Advertise on podcast: The Strong Stoic Podcast

Nobody starts as a master. When we see someone who is strong, skilled, or exceptionally good at what they do, we see the finished product. We don’t see all the years they spent being bad at it. Recently, after more than six years of podcasting, I found myself spending an hour and a half learning a basic audio-editing skill I probably should have learned years ago. I had no idea what I was doing. And maybe that’s exactly the point. If you want to become good at something, you need enough humility to be bad at it first. You need to make mistakes, look foolish, and occasionally admit that you have no idea what you’re doing. In this episode, I talk about mastery, ego, being a beginner again, and why sometimes we just need to take ourselves a little less seriously.

JP Primeau is a strength coach, former university football player, and Olympic weightlifting coach in Nova Scotia. But this conversation isn't really about lifting. It's about what happens when the identity you've spent years building begins to change. JP and I talk about his transition from football into Olympic weightlifting and eventually coaching, what it feels like to go from being good at something to becoming a beginner again, and the difficult process of accepting that some of our ambitions may not turn out the way we imagined. That leads us into a question I've been thinking about more and more: when does perseverance become stubbornness? Stoicism teaches us to work with the obstacles life puts in front of us. But wisdom also requires us to ask whether we're pursuing the right obstacle in the first place. Sometimes continuing is courageous. Sometimes walking away is. JP offers a useful rule for those decisions: don't make them only on your worst days. Make sure you still feel that way on a good one.  Later, we turn toward coaching and leadership—why technical knowledge isn't enough, what it means to listen to what someone isn't saying, and why a good coach has to respond to the actual human being standing in front of them rather than blindly following the program.  Near the end, JP summarizes much of the conversation in five words: “It's a skill to give a shit.” A conversation about strength, identity, perseverance, coaching, listening, and learning to genuinely care about the people we're responsible for. Find JP Primeau: Instagram: @CoachPrimo Coaching: Primo Weightlifting Club Based at KAOS CrossFit in Bayers Lake, Nova Scotia JP coaches the Primo Weightlifting Club with team training on Thursdays and Saturdays.  The Strong Stoic: strongstoic.substack.com

Jocko Willink’s philosophy of Extreme Ownership teaches leaders to take responsibility for everything that affects their mission. If something goes wrong, don’t make excuses. Own it and fix it. It is a powerful leadership doctrine—but is everything that happens truly your fault? In Episode 433, I examine Extreme Ownership through a Stoic lens. We explore why the philosophy works, how it restores agency, and why ownership builds trust. We also consider where it becomes incomplete by confusing fault, responsibility, influence, and control. The Stoic correction is not to abandon ownership. It is to become more precise about what we own: Our judgments. Our choices. Our preparation. Our conduct. Our response. You may not control the outcome, but you remain responsible for what you do next.

What if you worked hard at something for years and nobody noticed? Would the work still be worth doing? I've been wrestling with that question lately as I've become more focused on views, analytics, and growing The Strong Stoic. There's nothing wrong with wanting success, recognition, or influence. The danger begins when being noticed becomes the reason we do the work. Marcus Aurelius reminds us that doing the good thing is already the reward. And much of what makes a good life happens without applause anyway. Train. Build. Lead. Keep your promises. Improve your craft. Chase success. But every once in a while, remove the audience and ask yourself: Would I still be proud of the person doing the work?

Many of our emotional patterns were formed before we were old enough to understand what was happening. We learned what love, conflict, trust, danger, and security looked like by watching the people around us. Those early experiences helped build our internal alarm systems—but not every alarm remains properly calibrated. Anger may tell us that we perceive an injustice. Fear may tell us that we sense danger. Sadness may tell us that something meaningful feels threatened. These emotions deserve our attention, but they do not always deserve our obedience. In Episode #432 of The Strong Stoic Podcast, Brandon explores the difference between an emotional alarm and the story we attach to it, how childhood patterns continue influencing our adult lives, and why our values—not our immediate reactions—must ultimately determine how we respond. Your childhood may explain how the alarm was installed. Adulthood makes you responsible for what you do when it rings. Read and subscribe to The Strong Stoic Newsletter: https://strongstoic.substack.com

We have a tendency to postpone happiness. Once I get the promotion, I’ll be happy. Once I make more money, buy the new car, find the right relationship, or reach the next goal—then I’ll finally be satisfied. But eventually, you get some of those things. And something strange happens: You’re still you. In this Strong Stoic Unscripted, I talk about my own experience of upgrading from a Honda Accord to the truck I wanted—and realizing that changing what was sitting in my driveway didn’t change what was happening inside of me. There’s nothing wrong with ambition. There’s nothing wrong with wanting more, building something meaningful, making money, or buying the truck. The problem begins when we ask those things to fix something they were never capable of fixing. Pursue what you think is worth pursuing. Improve your circumstances. But don’t confuse improving your circumstances with improving yourself. Because wherever you go, whatever you accomplish, and whatever you eventually get—you’re still bringing yourself with you. — Brandon The Strong Stoic explores Stoic philosophy, character, responsibility, and what it means to live a good life in the modern world. #Stoicism #Happiness #SelfImprovement #Philosophy #TheStrongStoic

If you attain something without integrity, the thing you attain will always have power over you. In The Hobbit, Gollum’s relationship with the Ring begins with murder. Bilbo’s begins with pity and mercy. Both possess the same corrupting object, but it does not shape them in the same way. In this episode, I use Bilbo and the Ring to explore the Stoic concept of preferred indifferents: money, power, status, health, and possessions. These things may be worth pursuing, but they cannot make us good—and how we acquire them matters far more than whether we acquire them at all. Every compromise leaves something behind. Eventually, we may discover that we no longer possess the things we wanted. They possess us.

A former Anthropic researcher recently went on CNN and made a startling claim: AI could pose an existential threat to humanity within the next few years. I’m not an AI researcher, and I’m not here to tell you whether that prediction is right. What interests me is the much older—and much more human—problem underneath it: Human beings have a habit of developing power before developing the wisdom necessary to wield it. We did it with nuclear weapons. We’ve done it with countless technologies throughout history. And now, perhaps, we’re doing it again with artificial intelligence. In this Stoic reaction, I explore the race for AI power, why intelligence and wisdom are not the same thing, why AI doesn’t need to be “evil” to become dangerous, and a question that increasingly matters for all of us: At what point does AI assistance become human abdication? Maybe the greatest danger isn’t that artificial intelligence becomes too intelligent—but that our power develops faster than our wisdom can catch up. If you enjoyed the discussion, subscribe and let me know your thoughts below. 🎙️ Listen to The Strong Stoic Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. ✍️ Read my writing and join The Strong Stoic on Substack. Stay strong. Stay Stoic. CNN Video: https://youtu.be/i30jVPqQeOM?si=ph27XqHlzSaSTE61

Ryan Holiday has introduced millions of people to Stoicism. But is what he teaches about success actually consistent with what the ancient Stoics taught? In this episode, I take a closer look at several of Holiday’s claims about success—not to tear him down, but to test those ideas against the philosophy itself. We explore why Stoic success cannot be measured purely by outcomes, what the Stoics actually meant by preferred indifferents, why making more money isn’t necessarily the Stoic choice, and a revealing passage from Seneca’s Letter 95that raises a larger problem with the way Stoicism is sometimes presented today. Because Stoicism isn’t fundamentally about becoming more effective at getting what you want. It asks a much harder question: Is what you want actually worth wanting? Ryan Holiday gets some things right. Other ideas, I argue, are incomplete. And in at least one case, returning to the original Stoic text tells a very different story. A successful life and a good life are not necessarily the same thing. The Stoics were concerned with the latter.

If someone could hear your thoughts for a week, who would they expect you to become? Marcus Aurelius wrote that “the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.” But not every thought stains us. An unwanted impulse is not character. The danger lies in the thoughts we repeatedly entertain, rehearse, defend, and eventually act upon. In Episode 429, Brandon explores how thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, and habits become character. He examines why our speech reveals what the mind has been soaking in, how our closest relationships influence our inner lives, and where we can intervene before a passing impression becomes a permanent way of seeing the world. You cannot always control the first thought that enters your mind. You can decide whether to give it a room, a voice, and a place in your future. In this episode: Why Marcus Aurelius emphasized habitual thoughtsThe difference between an impulse and a rehearsed judgmentHow thoughts become character one small decision at a timeWhy your speech reveals the “color of the dye”How gossip, resentment, and excuses train the mindThe influence of your environment and closest friendsHow to interrupt a destructive thought before it becomes destiny

David Goggins believes in scheduled suffering, rejecting motivation and refusing to stop before the work is done. His philosophy has helped millions confront comfort, excuses and unrealized potential. But is Goggins actually a Stoic—and when does relentless discipline become self-punishment? In this episode, Brandon examines eight of Goggins’ central ideas through a Stoic lens, including the 40% Rule, voluntary discomfort, accepting help, recovery, permanent change and the difficult decision to quit something meaningful. Goggins gets several things profoundly right: motivation is unreliable, confidence must be earned, and a comfortable life can quietly become a smaller life. The danger appears when pain becomes an identity, recovery feels like weakness, or self-contempt begins masquerading as discipline. The Stoic correction is neither softness nor relentless punishment. It is deliberate hardship governed by wisdom. Chosen hardship becomes strength when it serves a worthy purpose. It becomes self-punishment when suffering itself becomes the purpose. The Strong Stoic Notebook is available here: Strongstoic.substack.com

Living intentionally does not mean avoiding regret. It means deciding which regrets you are willing to carry. In this episode, Brandon is joined by Joshua Bertolotti for an honest conversation about busyness, rest, vulnerability and the difficult work of examining your own life. They discuss why we often plan ordinary tasks more carefully than our futures, how constant activity can conceal exhaustion, and why slowing down is sometimes the most responsible thing we can do. The conversation also explores emotional honesty, the relationship between vulnerability and toughness, and the courage required to acknowledge when we are struggling. Every meaningful path demands a sacrifice. The question is whether you are choosing yours—or simply accepting the one life gives you. This episode includes sensitive emotional and mental-health-related themes.

Why do certain insults stay with us while others have no effect at all? In this episode of The Strong Stoic Podcast, I examine what our emotional reactions reveal about us—and how to respond to difficult people without becoming passive, cruel, or emotionally numb. Sometimes anger exposes an insecurity. Sometimes contempt points toward a version of ourselves we fear becoming. Sometimes we suffer because we decided another person owed us respect, recognition, affection, or fairness. The Stoic response is not to pretend that pain is unreal. It is to examine the judgment, take responsibility for what remains within our control, and refuse to let another person’s lack of character determine our own. In this episode: Why the same words affect people differentlyThe danger of using self-hatred as motivationHow ego turns harmless comments into personal attacksWhy acceptance does not mean approvalWhen walking away is an act of disciplineHow compassion and boundaries can coexistWhy physical health affects emotional controlWhat Stoicism actually teaches about emotions The goal is not to feel nothing. The goal is to handle what you feel without surrendering your character. If this episode helped you, share it with someone who might need it. Subscribe for grounded conversations about Stoicism, strength, leadership, physical training, and personal responsibility. Support the show: https://strongstoic.substack.com #Stoicism #EmotionalControl #SelfDiscipline

Resentment often begins where an important boundary remains unspoken. In Episode 425, we examine why boundaries exist in every healthy relationship—and why setting one is not necessarily an act of rejection. A clear boundary tells another person what matters, what you are willing to participate in, and what you will do if the line is crossed. We also explore the difference between boundaries and preferences, the discomfort of receiving someone else’s boundary, and the danger of becoming so rigid that healthy limits turn into walls. The goal isn’t to create relationships where boundaries are never crossed. The goal is to communicate clearly, follow through without cruelty, and leave a path back when repair is possible. Boundaries cannot control another person. They can only govern how you choose to respond.

Have you ever stopped enjoying something that once gave your life meaning? Maybe it's the guitar that now gathers dust. The running shoes that haven't left the closet. The books you used to devour but can't seem to pick up anymore. In this episode, I explore why our interests naturally change throughout life, why there's nothing wrong with losing a passion, and what Stoicism has to teach us about work, play, gratitude, and non-attachment. Sometimes the healthiest thing we can do isn't force ourselves back into an old hobby—it's to let it go, trust the season we're in, and welcome it back if life ever calls us there again. We discuss: • Why we don't choose what fascinates us  • The difference between work and play  • Why joy is deeply Stoic  • Letting go without losing yourself  • Following curiosity instead of obligation  • Why gratitude is wiser than possession