The Stoic Challenge

By: William B. Irvine

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

A practical, refreshingly optimistic guide that uses centuries-old wisdom to help us better cope with the stresses of modern living.

Some people bounce back in response to setbacks; others break. We often think that these responses are hardwired, but fortunately this is not the case. Stoicism offers us an alternative approach. Plumbing the wisdom of one of the most popular and successful schools of thought from ancient Rome, philosopher William B. Irvine teaches us to turn any challenge on its head. The Stoic Challenge, then, is the ultimate guide to improving your quality of life through tactics developed by ancient Stoics, from Marcus Aurelius and Seneca to Epictetus.  

This book uniquely combines ancient Stoic insights with techniques discovered by contemporary psychological research, such as anchoring and framing. The result is a surprisingly simple strategy for dealing with life’s unpleasant and unexpected challenges - from minor setbacks like being caught in a traffic jam or having a flight cancelled to major setbacks like those experienced by physicist Stephen Hawking, who slowly lost the ability to move, and writer Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered from locked-in syndrome.  

The Stoics discovered that thinking of challenges as tests of character can dramatically alter our emotional response to them. Irvine’s updated “Stoic test strategy” teaches us how to transform life’s stumbling blocks into opportunities for becoming calmer, tougher, and more resilient. Not only can we overcome everyday obstacles - we can benefit from them, too.

©2019 William B. Irvine (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

The first 5 chapters are Okay, the rest is great.

I love the portions on framing and building mental toughness. Chapters 5-Conclusion are great. Can't wait for his next book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Ok book on stoicism

It’s a basic book on stoicism perhaps good if you’re brand new stoicism. There are much better books out there that talk more about the original philosophy / teaching

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Be aware of events in one’s life

The phase of The Stoic gods are tongue in cheek for me, but an interesting way to blame an event.
Would be a good gift.
Now it will be interesting to really see how I am accepting events in my life. So far I feel I accept life, good and bad, as what is and go through an experience knowing that I am safe in the long run. Perhaps, for me, it is because I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful

Fantastic

I tend to buy a lot of stoic books, I found this to be one of my favourites for developing the stoic mindset , I liked the more practical wisdom that came from this rather than just the history of stoicism as most books tend to do. I also really enjoyed the more modern examples of stoic mindset such as Stephen hawking etc. I also have the audio book , which is also a great listen and excellent narration.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Very basic

Largely obvious and overly worked comments that most Stoics will have studied at the start of their journey.