STERLING-COMPLIANT MODERN APPROACH TO STOICISM

# STERLING-COMPLIANT MODERN APPROACH TO STOICISM

**A Systematic Introduction to Core Stoicism for Daily Practice**

Based on Epictetus's *Enchiridion* 1-5 and Grant Sterling's systematic interpretation

---

Claude:

## BEFORE YOU BEGIN: FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES

*These six principles form the logical foundation of all Stoic practice. Understanding them first makes everything else clear and necessary.*

### **Principle 1: The Control Boundary**

Only your own thoughts and choices are completely in your control. Everything else—your body, possessions, reputation, what others do, outcomes of your actions—is ultimately not in your control.

**In your control**: Your judgments (what you think is good/bad/indifferent), your choices about what to pursue or avoid, your decisions about how to respond to impressions, your assent or refusal to give assent.

**Not in your control**: Health, wealth, reputation, what others think or do, outcomes, results, whether your plans succeed, external events.

**Why this matters**: Confusing what's in your control with what's not is the root cause of all disturbance and unhappiness.

---

### **Principle 2: What Is Actually Good and Bad**

Only one thing is genuinely good: **making appropriate choices** (choosing rationally, choosing what reason endorses, choosing virtuously).

Only one thing is genuinely bad: **making inappropriate choices** (choosing irrationally, choosing against reason, choosing viciously).

Everything else—health, wealth, reputation, pleasure, pain, life, death—is **neither good nor bad**. These are "indifferent" because they lie outside your control and cannot affect your ability to choose well.

**Why this matters**: If you treat externals (things not in your control) as if they were good or bad, you guarantee yourself unhappiness when you don't get what you want or get what you don't want.

---

### **Principle 3: What Actually Disturbs Us**

Things and events themselves never disturb, upset, or harm you.

Only your **judgments about those things**—your beliefs about whether they're good or bad—can disturb you.

For example: Death itself is not terrible (the wise Socrates faced it calmly). What's terrible is the **judgment** "death is terrible." Losing money itself doesn't harm you. The **judgment** "losing money is bad for me" causes disturbance.

**Why this matters**: Since only your judgments disturb you, and your judgments are completely in your control, this means **you can guarantee yourself freedom from disturbance** by correcting your judgments.

---

### **Principle 4: Your Action Is Your Choice**

Your "action"—what you're responsible for—is not the physical movement you make or the outcome that results. Your action is **your choice itself**: what you decide to do and why.

Whether your choice produces the intended outcome is not in your control and is therefore indifferent. The appropriateness (rightness) of your choice is determined **at the moment you make it**, based on whether you chose rationally, not based on what happens afterward.

**Example**: You choose to walk to a restaurant for lunch (good goal, rational means). If the restaurant is closed when you arrive, your choice was still appropriate. If you're hit by a car on the way, your choice was still appropriate. The outcome doesn't retroactively make your choice good or bad.

**Why this matters**: This frees you from anxiety about outcomes and lets you focus entirely on making good choices right now.

---

### **Principle 5: How to Make Appropriate Choices**

An appropriate choice requires three things:

1. **Choose a rational goal** (something reason endorses as worth pursuing—like health, honest work, helping others, developing your skills)

2. **Choose rational means** to that goal (the most sensible way to pursue it given your circumstances)

3. **Choose with reservation** (pursue the goal while recognizing the outcome is not in your control, so you can accept failure without disturbance)

**Example**: "I will prepare thoroughly for this presentation [rational goal], using these effective techniques [rational means], recognizing that the outcome—whether they hire me or not—is ultimately not in my control [reservation]."

**Why this matters**: This is the complete method for living well. All three parts are necessary.

---

### **Principle 6: The Result of Correct Judgment**

If you consistently make appropriate choices (correct in goals, means, and reservation), you are guaranteed two results:

1. **You will never be unhappy**—because unhappiness comes from desiring things outside your control, and you've stopped doing that.

2. **You will experience continuous appropriate positive feelings** (calm satisfaction, joy, contentment) that arise naturally from choosing well, regardless of external outcomes.

This state—making consistently appropriate choices and experiencing the resulting positive feelings—is called **eudaimonia** (complete flourishing, the best possible human life).

**Why this matters**: This is what Stoicism promises: a guaranteed path to the best life possible, completely within your control.

---

## THE BASIC PHILOSOPHICAL REGIME

*Now that you understand the foundational logic, these daily practices follow necessarily from those principles.*

---

### **STAGE 1: MORNING PREPARATION** *(10 minutes)*

**What to do**: Plan your day with the three-part method for appropriate choices in mind.

**The Practice**:

1. **Identify your goals for the day**. Ask: "What do I need to accomplish today? What situations will I face?"

2. **Evaluate each goal rationally**. Ask: "Is this genuinely worth pursuing? Does reason endorse this goal?" (Health, honest work, helping others, developing character—these are generally appropriate goals. Impressing others, avoiding all discomfort, getting revenge—these are generally inappropriate goals.)

3. **Plan rational means for each goal**. Ask: "What's the most sensible way to pursue this, given my circumstances and constraints?"

4. **Apply the reservation clause to each goal**. Say to yourself: "I will pursue [goal] using [means], **but I recognize that the outcome is not entirely in my control. If circumstances prevent success, I accept that without disturbance. My task is only to choose well and act well; the results are not up to me.**"

5. **Remember your primary goal**: Throughout everything today, your real goal is to make appropriate choices—rational goals, rational means, with reservation. This is the only thing that's genuinely good and completely in your control.

**Example**:  

"Today I need to finish the project report [rational goal]. I'll work on it from 9-12 without distractions [rational means]. **Whether my boss approves it or not is not in my control; I can only do my best work [reservation]**. I also have a difficult conversation with a colleague. I'll aim to be honest and fair [rational goal], speaking calmly and listening carefully [rational means]. **Whether she responds well or poorly is not in my control; I can only choose to act with integrity [reservation]**."

---

### **STAGE 2: MINDFULNESS THROUGHOUT THE DAY** *(Continuous practice)*

**What to do**: Pay attention to your impressions (thoughts, feelings, reactions) and practice examining them before assenting.

**The Practice**:

When you notice a **strong emotion** (anxiety, anger, craving, fear) or a **distressing thought**:

**Step 1: PAUSE**  

Don't react immediately. Create space between the impression and your response.

**Step 2: RECOGNIZE IT AS JUST AN IMPRESSION**  

Say to yourself: "This is just a thought/feeling appearing in my mind. It's not necessarily true, and it's certainly not the thing itself."

**Step 3: IDENTIFY THE JUDGMENT**  

Ask yourself: "What judgment is this impression suggesting I make?"

- Anxiety about a presentation → judgment: "Failing would be bad"

- Anger at someone's rudeness → judgment: "They have harmed me"

- Craving for food → judgment: "Eating this would be good"

**Step 4: APPLY THE CONTROL TEST**  

Ask: "Is this about something in my control or not?"

- The presentation's outcome → NOT in my control

- Whether someone is rude → NOT in my control  

- Whether food tastes good → NOT in my control

**Step 5: CORRECT THE JUDGMENT**  

If it's not in your control, refuse to judge it as good or bad:

- "The presentation's outcome is indifferent. My appropriate preparation and delivery—that's what matters."

- "Their rudeness is external to me—it cannot harm me unless I judge it as bad."

- "The food is a preferred indifferent. Whether I eat it or not, I can choose appropriately."

**Step 6: CHOOSE APPROPRIATELY**  

Now decide what action (if any) is appropriate:

- "I'll prepare thoroughly [appropriate action], recognizing the outcome is not mine to control."

- "I'll respond to rudeness calmly or not at all—their behavior doesn't require my disturbance."

- "I'll eat if it's reasonable given my health goals, but without treating the food as genuinely good."

**Daily Reminders**:

- "It's not things that disturb me, but my judgments about things."

- "This is not in my control, so it is nothing to me."

- "My only task is to choose appropriately right now."

- "I can accept any external outcome without disturbance."

---

### **STAGE 3: EVENING REVIEW** *(15 minutes before sleep)*

**What to do**: Review your day systematically, evaluating how well you applied Stoic principles.

**The Practice**:

**Part A: Recall the day's key events in order** (3 minutes)  

Mentally walk through your day chronologically. What were the main situations, interactions, decisions?

**Part B: Evaluate your choices** (10 minutes)

For each significant situation, ask these three questions:

**Question 1: "Did I make appropriate choices?"**

Examine whether your choices satisfied all three requirements:

- Did you choose a **rational goal**? (Was it something reason endorses?)

- Did you choose **rational means**? (Was your method sensible given circumstances?)

- Did you choose **with reservation**? (Did you remain unattached to the outcome, recognizing it as external/indifferent?)

**Identify what went well**:  

"In situation X, I chose appropriately because [I selected a rational goal, used sensible means, and maintained reservation about the outcome]. This was good choosing."

**Question 2: "Did I make inappropriate choices?"**

Identify where you failed one of the three requirements:

- Irrational goal: "I chose to impress others rather than act with integrity."

- Irrational means: "I used manipulation when honest communication was better."

- Lack of reservation: "I treated the promotion as if it were genuinely good/bad rather than indifferent."

**Identify what went badly**:  

"In situation Y, I chose inappropriately because [I pursued an irrational goal / used poor means / lacked reservation]. I treated an external as if it were good/bad."

**Question 3: "What opportunities did I miss?"**

Where could you have chosen appropriately but didn't act at all?

"In situation Z, I should have spoken up [rational goal] calmly and clearly [rational means] while accepting that others might not listen [reservation]. Instead, I remained silent out of fear [treating others' opinions as bad]."

**Part C: Learn and plan** (2 minutes)

- What can you learn from today's appropriate choices? How can you repeat them?

- What can you learn from today's inappropriate choices? How can you correct them tomorrow?

- Be specific: "Tomorrow when [similar situation], I will [specific appropriate response with reservation]."

**Part D: Recognize progress** (brief)

Acknowledge that you are making progress toward wisdom. The fact that you're examining your choices means you're already becoming more rational than you were.

**Optional**: Rate yourself 0-10 on: "How consistently did I apply the control test and choose with reservation today?" Use this to track progress over weeks, not to judge yourself harshly.

---

## KEY REMINDERS FOR DAILY PRACTICE

**Remember always**:

1. **Only virtue (appropriate choosing) is good**. Everything else is indifferent.

2. **Your choice is your action**. Outcomes are external and indifferent.

3. **You can guarantee eudaimonia** (complete flourishing) by making appropriate choices consistently.

4. **No one and nothing external can harm you** unless you assent to the judgment that they can.

5. **All disturbance comes from your own judgments**, which are completely in your control to correct.

6. **Appropriate choice requires**: rational goal + rational means + reservation about outcome.

---

## PROGRESSION AFTER MASTERING THE BASICS

Once you've practiced this daily regime for several weeks and feel comfortable with the basics:

**Read next**: The complete *Enchiridion* of Epictetus (continuing past chapter 5)

**Then read**: Marcus Aurelius's *Meditations* and Epictetus's *Discourses*

**Study**: The systematic logical structure connecting all Stoic doctrines (Sterling's LSSE provides this)

**Remember**: This simplified regime gives you the foundation. The full Stoic system includes rich teachings on physics (understanding nature), detailed analyses of specific virtues (wisdom, courage, justice, temperance), and sophisticated logical arguments. But everything builds on this foundation: the control dichotomy, correct value judgments, and appropriate action with reservation.

---

## THE PROMISE OF STOICISM

If you consistently practice this approach—making appropriate choices (rational goals + rational means + reservation) based on correct value judgments (only virtue is good; externals are indifferent)—Stoicism promises you will achieve:

- **Freedom from disturbance**: No anxiety, anger, grief, or fear about externals

- **Continuous appropriate positive feelings**: Joy, contentment, calm satisfaction

- **Complete reliability**: This result is guaranteed because it depends only on things in your control

- **Eudaimonia**: The best life possible for a human being

This is not a promise of comfort, wealth, or freedom from pain. It's a promise that you can live with complete inner freedom, choosing well and experiencing genuine happiness regardless of external circumstances.

The choice is entirely yours.

---

**Copyright © Dave Kelly], 2025. Adapted from Epictetus's *Enchiridion* and Grant Sterling's systematic interpretation of Stoic philosophy.**

---

## APPENDIX: WHY THIS APPROACH IS DIFFERENT

**What makes this "Sterling-Compliant":**

1. **Explicit foundational logic**: The six principles state clearly what is good (only virtue), what is indifferent (all externals), and why this matters.

2. **Systematic derivation**: Each practice follows necessarily from the foundational principles—they're not arbitrary techniques.

3. **Precise terminology**: "Appropriate choice" rather than vague "wellbeing." "Indifferent" rather than vague "acceptance."

4. **Complete action theory**: Explains that action = choice, appropriateness is determined at the moment of choosing, and outcomes are external.

5. **Reservation made central**: Not just mentioned but built into every choice as a necessary component.

6. **Guarantee stated clearly**: You CAN guarantee eudaimonia by choosing appropriately—this is in your control.

7. **No therapeutic dilution**: This is presented as a complete philosophical system with logical necessity, not as "stress management techniques."

**The result**: Practitioners understand not just WHAT to do, but WHY it works, and can verify for themselves that the system is internally consistent and logically rigorous.

---

**END OF STERLING-COMPLIANT MODERN APPROACH**