Stoicism is an ancient Greek philosophy that is meant to improve emotional regulation.
The core goal is to achieve a state known as eudaemonia by living in accordance with Nature.
Let's discuss some stoicism principles that we can use in the workplace
Principles of stoicism
Discernment
The quality of discernment - concerning stoicism - is the ability to differentiate between the real and the unreal, between what you can control and what you cannot.
The stoics believe that what you can control are your thoughts and actions. What you can't control is other people's behavior, their thoughts, and natural events like sickness, death, or accidents.
There is no sense in dwelling over things that are out of your control. For instance, if a coworker is giving you a hard time, there is no point in wishing about how you think they should behave. A stoic approach is to focus on what you can do to improve your time at work.
Accept what you cannot change and change what you can.
Have good role models
The stoics recommended having a person who embodied stoic virtues as a role model. This could be someone you know in real life, a fictional character, or even a person you invent for yourself.
If you find yourself facing a difficult situation, you can ask yourself, what would that individual do?
Prioritise virtue above all else
Stoic virtues can be summarised as wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.
The stoics categorize life events into two: those that matter, and those that are indifferent when it comes to living a virtuous life.
Qualities such as good health, wealth, and being well-liked are considered by the stoics as preferable but ultimately indifferent to being virtuous and achieving eudaimonia.
Behaving per stoic virtues is considered the ultimate good and intrinsically valuable.
So if you're at work, the main concern is not how you will get ahead or whether or not your bosses like you. It's whether you're behaving as a virtuous person would.
Don't get carried away by your passions
Contrary to popular belief, being stoic does not mean being emotionless. The stoics were masters of emotional regulation, but that doesn't mean that they didn't feel things.
Rather, they practiced temperance. For instance, feeling a sense of righteous indignation in response to injustice is fine but flying into a rage and yelling at people is getting carried away by your passions and against stoic virtues.
Being temperate in the workplace is essential for maintaining healthy workplace relationships. This applies to both the emotions that are generally regarded as negative and those that are thought of as positive. Don't get carried away by passionate feelings of anger or jealousy, but it also isn't wise to get carried away by a workplace crush and lose sight of your duties or appropriate workplace conduct.
Conclusion
Stisism is an approach b ancient Greek philosophy that still has efficacy in the modern day. Its principles can be applied to improve our work life.
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