tamhonkhoe.comStoicism 2 – Week 8: Review
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This week: reread your journal from the previous seven weeks, rate yourself on the three disciplines, then choose one small habit per discipline to keep after the course ends. During the week, keep the three-column journal as in Week 1.
Measurable goal: complete the self-rating and choose all 3 habits; three-column journal on at least 5 of 7 evenings.
1. Traditional teaching
[Traditional teaching] Stoicism teaches that progress is not measured by how much theory we know, but by how we live each day. At the end of the Manual, Epictetus describes the signs of someone making progress, and urges the learner to stop putting things off.
The condition and characteristic of an uninstructed person is this: he never expects from himself profit (advantage) nor harm, but from externals. The condition and characteristic of a philosopher is this: he expects all advantage and all harm from himself. The signs (marks) of one who is making progress are these: he censures no man, he praises no man, he blames no man, he accuses no man, he says nothing about himself as if he were somebody or knew something; […]
How long will you then still defer thinking yourself worthy of the best things, and in no matter transgressing the distinctive reason? […] And if anything laborious or pleasant or glorious or inglorious be presented to you, remember that now is the contest, now are the Olympic games, and they cannot be deferred; and that it depends on one defeat and one giving way that progress is either lost or maintained. […] But you, though you are not yet a Socrates, ought to live as one who wishes to be a Socrates.
Reading it in context
- "Expects all harm from himself" links back to Week 2: Epictetus is speaking about our inner response, not saying that people who are harmed are at fault. [Expert judgement] If someone is harming you, that is not your fault.
- "Praises no man" here means not passing judgement on others, either by overpraising or by criticising. It does not mean not thanking or acknowledging people.
- In the omitted part of chapter XLVIII, Epictetus says the person making progress "watches himself as if he were an enemy and lying in ambush". This course does not practise that kind of harsh self-scrutiny; the journal is for seeing clearly, not for blaming yourself.
- "On one defeat progress is lost" is a teacher’s way of urging. [Expert judgement] In practice, missing a few days does not erase what you have practised; what matters is coming back.
- The last sentence gives the learner a humble place: not yet a Socrates, simply someone who wants to head that way.
2. What science finds
- [Verified] A meta-analysis of 146 randomised studies of writing about one’s experiences and feelings found a positive but very small overall effect (r = 0.075). (Frattaroli 2006)
- Looking back over the course: the weeks rest on ancient texts and practitioners’ experience. Some weeks have related research (ACT, mindfulness, acts of kindness, self-control training), but we have not found any study that directly evaluates an eight-week programme based on Epictetus’ three disciplines.
Limits: this course is reading and self-observation, not therapy.
3. Practice for adults
20–25 minutes a day in total.
- Reread the journal (days 1–2, 20 minutes each). Reread your journal from Weeks 1–7. Mark the three lines you found most useful.
- Self-rating (day 3, 20 minutes). For each discipline, choose one level: not yet · sometimes · often. - Desire: I can tell what is up to me from what is not; I know what "enough" is. - Action: I do small things for others in my roles. - Judgement: I can separate the event from my first thought. This is not an exam. Not every line needs to be "often".
- Choose 3 habits (day 4, 20 minutes). For each discipline choose one small habit from earlier weeks to keep, for example: two principles (Week 3), copying one sentence by hand (Week 4), one small act a day (Week 6). Write down when in the day you will do it.
- Three-column journal (each evening, 15 minutes). As in Week 1: Desire – Action – Judgement.
- Tick it. At the end of the week check: do you have the self-rating and 3 habits; did you write the journal on at least 5 of 7 evenings?
4. Kids' corner 6+
Game: "Three stars" (5–10 minutes, with an adult)
- Recall the names of the course’s games: Three questions before bed, Two pairs of glasses, A quiet corner inside, One sentence three times, A toy on holiday, A good deed for the family, Fruits of the seasons.
- The child picks their three favourite games and draws a star next to each.
- The family picks one game to keep playing each week.
If the child remembers only one game, that is fine too.
5. Stop practising if
- You feel panic, have flashbacks of trauma, have a lasting sense that you or the world are "not real", lose sleep for several nights, or have thoughts of harming yourself.
- Rereading the journal makes you blame yourself more or brings back painful memories. Then skip steps 1 and 2 and just choose one habit to keep.
- People with a history of psychosis, bipolar disorder or severe PTSD should ask a doctor before practising for more than 20 minutes a day.
- If so, stop and see Get help now.
6. Foundation skills on daynentang
To keep one small habit after the course, daynentang has a lesson: One small meaningful thing a day (in Vietnamese).
7. Practice for today
Open your Week 1 journal and reread the first page. Write one line: what has changed since that day?
Science sources
- Frattaroli J (2006). Experimental disclosure and its moderators: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(6), 823–865. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.6.823
Scripture sources
- A Selection from the Discourses of Epictetus with the Encheiridion – George Long (Public domain) · link