A Guide to the Good Life

Most likely the book that had the biggest effect on my life in the past several years. It explained the stoic philosophy in simple terms. It made a valid point that one should have a philosophy of life. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you have a set of values. Otherwise you're just wandering around, living day-to-day, and then wake up one day with that scary thought: what the hell am I doing with my life?

After reading this I read a lot of books from Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and the bunch. It's, at the same time, insane and awesome how so little has changed in over 2400 years. They had the same problems we have and they developed several practices on how to navigate them. Many of the them resonate with me and I'm trying to live a better life by following them.

And it works. I'm happier, less stressed, have a more positive outlook on life, problems disturb me less,... I'm not saying you have to follow stoic philosophy. But you should have a life philosophy you follow. And this book is as good of an intro as any.