A Stoic Toolkit for Modern Madness
Seven principles I live by to remain human in a world that often forgets how
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Where to begin…
Well, the year 2025 was eventful, to say the least.
Massive changes in my life across every imaginable axis—while the global landscape shifted almost daily. Politically. Socially. Morally. Emotionally.
The world is a crazy place right now:
War in Ukraine
Genocide in Gaza
A backflip on Epstein files
Terrorism on our own shores
Youth mental health epidemic
A staggering loss of life in Sudan
Charlie Kirk’s very public assassination
Two boys stabbed to death in Melbourne
A vindictive and divisive American president
There is a lot of pain around me.
I see it in the eyes of strangers. I hear it in the tone of commentators. I feel it in the tension of everyday life.
And yet—I still see the beauty.
It’s still there.
Despite what the media would have us believe, beauty hasn’t disappeared. It’s just been buried under noise, fear, and endless outrage. Sometimes all it takes is looking up from your phone long enough to notice it.
The empath and victim inside of me whispers…
“What’s the point…
this fate is inevitable…
this pain is insurmountable, so just give in to it.”
But the leader and stoic in me urges me to get to work by raising the collective consciousness.
That is my duty.
I open my laptop and begin tapping away.
Nothing good comes from stalling.
Nothing is gained by dwelling on what I cannot control.
So I write.
Not because it fixes everything—but because it’s my duty to contribute something sane to a world flirting with madness.
Today, I want to share the Stoic toolkit I use to stay grounded.
Because sanity and humanity can coexist—even now.
I have 5 tools that help me steel my mental fortress for the daily grind of life.
A Quick Clarification
Stoicism is widely misunderstood.
TikTok bros would have you believe it’s a based “alpha” code for life.
“Get money
Fuck feelings
Fuck the haters”
Etc… etc…
They are wrong. Stoicism is not the absence of fear.
It is the acceptance of fear, pain, suffering as unavoidable themes in our lives, whilst still holding the power and presence to act in accordance with your humanity anyway.
It’s courage in the face of tyranny.
Honesty in a world full of liars.
Love in a room full of hate.
Being quick to rage, quick to retaliate, quick to dehumanise—these are not strong traits. They are uncontrolled ones.
Apathy toward suffering is not Stoic. It is ego.
Stoicism is not cold. It is the realisation and acceptance that some things just cannot be changed.
As Marcus Aurelius wrote:
“There’s nothing manly about rage. It’s courtesy and kindness that define a human being—and a man.”
With that said, here is the code I live by.
1. Radical Honesty
This starts with myself and permeates outward.
I spent a lot of my life living in the shadows… playing in the darkness… scared of being honest and accepting fault.
Now, I refuse to lie to myself to protect my ego.
I name the pain and the lies and acknowledge where I fall short.
I’m not afraid of being wrong.
I’m not afraid of being disliked.
I’m not afraid to hurt someone’s feelings in order to preserve peace.
Darkness is consuming.
Honesty brings me into the light.
It can cause friction from time-to-time, but I don’t have to spend my life looking over my shoulder or covering my tracks.
Deceit and untruthfulness invite chaos.
Truth and honesty provide stability.
2. Gratitude:
This is a discipline. A skill. A muscle.
Not a feeling.
I don’t wait for life to be good to be grateful.
I practice gratitude because life is fragile and transient.
Every moment contains something worth celebrating.
Gratitude reminds me that bitterness is optional—and perspective is powerful. It keeps entitlement in check and anchors me in reality, not fantasy.
It is not toxic positivity.
It is mental strength training.
3. Strength of Body
Speaking of training…
Keeping my body strong and ready for life’s challenges is an important part of being a Stoic… why?
Because the mind lives there.
In the words of Seneca…
“We treat the body rigorously so that it will not be disobedient to the mind.”
I train my body so my mind has somewhere solid to live.
Movement sharpens judgment.
Discipline builds self-respect.
A weak body invites a fragile mind. I refuse both.
Note: Admittedly, I have fallen short of this standard over the last 12 months due to injuries and other factors, but I am determined to get back to my physical best. Watch this space.
4. Journaling & Reflection
Journaling and note taking has been paramount to my growth as a human being.
Since really committing to the practice in early 2020, I have collected a huge cache of thoughts and reflections.
4 diaries
15 notepads
3 gratitude journals
150+ podcasts exploring my thoughts
50+ reflective newsletters (like this one)
I do this to keep an eye on who I am.
It’s a place where I cannot lie to myself, and the truth of where I am and what I am doing is evident and undeniable.
The Stoics new the importance of this tool.
Keeping track of what you got right, what you got wrong and what adjustments can be made is one of the most Stoic things that anyone can do.
As Seneca said…
“I examine my entire day and go back over what I’ve done and said, hiding nothing from myself, passing nothing by.”
5. Tactical Stress
Daily stress is, well, stressful.
Bills…
Exercise…
Commuting…
News cycles…
Personal tragedy…
Failed relationships…
Annoying coworkers…
The allure of temptations…
This comes for all of us at some stage. We deal with it when it comes, try not to implode, and get on with our lives.
But that is not what I’m referring to.
I’m talking about choosing stress.
Let me give you an example—let’s say you want to get jacked, so you go to the gym and you choose to put your body under stress by lifting weights to tear the muscles in order for them to grow.
That’s an obvious case of tactical stress… you choose a hard thing (gym), to put stress on a system (body), in order to grow (your muscles).
Tactical stress is the same, but more readily available.
Some people use cold showers as a way to invite stress and manufacture a sense of achievement. Others might put the mostly avoidable tasks at the top of their to-do list.
It doesn’t matter how you do it.
Find hard things, large or small, and do them.
Run toward the fire (stress) as often as you can. That is where growth lies. That is where your real potential can be realised.
6. Premeditatio Malorum (Premeditation of Evils)
I spoke about this in my uniquely bogan way recently—you can read that newsletter here:
Basically I was trying to say that we are surrounded by evil.
Surrounded by bad people.
To expect them to act differently is insanity. It would be like asking a Leopard to change it’s spots—it ain’t happening.
When we have this data, we can brace for its impact.
Premeditation of evil is not acceptance of evil.
It is understanding that it is going to happen eventually, so do not be surprised, find the courage to act rationally anyway.
7. Amor Fati
Amor Fati is a latin phrase that translates to love of fate.
Similarly to Gratitude and Premeditatio Malorum, it encourages us to fall in love with the process and accept the outcomes.
There’s only so many levers we can pull as human beings.
Once we have done what is in our control, we sit back and not only accept, but love what ever happens next.
My life has taken some unusual turns.
Som very high highs and some dangerously low lows.
I love it all.
Because I am still here, and I wouldn’t be me without it.
A Final Reminder
These Stoic tools don’t absolve me of life’s tribulations.
Life still sucks from time-to-time.
I still feel pain… I still make bad decisions… I still doom scroll and waste my most precious resource (time).
Stoicism, these tools, are not designed to avoid suffering.
They are designed to help me realise that life is transient — fragile and precious — and that everything will end.
That awareness doesn’t depress me—it sharpens me.
It reminds me to live wholeheartedly.
To act with care.
To remain human, even when it’s easier not to be.
This is how I stay sane.
Not by escaping the world—but by meeting it with discipline, compassion, and resolve.
Thanks for reading.
With gratitude,
SAV
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