Journal Like a Stoic

I heard the author on another podcast, and this book raised my interest. In it's form, it's really a workbook. She has 10 pages of general Stoicism background - enough of the basics to ground you, then 90 days of exercises to practice your journaling.

Each day is titled and has a quote from one of the ancient Stoics. She then offers her take in several sentences and then has two questions to ruminate on. Each day has at least one page of lines for notes.

I find the daily exercises to be very nice and not strenuous. However, this may not be for everyone. Her take on the quote and two questions should be sufficient for most if not all. Doing this well does require some rigor, and the ability to set aside 15-30 mins each day to write your entry.

I can't bear to deface a book, so I'm writing my thoughts to her questions in my other journal which I've sputtered with, but do want to get better.

This book would be good for Stoicism devotees who want to get a journaling habit on track. Paperback. I plan to revisit this and use these questions to stimulate thoughts beyond my completion of her program.

I stumbled upon the study of Stoicism just over a year ago and found it intriguing but when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I got more serious about it. Having a good grasp of what I can and cannot control became very important. Now that I'm cancer-free, I've gotten away from studying but Journal Like a Stoic is helping me to get back into the groove.

The book is broken down into two parts: first, a brief history of the philosophy so the reader is prepared for the more hands-on bits in the second part, the actual journaling prompts. I was happy with the amount of history given - not a tremendous amount - because my real interest is the journaling. Was not disappointed with the prompts, for sure. Polat shares quotes and background and then lays out the prompts which helps to keep it all in context. And don't skip around! These are meant to be tackled in order.

Now that I've gone through with reading it all, I'm ready to get down to business with the writing and reflecting bits.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.