Creating Fortunes in Stoicism

Audio

Total time: 0:13:07

Text

Zeno, the founder of Stoicism himself experienced lost - which put him the path to this philosophy. On a voyage between Phoenicia and Peiraeus, his ship sank along with its cargo. According to the ancient biographer Diogenes Laertius, Zeno joked, “Now that I’ve suffered shipwreck, I’m on a good journey,” or according to another account, “You’ve done well, Fortune, driving me thus to philosophy,” he reportedly said.

Stoicism has developed since he Zeno first outlined the philosophy but at the core of it, the message is the same. As he put it, “Happiness is a good flow of life.” How is it to be achieved? Peace of mind that comes from living a life of virtue in accordance with reason and nature.

Stoicism Today

Today the philosophy of Stoicism is still adopted and followed by the rich, wealthy and powerful. As investor and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss once put it, Stoic philosophy is “a simple and immensely practical set of rules for better results with less effort.”

• Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is known for his frugality. According to CNBC, he never pays more than $3.17 for breakfast and still lives in the house he bought for $31,500 in 1958 (approximately $260,000 today).
• Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad is one of the 10 wealthiest people in the world with a personal worth an estimated $58.7 billion, according to Bloomberg. For twenty years, Kamprad drove a 1993 Volvo 240 GL. He only gave it up when his daughter persuaded him that driving it was dangerous.
• David Cheriton, worth an estimated $6 billion still lives in the same period-style home he bought well before his Google shares soared in value and drives an average Honda car. He even cuts his own hair and asks for doggy bags in upscale restaurants when there are leftovers on his plate.

Why would Buffett, Kamprad and Cheriton spend very little money? Instead of focusing on externals, these billionaires focus on the things that really matter. Let's dive in to find out what truly matters to these billionaires.

#1 - Live below your means.

Lebron James has a net worth of around $440 million dollars but instead of paying for expensive subscriptions, he uses free WIFI and free music streaming services like Pandora. NBA player Trey Burke of the New York Knicks earns a million dollars a year but has lives on a $5,000 a month budget.

What do these men have in common? They have developed spending habits below their means, so they can focus on what is most important to them. There habits are not dependent on their wealth circumstance. Gain clarity about what you value and you receive total freedom from possessions. If they lost it all, they would still have what matters to them most - their happiness. And more than likely, reacquire their wealth in some other fashion.

Many of the most successful business millionnaires and billionaires strategically apply this philosophy.

Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos is known for a culture with a foundation of frugality and constraint. “I think frugality drives innovation, just like other constraints do,” he said. “One of the only ways to get out of a tight box is to invent your way out.”

Billionaire investor, Mark Cuban, has a positive mindset regarding frugality. “The more you stress over bills, the more difficult it is to focus on your goals. The cheaper you can live, the greater your options."

Marcus Aurelius lifted the burden on him and his people by selling all of the palace furnishings to pay down a burdensome debt. Remember, the more stuff we want, the less we can focus on the values we hold most dear - joy, freedom, peace, and living a pleasurable life.

#2 - Use failure as a stepping stone to success.

Every opportunity whether we perceive it as a success or failure is a learning experience. In addition, we get to be lifelong learners. Billionaires like Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett are voracious readers and learners. Maintain humility and always be open to learn of important success factors.

The billionaire investor George Soros says that “Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition, there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes.” And Einstein famously said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Doing the same thing over and over again is a learned behavior that infects us easily. Breaking that habit takes intentional new thought and focused effort, which is why most people do not do it.

Failure can be a great teacher; it's a stepping stone if we chose to view it that way. We gain valuable experience, knowledge, resilience, value, and growth.

#3 - Maintain control of your time.

Life will always be more difficult if you allow others to set your agenda. Buffett suggests, “you’ve gotta keep control of your time, and you can’t unless you say no. You can’t let people set your agenda in life. The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.” Saying no, protects your time and allows you the space to focus on what is most important. You can always say yes, when it is in alignment with what you truly want.

It is not only important to set our physical boundaries, but we must set time boundaries as well. Seneca says, "Property can be regained -- there is quite a bit of it out there and some of it still untouched by man. But time? Time is our most irreplaceable asset, and we cannot buy more of it."

One practical approach suggested by Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA is to divide your day into 10-minute segments - “You can do so much in 10 minutes’ time. Ten minutes, once gone, are gone for good. Divide your life into 10-minute units and sacrifice as few of them as possible to meaningless activity.”

Intentionally apply these principles to your life and observe the transformation that the stoics call Eudaimonia - a state of having a good indwelling spirit or being in a contented state of being healthy, happy and prosperous. Take the right actions as to create the value of well-being.

- Leonard

Learn more about stoicism

Sources ²