I’ve recently been reading this book, which is a collection of a number of Seneca’s letters to his companions. In case you didn’t know, Seneca is a Roman Stoic philosopher.

I’m currently about half way through the book and what is amazing is the level of insight and thought, which seems to be well ahead of its time. So, I thought it would be worthwhile to work through some of those ideas he talks about. The reason being that, even though more than 2000 years have passed since he was alive. There is still much we can apply in the current age.

The first concept I want to raise with you, is about out there, but trust me, just run with it. Starting off, you need to think long and hard about someone who’s way of life, words and character have won your esteem and approval. Essentially, think of a life coach or mentor, this could be a real person or a fictional one.

Once you have made the choice as to which role model to use, the next part is to constantly imagine that this role model or life coach is observing what you’re doing and passing judgement on it. People don’t like judgement but we do it all day long, so I see no problem with it here.

You might be thinking, what is the purpose of that? Well, think about it like this. Having someone you greatly admire acting as your moral tutor can do a lot of good for you; it creates a standard from which to evaluate your own actions, that’s why it’s very important to pick the right mentor for you…

Guardians, that’s another way to look at them. Not only will this technique encourage you to do the right things, it will also help to diminish any desire to do the wrong things. Since you wouldn’t want to do the wrong thing and let your mentor down, right? Right.

I like this idea a lot, maybe that’s why Christianity taught its followers that, God is always watching. Regardless, this is a great technique, and best of all it is adaptable. In other words, you don’t have to keep the same mentor forever, but as you change as a person, you might want to pick a newer mentor as you could have outgrown the old one.

Well my Hedites, please like and follow, then give it a go.

Peace.