The Curriculum

Ten Weeks. Ten Modules.

Week 1 — Values and the Existential Vacuum

The Stoics defined values not as what we admire, but as what we are willing to sacrifice for. This is the anchor point of the entire methodology. How do we define our values? What’s getting in the way of defining them? We will look at some useful, and maybe uncomfortable truths about values.

Week 2 — The Neuroanatomy of Emotion

Our emotions can take control of the situation in a split second. How do we manage that innately human response to postive and negative circumstances? What do we need to pay attention to, how to do we get in a zone?

Week 3 — Resilience and Antifragility

The data is clear, we have overcorrected in our society for pleasure, comfort, and abundance. In order to grow, we must learn to do hard things, become resilient, put ourselves deliberately uncomfortable and challenging situations. Practical tips for building the scaffolding both mentally and physically to prepare us to take on the challenges that life has to offer.

Week 4 — The Ego & The Narrative

We all have a story about our life, whether we know it or not. It can be conscious or unconscious. The question is, is this story helping us or hindering us? This story can also create various types of “fog” that will obscure our ability to be objective about our life and our experience. Rejecting unhelpful narratives, then reframing our lives through a scientific lens helps to quiet the ego when it is unhelpful. We’ll discuss practical approaches here.

Week 5 — Shame & Social Pain

Even when we heal our wounds and are living a good life, those wounds can creep back in when we least expect them. Shame can also hinder our ability to build one of the most important pillars of healthy living, our relationships. Where does shame come from? How do we handle it when it rears its head expectedly or unexpectedly?

Week 6 — Stoic Mental Governance

With weeks 1-5 you have learned some foundational principles, and common challenges to healthy/productive living. You now have the scaffolding to go philosophically much deeper. We come to one of the core stoic principles, learning what is in our control and what is not, and learning to live usefully with that idea.

Week 7 — Boundary Architecture

Our work began focused on our internal experience, gradually expanding outward to the external world. We come to one of the most important principles of healthy living in the external world, boundaries. How to identify them, how many different kinds there are, and how to maintain them. We will explore what roll emotions do (or don’t?) play in setting healthy boundaries.

Week 9 — Social Frameworks and Community

We often find ourselves in social situations in a variety of contexts. Problems start to arise when we don’t have a clear understanding of the rules of engagement. It is common to run into trouble when we confuse one context for another. Why is it important to understand intimacy around a kitchen table vs. intimacy around the conference table? The rules are not the same, but it can FEEL like they are. To get the most out of this week it is essential that we have mastered the principles guiding the Ego & Narrative, Mental Governance, Boundary, and Relationship work.

Week 8 — Relationships

Another essential pillar of a healthy, rewarding life. We will explore the science behind friendships, take a deeper dive into what we need from friendships and the different types of friendships that can exist. A useful approach may be to take a “portfolio” approach to friendships and relationships.

Week 10 — Focus, Vocation & Execution

With a solid foundation to build from, we explore our external world further. How do we spend our time? What do we spend it on? What does it look like? How to we manage our work? Is meaningful work important? For some maybe, others not as much. Everyone is different. What does it mean to be disciplined? Have focus?