3.5 Ideas from Phil Van Treuren — Stoic Wisdom for the Modern World

“Find comfort in knowing that the world will continue without you… All the beautiful, amazing things about our world, including the people who populate it, are gonna keep going.” — Phil Van Treuren

Phil Van Treuren is an author, entrepreneur, and digital marketing expert who found success applying Stoic philosophy to his life and business. He has published four books on Stoicism, including “The Little Book of Stoic Quotes,” and runs Stoic Simple, a website dedicated to making ancient Stoic wisdom accessible for modern life.

Phil’s unique approach to writing — composing books on his phone during rare moments of quiet in a busy household with four children — demonstrates how he applies Stoic principles to overcome life’s obstacles.

3.5 Ideas from Phil Van Treuren:

1) Living in the Present Moment is the Key to Excellence

• “Focusing on the present moment is not only the only thing we really need to be focusing on, but it’s also the way to bring out the best performance from ourselves.”
• “We’re the only animals that not only look at what’s right in front of us but also ruminate about the past and have fear about the future.”
• “If you look forward too much, it’s anxiety. You look back too much, it’s depression. But if you’re in the moment and focusing on the moment, that’s the money spot.”

2) Amor Fati: Love Your Fate and Find Opportunity in Every Obstacle

• “Stoics encourage us to not just accept anything that’s unchangeable that happens in our lives, but to embrace it, looking for opportunities in everything that happens to you to better yourself or help people around you.”
• “There is no circumstance that happens to any human being in which you can’t find some opportunity to become a better person.”
• “Most of the suffering we go through isn’t extreme… And it’s equally applicable to all the stuff in our lives that we think is bad, but in the end, we don’t really know whether it’s going to be bad or good for us.”

3) Control Your Emotions Through Delay and Reflection

• “Stoicism helps me step back and look at my emotions before I act on them. Like Epictetus said, ‘Let’s take a close look at you. Let’s see what you really are.’”
• “Seneca wrote, ‘The greatest way to stop anger is by delay.’ The longer you wait to act on those initial reactions that your body tells you you should have, the more likely you are to come to the conclusion that, well, that wouldn’t have been a very good idea at all.”
• “That couple seconds when you step back and look at that emotion for just a second before you act is very important. It’s something that studying Stoicism has helped me on a lot.”

3.5) What’s ONE LESSON Everyone Should Take Away?

• “Choose the charitable handle. Every situation has two handles, one it can be lifted from and one it cannot.”
• “Pay close attention to how we frame situations in our mind or what frame we look at situations through… You can look at most situations through a frame that makes it look very scary, or you can look at those same situations through a frame that instead lets you look for opportunities.”

Connect with Phil Van Treuren:

• Phil’s Book: “The Little Book of Stoic Quotes”
• Phil’s Website: Stoic Simple
• Book: “A Dog Who Follows Gladly”
• Book: “The Urban Enchiridion”

“Life Is Built, Not Born.”

Joe Ciccarone

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