7 Stoic Secrets To Radical Gratitude & Unbreakable Strength

Many of us spend so much time chasing after things we don't have, we lose sight of the miraculous wonder of our life just as it is. In this course, you will discover 7 ancient Stoic techniques that can be used to radically deepen your gratitude. We begin our journey by examining our current situation including our possessions and relationships. Then we expand outward looking at the very conditions of life, before exploring Stoic techniques for dealing with adversity. When confronted with obstacles, the first step is to accept them, but the end goal is to revel in the challenge. By the end of this course, you will upgrade your psychological toolkit with increased resilience, appreciation, and effortless joy.

Leçon 1: The Invisible Dream Technique To Notice Your Forgotten Abundance

The Stoics used comparisons to others strategically to help them generate love, appreciation, and wisdom. The "invisible dream technique" has you connect with the idea that the very life you are living, who are currently alive, or who have lived in the past is indeed a dream life. The very things you take for granted each day are the same things other people right now would consider a great blessing. When we see our life as someone else's dream life, we will once again remember our long-forgotten abundance.

Leçon 2: Escaper Of Pain Contemplation To Appreciate Your Inner Protector

The second meditation will not have you compare yourself to others, but instead to an alternate version of yourself. It is difficult to remember the bad decisions you didn't make, and it is difficult to have a long-term appreciation for the misfortune you were lucky enough to escape. Here we look back over your life and take stock of all the suffering you have been fortunate enough to avoid. Something deep inside you has brought you to this point - a guiding voice, a protector. It is time to bask in the wonder of waking up each day with the life you have, free of all the suffering you have escaped.

Leçon 3: Negative Visualization To Stop Taking Things For Granted

Negative visualization is a technique that has you rehearse losing things that are dear to you. When you do this, you build resilience because you learn to cope with loss, but more importantly, you learn to stop taking things for granted. We all know the cliche, "You don't know what you had until it's gone." Negative visualization is the systematic training of that idea, so the relationships, possessions, and conditions of your life will once again sparkle through the fresh eyes of gratitude.

Leçon 4: See The Magic Of Reality To Find Awe In The Ordinary

The fourth meditation will help you see all of the invisible and magic conditions of life that make everything possible. There is so much going on beneath the surface of existence that we take for granted such as the way our societies are run, the way we get access to food and water, the statistical likelihood of being born, and the way the atmosphere is perfectly attuned to our survival. To allow oneself to become oblivious to the awe of ordinary life is a mistake that we will put right in this lesson. It's time to once again see the beauty of a raindrop and feel the vitality of a single breath of cold air.

Leçon 5: Hermes' Magic Wand Meditation To Find the Hidden Benefits Of Adversity

So far we have used Stoic techniques to deepen our appreciation for ordinary life and the things we take for granted. In the final three meditations, we switch gears and learn to find radical gratitude even in adversity and struggle. The Stoics saw adversity as the raw material to build robust things. No matter what is happening, there is always some good that will come from it, some unforeseen benefit or lesson. In the following Hermes' Wand meditation, we train our minds to transmute setbacks and misfortune into wisdom and positivity, so we can act with greater clarity as we problem solve.

Leçon 6: Viewing Adversity As A Privilege To Thrive Under Any Circumstance

The Stoics realized that we can never really see what we are made of or have our character revealed until we experience adversity. When we watch a movie, we find great joy in seeing the hero navigate obstacles and overcome them. In fact, it is the obstacles that bring the hero forth. From this line of thinking, adversity can be seen as a privilege, an opportunity to put into practice all of our Stoic training. In lesson six, we explore this radical new lens through which to view adversity so that the next time we are challenged instead of shying away from life, we boldly turn toward it.

Leçon 7: The Last Time Contemplation To Reveal The True Value Of Things

The seventh and final meditation is all about endings. In our lives, there is always a "last time" for everything we do. There is the last time we ate certain food, the last time we spoke to certain people, and the last time we watched a favorite cartoon as a child. By contemplating these last times, we learn to see our current reality with more meaning and poignancy. Life is finite, and we are mortal. When we remember this obvious yet hidden truth, it is impossible to feel anything other than radical gratitude.

Reviews

Excellent! So thought provoking and true! Thank you, Jon.

Another amazing course from a very good teacher. Jon is great explaining concepts and introducing ideas. The lessons are not long but every minute is so full of value. If the tatics introduced in this course are applied I think life can be a little bit sweeter for sure. Totally recommend this course, and this teacher. If you are on a self healing process, looking for inner growth and wisedom you are in a good place here. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Keep it going 💛

I have really enjoyed this course because it has shown me new ways to look at my life and gain perspective on the things that I've felt were bothersome. I can tell it will take time, maybe a lifetime, for these tools to become effortless. But just an awareness as the first step has made a sizeable impact on my attitude. This course is well worth the time. Thank you Jon 🙏

Gratitude is widely recognized as a profound and valuable emotion. This is the first course during which I’ve contemplated exactly how to be grateful. It has added a very important facet to my life. I love Jon’s style. Not a wasted word.

Thank you for this, I really enjoyed it. Most definitely something I'll come back to once I've practised for a while 🙂🙏

Jon, thanks for this course. At the end, it feels like I have completed a mini-university course on the ancient philosophers. I often hear these names and see their quotes, but your course has given each quote the depth it deserves, and applies it to my life.
I think I will be a healthier me as a result. Many thanks.

really changed my perspective. i took lots of notes & will be reminding myself of all of the mindsets that will make me more grateful.

Awesome this is my second time. Enjoyed it even more. Thank you!

When truth hits me, I am grateful for its teachings and the teacher! ❤️

This 7 day review was deeply useful to me. I intend to put its ideas into the practice of living in whatever amount of time remains.

Thank you.

I really loved this course! Great exercises to really better my understanding of all that I have to be grateful for. A few months before I started a gratitude list with the rule that I can’t rewrite anything from the last couple of days and that I can (and should) be as imaginative as I want with it; it helped me a great deal and actually this course has helped me to deepen that gratitude list/attitude of gratitude even more. Thank you Jon! Wonderful job!

I really enjoyed your approach. You are articulate and you turn many things upside down, which is very thought provoking. Thank you for taking the time to make and share this course. Stoicism really intrigues me and I was happy to discover this information here on Insight Timer.

Mind opening, deep experience of gratitude and knowledge. I am more aware of the things and people I take for granted. Will do it again to learn more and get more awareness. Thank you for sharing this

Fantastic! This is the third course of yours I’ve listened to. Looking forward to working through the others … TY.
🙏🙌

Fantastic course, and a great introduction to stoicism. Thanks! I will repeat🙏🏻

I needed that.

Thank you so much for your work 🙏🏽💖

This course made me really think. I definitely had a paradigm shift in the way I view both pleasant and unpleasant things. I have a new appreciation for both the big and small things in life and I am grateful for all experiences.

Thank you.

Jon- thank you for introducing me to Soicism and Radical Gratitude. I am a marriage and family therapist and yoga instructor in Laguna Beach. I look forward to using the philosophy and tools I have learned from this amazing course not only for myself, but also for my students, clients and family! Carpe Diem!

This course was very insightful and practical.
Thank you.

What a fascinating course which left me so much to think about. Will definitely revisit it when I lose the sheer wonder of being alive! Thank you Jon ❤️