A Stoic Guide to Success and Happiness
For some months now, I have been writing, mainly about scientific and technical topics. Today, I’ll try something different. Enjoy!
Introduction
The thoughts I share here have circled my mind for a long time, and I felt a need to express them. Just yesterday, this need became urgent. My grandmother was telling me stories about the past, recounting wars, exiles, and the (real) poverty that previous generations faced. And yet, despite these hardships, they lived the greater part of their lives with happiness. Reflecting on this not-so-distant past, I couldn’t help but feel ungrateful for all those times I let trivial matters affect my happiness. This bad habit, I realize, is widespread and often hinders our daily productivity and achievement of goals.
So, I wrote this article, with conclusions that can apply to any life domain. It relates to each individual’s career and professional or academic journey. Feel free to adapt these points to fit your own life.
Disclaimer: This article is not meant to offend anyone or critique any particular way of thinking or living. Instead, it aims to share ideas and open up dialogue. If even one person finds even a little bit of help here, that’s a gain.
Ourselves and Life’s Challenges
They say the enemy of good is better, and whenever we can choose, people always pick what they believe is best for them. According to psychological egoism and several philosophers who have built on it, every action humans take is inherently selfish. This is our nature, neither good nor bad in itself. This behavior derives from the first human steps in this not-so-friendly world at that time, when one’s survival might have depended on making such choices.
No one disagrees that we choose what’s best for us, and rightfully so. The issue arises when we cannot immediately change a situation we perceive as less than ideal.
The answer is simple: We keep living, taking the best out of it — what the Stoics called “ataraxia” (serenity). As Mark Manson notes in The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, in his comparison of past generations with today’s culture of over-analysis and unnecessary stress:
“In our grandparents’ time, if they felt bad, they’d shrug and say, ‘Oh, I’m feeling down today,’ and go on with their day. But today, if you feel bad for five minutes, you’re bombarded with 350 images of people living seemingly perfect lives, making it hard not to feel like something is wrong with you.”
At this point i think that is suitable also an example from my own life. My military service (2023–2024).
Applying Stoic Philosophy to Everyday Life
I didn’t want to join the army, like most young people in Greece. Nevertheless, I never complained. Although I had better things to do than spend endless hours on pointless guard duty, I accepted it without protest, despite having dreams and goals I wanted to pursue. A 12-month service was going to delay those aspirations.
I was in an unwanted situation. Could I do something about it? Certainly! I could have deferred, asked for exemption, or avoided certain duties at others’ expense. At that moment, though, I chose to enlist and fulfill my role as I believed was right. This was my free choice, and thus I had to accept the consequences. The same would apply if I’d chosen not to enlist. This principle holds for any choice we make.
How could I, then, complain about something I chose, knowing fully (or at least partially) the consequences? Complaining would conflict with my own logic, leading to inner conflict and perhaps eventually (in the best case scenario) to a dead-end. And to be clear, I’m not saying being emotional or complaining is wrong. It may help some people handle difficult situations. But for me, there’s no purpose or gain in feeling upset about something I cannot control. While we can’t control every circumstance, we can control our responses!
In the end, I don’t have negative memories of my service, recalling it as a unique and quite educational experience.
The core of any challenge is quite specific. I respectfully disagree with the Taoist notion that desire itself is the source of unhappiness. (Certainly, the absence of desires can prevent disappointment, but that’s another discussion). I believe that the desire for better is logical and natural.
The real issue isn’t whether a situation is “good or bad” — a subjective judgment — but rather the degree of control we have over it. It’s easy to talk about, but putting this theory into practice is challenging yet rewarding. When someone achieves this, tasks suddenly become simpler, goals seem more achievable and life more enjoyable.
In closing, I’d like to share one of my favorite quotes from the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus.
“Men are not troubled by things themselves, but by their opinions about those things.” — Epictetus
Thanks for reading!
