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The great stoic philosopher Seneca wrote.
Quote If you want a man to keep his head when the crisis comes, you must give him some training before it comes.
If you want to remain calm and fearless when a crisis comes, you have to prepare for it in advance, and the best way to prepare for a crisis is by facing it before you have to.
In this video, we'll go over four stoic tests that can help you face your fears today and build strength for the crises of tomorrow.
The first test is the pleasure test.
The pleasure test requires you to avoid pleasure while everyone around you is seeking it.
But there's a catch.
You can't make yourself stand out while doing it.
That's because the goal isn't to try and be better, unique or different from others, but to still get along with them and have fun without having to indulge in the same pleasures that they do, such as eating, junk food, drinking and so on.
When, speaking about the pleasure test, Seneca said Remaining dry and sober takes a good deal more strength of will when everyone about you is puking drunk.
It takes a more developed sense of fitness, on the other hand, not to make of oneself a person apart, to be neither indistinguishable from those about one nor conspicuous by one's difference.
If you can avoid pleasure while everyone else around you is seeking it, while everyone around you is pressuring you to seek it, without making yourself stand out as an outsider or offending them, then you're probably capable of avoiding pleasure under any condition, especially those times when you don't have access to it.
This test will help you face and overcome the fear of living without access to bodily pleasures, which happens often in times of crisis.
The second test is the minimalist test.
The minimalist test requires that you set aside a few days where you learn to live with less.
Set aside a few days where you eat simpler foods, wear less comfy clothing, sleep on a mattress, couch or floor, live without a phone, computer or TV, and walk bike or bus around instead of driving.
The goal is to train yourself to get by with less material goods and comforts.
When speaking about the minimalist test, Seneca wrote set aside now and then a number of days during which you will be content with the plainest of food and very little of it, and with rough, coarse clothing and will ask yourself is this what one used to dread?
It is in times of security that the spirit should be preparing itself to deal with difficult times.
If you can learn to live with less less money, less material goods, less comforts, less luxuries, you will be better prepared to do it if it ever becomes a necessity, which is often the case in times of crisis.
The third test is the nonconformity test.
The nonconformity test requires that you learn to live without the approval of others.
According to Diogenes Laertes Zeno, the father of Stoicism was tasked by his teacher Creates, to carry a pot of lentil soup through a large and busy neighborhood in Athens.
From what I've read, this might be embarrassing for Zeno, because lentils were considered to be a food for the poor.
When Creates saw that Zeno was embarrassed and was trying to hide the pot, Creates used his cane to break the pot and spilled the soup all over Zeno.
As Zeno ran away from shame, Creates said, quote, "'Why run away, little Phoenician?
Nothing terrible has happened to you.'"
Creates wanted Zeno to learn how to live without the approval of others.
Plutarch said that Cato, an influential Roman senator and stoic, would wear clothes that were unfashionable in order to quote accustom himself, to be ashamed only of what deserves shame and to despise all other sorts of disgrace.
If you can learn to live without the approval of others, especially in minor things such as fashions, you will be better prepared to do it when it becomes a necessity, such as when you need to speak an unfashionable truth to power.
Doing or saying unfashionable things, especially if they resonate with you, and being okay with being laughed at helps train you to be okay with standing out and expressing your individuality.
Some simple ways you can practice nonconformity is by getting a pedicure if you're a man, or maybe growing out some body hair if you're a woman.
There are hundreds of ways that you can practice nonconformity, and by learning to live without the approval of others in things that don't matter.
You can learn to live without their approval in the things that truly do matter.
The fourth and final test is the solitude test.
The solitude test requires that you learn to spend extended amounts of time alone.
You want to increase the amount of time you can spend on your own, without the company of others.
But of course, there are limits to how much time anyone can spend alone and remain healthy.
When, speaking about the solitude test, Seneca wrote nothing.
To my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well-ordered mind than a man's ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.
If you can learn to live in solitude, if you can learn to live without the presence and support of others, you will be better prepared to do it if it becomes a necessity, such as if you are shunned, outcast or exiled by others.
Spending some time alone and without the help of others can help build up a solitude muscle that allows you to thrive for longer periods of time without the support and presence of others.
And by learning to live with less support from others, you will become less dependent and less controlled by them.
So by undergoing the four tests the pleasure test, the minimalist test, the nonconformity test and the solitude test you can face your fears and build strength for hard times.
Times where you might not have access to abundant pleasures, material comforts and luxuries, the approval of others or social support.
Your body and mind are capable of incredible adaptation, but it does take time to adjust.
And with these four practices, you can shape yourself into a stronger, more resilient form.
And if you want to face your fears of learning math or science, I recommend checking out this week's sponsor, Brilliantorg.
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As always, thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.
