What is Stoicism and rules for winning in life, business, sports

Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. It is a branch of philosophy that taught people to endure all things without showing emotion.

The Stoics believed that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve a well-lived life ("eudaimonia"). The Stoics identified the path to achieving it by living in accordance with nature and with a life spent practicing the four virtues in everyday life: wisdom, courage, temperance or moderation, and justice.

“These are the characteristics of the rational soul: self-awareness, self-examination, and self- determination. It reaps its own harvest. It succeeds in its own purpose.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Never shirk the proper dispatch of your duty, no matter if you are freezing or hot, groggy or well-rested, vilified or praised, not even if dying or pressed by other demands. Even dying is one of the important assignments of life and, in this as in all else, make the most of your resources to do well the duty at hand.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
“It is possible to curb your arrogance, to overcome pleasure and pain, to rise above your ambition, and to not be angry with stupid and ungrateful people— yes, even to care for them.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Don’t let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Don’t try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, “Why is this so unbearable? Why can’t I endure it?” ~ Marcus Aurelius

"The art of life is more like the wrestler’s art than the dancer’s. You must stand ready and firm to meet sudden and unexpected onsets.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
 

Stoic rules and teachings were forged on the battlefield and the political arena and can applied effectively to any competition-based area, especially sports.

For a Stoic philosopher, body and mind are one. A strong mind and a strong body reinforce each other. Mental dispositions are crucial for athletic performance because the healthy mind resembles the healthy body – functional, strong, proportionate, compact, resilient, and agile.

Today, Stoicism has been embraced by many great achievers 360, nearly every professional sport, and challenge-based all-win Arete Games. “Stoicism as a philosophy is really about the mental game. It’s not a set of ethics or principles. It’s a collection of spiritual exercises designed to help people through the difficulty of life. To focus on managing emotion; specifically, non-helpful emotion,” write Ryan Holiday in his book The Obstacle Is The Way

12 Rules from Stoicism to help you become a winner in life and business, be number one and conquer the heights of greatness.
Set Your Eyes on the Bigger Picture
Plan Ahead
Assess Yourself
Fully Commit and Set Your Standards
Accept the Sacrifices
Set Your Discipline in Stone
Have No Excuses
Practice Difficulty on Purpose (to get prepared for any conditions, any kind of luck)
Embrace the Challenges
Train Your Instincts
Focus On The Here And The Now
Prepare For Defeat

Epictetus on Stoicism Rules
>> Epictetus (? - 135 AD) is a Greek Stoic philosopher, the author of Discourses and Enchiridion.

Just as nothing great is created instantly, the same goes for the perfecting of our talents and aptitudes. We are always learning, always growing. It is right to accept challenges. This is how we progress to the next level of intellectual, physical, or moral development. Still, don’t kid yourself: If you try to be something or someone you are not, you belittle your true self and end up not developing in those areas that you would have excelled at quite naturally.
Having considered all that lays ahead and decided that you have what it takes to succeed, you should enter your competition wholeheartedly and without hesitation.
We must undergo a hard winter training and not rush into things for which we haven’t prepared.

We’ve all known people who, like monkeys, mimic whatever seems novel and flashy at the moment. But then their enthusiasm and efforts wane; they drop their projects as soon as they become too familiar or demanding.

It is circumstances which show what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. For what purpose? you may say. Why, that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat. In my opinion no man has had a more profitable difficulty than you have had, if you choose to make use of it as an athlete would deal with a young antagonist.

Most people tend to delude themselves into thinking that freedom comes from doing what feels good or what fosters comfort and ease. The truth is that people who subordinate reason to their feelings of the moment are actually slaves of their desires and aversions. They are ill-prepared to act effectively and nobly when unexpected challenges occur, as they inevitably will.

Cultivate the habit of surveying and testing a prospective action before undertaking it. Before you proceed, step back and look at the big picture, lest you act rashly on raw impulse. Determine what happens first, consider what that leads to, and then act in accordance with what you’ve learned.

Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit the evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now. You are not some disinterested bystander. Participate. Exert yourself.
Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.

Keep this thought at the ready at daybreak, and through the day and night – there is only one path to happiness, and that is in giving up all outside of your sphere of choice, regarding nothing else as your possession.

Those who receive the bare theories immediately want to spew them, as an upset stomach does its food. First digest your theories and you won’t throw them up. Otherwise they will be raw, spoiled, and not nourishing. After you’ve digested them, show us the changes in your reasoned choices, just like the shoulders of gymnasts display their diet and training, and as the craft of artisans show in what they’ve learned.