200,000 Readers Later - Giveaway + Special Offer
A giveaway, a discount, and a thank you.
It took me over a year to reach my first 1,000 subscribers. I kept writing anyway, refining the ideas, showing up even when the growth felt invisible.
I had no way of knowing that would lead here.
200,000
I’ve been sitting with that number and I still don’t fully know what to do with it. Proud doesn’t quite cover it. Grateful is closer. But mostly I’m humbled by the fact that so many of you keep coming back, week after week, for something I built from nothing.
Some of you have sent messages that stopped me in my tracks. That's what makes this worth doing. People actually using these ideas. Taking them into hard conversations, difficult mornings, moments where the easier thing would have been to react instead of think.
So to celebrate this milestone, I want to give something back.
I’m giving away 10 annual subscriptions.
To enter:
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Leave a comment answering this:
What’s one Stoic idea that actually changed how you handle something?
I'll pick 10 winners at random on Thursday, March 12th, and announce them in the subscriber chat.
Annual subscriptions are 50% off until Saturday, March 14th.
The full archive, exclusive essays, the complete confidence series, at half the price.
Thank you.
All 200,000 of you.
SW
One Stoic idea that actually changed how I handle things is the idea of focusing only on what I can control, something taught by Epictetus. The basic point is that some things are up to you, like your actions, effort, and attitude, and some things just aren’t, like other people’s opinions, outcomes, or random situations. When you really take that seriously, life feels lighter because you stop stressing about things that were never in your hands anyway. You just focus on doing your part properly and let the rest unfold. It’s similar to the mindset that Marcus Aurelius wrote about in Meditations, where the goal is basically to stay steady and do the right thing regardless of what’s happening around you. Paired with “memento mori” and “memento vivere,” it kind of reminds you that life is short, so there’s no point wasting energy on things you can’t control anyway. Just live properly and keep it moving. ✨
The Stoicism that recently resonated with me was the idea that the best way to react to someone or something negative is NOT to react, but to wait and let things settle. By not rushing to react and letting the dust settle, so to speak, you remove most of the emotion from the situation and can react with poise and tact. It shows an inner maturity and can make a difference in how you are seen by others. "Adulting with class" is what I call it. You literally do nothing, and it does so much for you.