3 Ancient Philosophy Tips to Help You Cope With Stress

"You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

Premeditation is one of the most powerful of the Stoic tools for coping with stress. Is involves visualizing the future and imagining all the bad things that could happen. 

This puts things in perspective. We tend to blow things up in our minds and make them appear much larger than they really are. By imagining all of the worst things that could happen, you come back down to earth and realize the present isn’t so bad.

Stoics thought that, when experiencing a heavy emotion or mental state such as anger or stress, adopting the behavior of someone who feels the opposite way can actually help us alter our state.

Scientific evidence indicates that things like body language and forcing a smile can actually change our mental state, making us happier, less stressed, and more confident.

Purposely deny yourself basic modern privileges, like meals, a cup of coffee or your weekend treat.

This helps you build up self-control and reminds you to appreciate what you have, which helps put the things you’re anxious about in perspective. Both gratitude and self-control are required to manage stress at its root instead of just dealing with it as it comes up.