? Acknowledge those feelings. Your awareness will benefit you.
- Learn to rely on yourself by trying to solve a problem at work or school by yourself first. If you make mistakes, it’s good. Mistakes will eventually lead you to success. You’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t. And, you won’t be dependent on others to solve your problems.
- Don’t be afraid to try a different way of overcoming an obstacle. Experiment a little. Try something new. Learn and repeat and get better at something.
#2. Get into the habit of practicing self-discipline.
This is probably the top habit to embrace if you want to practice stoicism. Why? Because putting off activities that make you feel great and give you pleasure does have its advantages. When you give yourself a healthy dose of self-discipline, you do something difficult first in order to reward yourself later. There’s even science to back this up: Stanford University’s Marshmallow Experiment shows how delayed gratification can increase your chances at succeeding in many areas of your life. You can:
- Make the most of your mornings by building a habit of doing deep work. It will help you reduce the amount of procrastination you feel when you’re trying to prep for exams or meet deadlines for work projects. Use the first 4 hours of the day to read, write, problem-solve. Your brain will be able to focus more effectively.
- Resist the usual routine of waking up and reaching for your phone to start scrolling. If you’re like most people, you probably like to check email, Twitter, funny Tik Tok videos, websites, blogs, or even games. One good way to resist this is to turn off all notifications so you don’t see them pop up every time there’s a new post somewhere.
- Leave conversations, social media, and TV activities for the evening. Once you’re done with work for the day, of course you need to rest and have fun. Hold yourself accountable and don’t do things just for the pleasure of it unless you’ve completed your daily work goals.
#3. Avoid wasting time on pointless activities.
The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca devotes a section of his book On the Shortness of Life to this problem. Indulging in pointless activities was an issue for many people back then, too. Seneca describes gluttony, vanity, focusing on materialistic things, and trying to impress others. If you think about it, it’s not that different from our world today. There are ways to use your time more wisely. You can:
- Reduce your exposure to social media. Find a way to measure how much time you spend on Twitter, for example, and when you usually do this. Make a plan to reduce the total time and to check updates only in the evening.
- Don’t indulge in gossip and complaining when talking to friends. What would be the point, the end result of such an activity? You can’t change people’s behavior, and they won’t care about your opinion of them anyway. Find other topics that are more helpful and interesting. Use the time to learn something new from one another, tell a funny story, or share a positive experience.
- Keep one specific goal top of mind. When you’re focused on a personal or professional goal, you’re less likely to distract yourself with activities that will take you away from it. A good habit to practice each morning is to ask yourself, What is the one thing I am committed to completing today? Your answer will help your brain focus better because it won’t have to constantly evaluate and make decisions. And the rest of the day you’ll know that this is your mission and you will do what it takes to accomplish it. Just like in the words of Seneca, “Nothing happens to the wise man against his expectation.”
📖 I’ve been a big advocate of Stoicism for quite a while, so I created a workbook called 7 Ways to Practice Stoicism: Become more resilient, reduce fear and suffering, and lead a content life. It includes question prompts, a workbook section, a list of recommended reading, a weekly plan template, and an obstacle journal template. If this topic sounds interesting, you can learn more about the workbook here.
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