The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks
You've read the books. You know what Marcus Aurelius would do. But when life gets hard, the philosophy disappears. This podcast is for people who want to close the gap between knowing Stoicism and actually living it. New episodes every Monday.
The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks
Overthinking Is Not a Thinking Problem
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Most advice for overthinking has you focus on the thoughts themselves. Journal them. Replace negative ones with positive ones. Breathe. Meditate. Run. But what if the thoughts aren't the problem?
Epictetus taught that it's not events that disturb us, but our judgements about them. Overthinking isn't a volume problem — it's a judgement problem. Somewhere in the loop, you added a meaning to something that was otherwise neutral. And that meaning is what's keeping you awake.
In this episode I walk through phantasia — the Stoic science of impressions — and three exercises for catching the judgement before it spirals: stripping back to the first impression, applying the dichotomy of control to your thoughts, and the rational observer technique.
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