The speaker shares their personal story of struggling with bipolar depression and suicidal thoughts in college. However, with the help of stoicism, they were able to develop coping mechanisms and turn their life around.
The speaker introduces the concept of stoicism as an "operating system for thriving in high-stress environments" and shares how it has been used by successful individuals such as Bill Belichick and the Founding Fathers.
They explain the concept of "fear-setting," a written exercise inspired by the Stoic practice of "premeditatio malorum" (pre-meditation of evils). The exercise involves three pages:
1. Defining the worst-case scenarios and writing down 10-20 possible outcomes.
2. Identifying ways to prevent or mitigate each of these outcomes.
3. Considering the potential benefits of taking action and the costs of inaction.
The speaker shares how they used this exercise to overcome their fears and make a major decision that led to a life-changing experience.
The talk concludes with the introduction of Jerzy Gregorek, a modern-day Stoic who has applied the principles of stoicism to his life, including using a similar exercise to fear-setting. The speaker encourages the audience to consider where in their lives defining their fears might be more important than defining their goals, and to remember the words of Seneca: "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The speaker has bipolar depression, which runs in their family.
2. They have had over 50 major depressive episodes.
3. In 1999, the speaker was a senior in college and considered committing suicide.
4. The speaker's friend died of pancreatic cancer unexpectedly in 2004.
5. The speaker's girlfriend broke up with him in 2004.
6. The speaker was working 14-plus hour days, 7 days a week, in 2004.
7. They were using stimulants to get going and depressants to wind down and sleep.
8. The speaker read a quote by Seneca the Younger that made a big difference in their life.
9. The quote was: "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."
10. The speaker created a written exercise called "fear-setting" to overcome their fears.
11. Fear-setting consists of three pages: defining fears, preventing worst-case scenarios, and repairing damage.
12. The speaker used fear-setting to take a trip to London, which became the basis for their first book.
13. The speaker has done fear-setting at least once a quarter since then.
14. Jerzy Gregorek is a modern-day Stoic who is a four-time world champion in Olympic weightlifting.
15. Gregorek was a political refugee, published poet, and used stoicism and fear-setting to make important decisions.
16. Gregorek's mantra is: "Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life."
17. The speaker encourages the audience to ask themselves where defining their fears might be more important than defining their goals.
18. The speaker closes with a quote from Seneca: "We suffer more often in imagination than in reality."