Stoic Resolutions

Stoic purposes

Lately, the New Year's resolutions you see on social media, spouted by fitness coaches and "male" crypto-bros, claim to draw from Stoicism. They throw in a quote from Marcus Aurelius and then tell you that you have to go to the gym even if you don't feel like it. Discipline, silence, endurance. But what's really Stoic about all this?

Neo-Stoicism: Discipline, Control, and “Endure Like a Man”

Neo-Stoicism is a reinterpretation of classical Stoicism that has seen a second wave of fandom and popularity thanks to figures like Tim Ferriss, Ryan Holiday, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan… or their local adaptations (ahem, ahem…). At first glance, it's the 'modernization' of a philosophy born in Ancient Greece and Rome that has now returned in a capsule, motivational, AliExpress-branded t-shirt version, very “masculine” in nature.

👉 Accept what you cannot control. Take radical charge of what you can.

You don't control the world, you control your reaction. Don't let your feelings control you. Less excuses, more action. Pain builds character. Less noise, more focus. Don't complain, don't stop, don't ask for help, don't fail. Endure like a Spartan or an imperial Roman.

But… what if we asked Marcus Aurelius or Seneca…? Would they be utterly shocked and bask in the glory of the modern evolution of their philosophy? (spoiler: probably yes):

WHAT CLASSICAL STOICISM WOULDN'T BUY FROM MODERN NEO-STOICISM

Classical Stoicism was not a philosophy for "self-improvement." In fact, it would criticize several maxims of modern Neo-Stoicism:

❌ A person's virtue is NOT measured (it is forbidden) by their performance or productivity

❌ Self-control is not about repressing or dissociating: emotions must be experienced and felt.

❌ There is no room for individualism. The Stoic 'man' is so insofar as he is social and part of his 'polis'. If he is not good for the hive, he is not good for the bee.

❌ In general… using philosophy as an aesthetic identity is a definite no. Virtue… isn't something to be displayed. It's not something to be labeled based on likes.

Stoic New Year's Resolutions (Properly Understood)

If we wanted to draw on Roman epics to create New Year's resolutions, ours would read something like this:

More community. This year I will learn the name of at least one neighbor and send 10 'hello what's up' WhatsApp messages to abandoned groups that excite me.
More feeling. Instead of swallowing it down, I want to at least have a timely cry and a release of rage, blows and screams against a trusted cushion.
More 'I deserve it'. A decent cream, a medical check-up, a new mattress.
More coherence than epic. Washing the dishes, making the bed, doing the laundry, cooking something delicious for 1 hour… healing rituals that deserve a GRWM in my life stories (and that no one else will enjoy but me).
More good life. Not just a productive life. Being without an agenda, a schedule, or a plan. Exercising my body… dancing… vertically or horizontally. Laughing out loud. Walking without headphones.

YA TU SÁ, A RELAXED, MORE VIRTUOUS AND LESS NOISY MASCULINITY. LESS 'HANG IN' AND MORE 'I'M ON IT'

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