Nobody wants to work themselves into burnout or lonely corners from years of neglecting loved ones for the sake of success. Reasonable people would agree there is no height of success that justifies self-sacrifice. Yet we can be pulled to stray from the middle path, heading instead toward an imbalanced penchant for ambition. There are extremely powerful machines in play—rampant commercialism fueled by your personal data, the sense of inferiority that comes from social media’s false reality—that push us to work harder on increasingly complex tasks. Conversely, nobody wants to be passive and powerless against life’s challenges. We know from experience that doing difficult or scary things ultimately provides the most lasting sense of satisfaction. We do not want to disengage with work and become lazy and stagnant. I believe that finding this balance between ambition and passivity is a challenge we all know. Stoicism and mindfulness can help. 

This article aims to help us realize subtle distinctions between Stoicism and mindfulness and their importance. It’s also an examination of the fundamental pursuit of this blog: finding balance. If you’ve read the blog before, you know that Stoicism and mindfulness are integral elements of the content. I don’t just want to write about these two practices to share with the readers what they are. Rather, I want to explore and promote their practicality for the sole purpose of helping people strike that crucial balance between action and rest. 

Find balance with Stoicism and mindfulness

Stoicism and mindfulness: the framework and the tools

 

Stoicism as a practical philosophy is widely applicable in nearly all areas of life. But what does it lack? Except for the quiet and stillness that the Stoics prescribed, many of Stoicism’s lessons intend to help us respond correctly to our environment. Stoicism is designed to help us make intelligent choices, even amid chaos, and act in accordance with our virtues. But it doesn’t offer much technical advice on how to do this. 

 

The writings of the Stoics like Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius sometimes have a trial-by-fire implication. Let’s take professional fighting as an analogy. The way in which Stoicism prepares us to respond to our environment is like a fighter preparing for a fight by only sparring and reflecting upon how it went afterwards. But we know that professional fighters have other technical, fundamental ways in which they train. They must increase their cardiovascular capacity by strengthening the heart through running or cycling. They drill certain movements slowly and repeatedly to build the muscle memory and neural connections to automate their responses. 

Memento mori life tracker

Mindfulness meditation as a training device

So how do we train ourselves to respond effectively to our ever-changing and unpredictable environment? This is where mindfulness and meditation come into play. These two practices are like the running shoes or the bicycle for the fighter. They are tools that help us build a specific capability. In this case, the capability that mindfulness and meditation allow us to build is the ability to observe our thoughts before they turn into raw emotion or reaction. Mindfulness meditation, in particular, trains us to observe thoughts or surroundings non-judgmentally. With repetition, a space opens up following a thought or a stimulus in which we have a choice. The choice is how we react. 

 

The Stoics teach about reacting to insults with indifference or even sympathy for the person slinging the insult. Remaining silent or responding with grace to insult or criticism requires us to identify what’s happening and to slow things down. Meditation and mindfulness are the training tools that allow us to practice this anytime, anywhere. What good is it to know, theoretically or philosophically, how we want to react to challenging and chaotic situations if we do not have well-trained minds and nervous systems? 

 

Stoicism and mindfulness blog

Rest and action are everything

We can broadly categorize life into two buckets: rest and action. At all times, either we are doing something with a desired outcome in mind or we are simply resting or doing something for the sheer enjoyment of it. Both are indispensable and require different approaches. 

 

Stoicism is fantastic for teaching us how to act courageously in action. Amor fati (the love of fate), memento mori (remember your mortality), and premeditatio malorum (the premeditation of evils) are epithets of Stoicism—all of which promote the idea of acting effectively in the face of fear. The Four Stoic Virtues are an excellent mechanism with which we can stay continuously oriented by what is truly important in life. These are all amazing ideas which, when practiced, can help us work and act with precision and efficiency. 

 

Mindfulness and meditation, on the other hand, with their underlying focus on the present moment and appreciation of its beauty, are excellent for extracting the most from life. These two practices help us slow down, focus on our breath to relieve stress, and experience life outside of a realm that is almost defined by capitalistic pursuits. As discussed above, meditation is a training device with which we can improve the observation of thoughts and stimuli to process them before they become regretful reactions.

Stoicism and mindfulness for balance

Pondering this idea—that life is always either in motion or at rest—allows us to recognize when one or the other is happening, so that we can engage with the appropriate toolkit. We need a different mentality when it comes to business meetings than we do for picnics with our significant other. You can derive real gains and value from this awareness. 

 

Imbalance comes when we allow one of these two areas of life to become excessive. Nobody wants deathbed regrets. Grinding yourself to a fine dust in the name of material success is a probable deathbed regret. Constantly shying away from discomfort and challenge and ultimately failing to realize your inner potential is another. This is a tricky balance to strike, at least for me, which is a driving motivation for me to write this blog (because I’m still figuring it out). This is why the combination of Stoicism and mindfulness is so powerful to me personally. I will continue to explore topics like these and try to distill them into practical and digestible formats that (I hope) can help people live a balanced life. 

 

It’s difficult to argue against the fact that Stoicism (along with other philosophies and religions) is ripe with sound instruction on how to live our lives. When we read Eastern philosophy, people like Thich Nhat Hanh or The Dalai Lama, concepts such as non-doing and gratitude become glaring reminders that we need to slow down and see the miracle that is finite life. Furthermore, meditation and mindfulness actually allow us to build the skills needed to implement our philosophy in challenging and unpredictable circumstances. 

Where Buddhism And Modern Psychology Converge On Mental Wellness

When the average non-Buddhist westerner thinks of Buddhism, they often think of meditation, kindness, and monks with shaved heads in orange robes. But what lies beneath these surface-level artifacts is profound understanding. Few wisdom traditions have delivered as...

How To Stop Being Too Nice

How do we reconcile wanting to be compassionate and being too nice? By too nice, I mean placing the needs of others above your own to the point that your own are not met. Too nice also means getting taken advantage of. Being too nice opens the door to repeated insult,...

The Three Stoic Disciplines: Desire, Action, and Assent

Stoicism is a guiding framework in my life, but so is business. I can think of no better school of thought than business when it comes to manifesting ideas into reality—big, complex ideas. Schools of business and businesses in practice are fountains of knowledge when...

Improve Your Focus With Mindfulness- And Science-Based Protocols

I’ve said this before, but I feel it’s important to lead with it here: mindfulness is not a means to an end. Mindfulness is a means to a means—a way of waking up to life. Without mindfulness, so much of life escapes us. Without mindfulness, we’re governed by impulses...

Memento Mori: Embracing Life’s Impermanence In The Digital Age

In the age of smartphones, social media, and endless distractions, the ancient Stoic concept of Memento Mori has never been more relevant. Loosely translated as "Remember that you must die," Memento Mori serves as a powerful reminder of our mortality and the fleeting...

How To Focus On The Process

The outcome is the obstacle. When fixation on the desired outcome obscures focus on the task at hand, errors occur. Conversely, if our actions are not clouded by oversight, but executed with care, lightheartedness, and undivided attention, then we travel a much...

How To Speak Like A Stoic

If you’ve mastered the art of peaceful speech, then it is likely that you have a very firm grasp over your guiding principles. If you have mastered the art of the pause in speech, then it is likely that you have clear convictions and great self-confidence. Truthful,...

The Story Of The Buddha & The Human Condition

According to most accounts, the Buddha started out in life as a wealthy prince named Siddhartha. His father, the king, indulged him in every luxury imaginable while keeping all signs of human suffering outside the palace walls hidden away from him. But one day,...

21 Uncommon Meditation Tips

Here are some meditation tips you haven’t heard before—at least this was my hope when I compiled them. Many of these meditation tips are original, in that I’ve developed or adopted them into my meditation practice, which has been part of my life for twelve years. They...

Stoic Daily Reflection & How Stoics Define Success

The ancient Stoics emphasized the need to reflect at the end of the day and ask ourselves constructive questions about what went well and what did not. But how can we measure the success of a day? By which criteria are we defining good days and bad days? And since...