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 differently
• The danger of using self-hatred as motivation
• How ego turns harmless comments into personal attacks
• Why acceptance does not mean approval
• When walking away is an act of discipline
• How compassion and boundaries can coexist
• Why physical health affects emotional control
• What Stoicism actually teaches about emotions

The goal is not to feel nothing. The goal is to handle what you feel without surrendering your character.

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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

Have you ever looked in the mirror and realized you’ve become someone you don’t respect?

I have.

In this deeply personal episode, I share a chapter of my life I’ve rarely talked about—the years after university when I slowly drifted into complacency. What began as well-earned rest became laziness, comfort, and eventually shame. One day I looked at the man I was becoming… and I didn’t like him.

This episode is about the long, humbling process of rebuilding your character.

We explore:

• Why good people can slowly become complacent
• How your environment quietly shapes your character
• The danger of becoming comfortable with mediocrity
• Why you must start much smaller than you think
• The Stoic idea that character is built through daily choices, not grand moments

If you’ve been feeling stuck, unmotivated, or disappointed in who you’ve become, this episode is a reminder that your story isn’t over.

You don’t have to become a different person overnight.

You just have to take the first small step.

Most people believe they know their limits.

The truth is, they only know where they’ve chosen to stop.

In this episode, I explore one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves—that discomfort equals incapability. Whether it’s grief, parenthood, illness, failure, or unexpected responsibility, history shows that ordinary people repeatedly rise to challenges they once believed impossible.

Like the reserve tank in your vehicle, human beings often have far more left than they realize.

Drawing from Stoic philosophy, personal stories, and everyday examples, this episode explores why suffering often reveals strengths that comfort never could.

In this episode:

• Why discomfort isn’t the same as your limit
• The “reserve tank” metaphor that changed how I think about resilience
• What grief, parenthood, and hardship reveal about human capability
• Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus on preparing for difficulty
• Why you’ve probably underestimated yourself

Perhaps the strongest version of you isn’t someone you have to build.

Perhaps it’s someone difficult circumstances reveal.

Most of us don’t wake up wanting to be selfish, impatient, or unkind.

So why is being good so difficult?

In this conversation, I sit down once again with Corey to explore one of the oldest questions in philosophy, faith, and everyday life. Beginning with Rudyard Kipling’s timeless poem If—, we unpack what it really means to choose goodness when life becomes uncomfortable.

We discuss why ego fights humility, why justice feels so personal, why suffering can either harden us or deepen us, and why character is built in the ordinary moments no one else sees.

Along the way we explore marriage, wrestling, strength training, silence, comparison, purpose, shared suffering, and even Eminem’s Walk on Water as a reflection on identity after success.

Goodness isn’t a feeling.

It’s a practice.

And perhaps the greatest victory isn’t over other people—but over ourselves.

Most people hear Walk on the Moon and think about astronauts.

I think about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

The father holding his newborn.
The recovering alcoholic walking into their first meeting.
The woman rebuilding her life after divorce.
The man finally leaving the job that’s been draining him for years.

We all have a “walk on the moon.”

In this episode, I use one of my favorite songs as a lens to explore courage, regret, fear, Stoicism, and what it really means to chase the life that’s calling you.

We’ll discuss:
• Why “someday” often becomes “never”
• The games we regret never playing
• Why courage almost always looks like trembling
• The thousands of small steps behind every giant leap
• How to identify your own walk on the moon

You’ve got one life.

The question isn’t whether you’ll ever walk on the moon.

The question is whether you’ll have the courage to walk toward yours.

We all know we should learn from our mistakes.

But somewhere along the way, many of us confuse self-reflection with self-punishment.

In this episode, I explore the difference between shadow work and self-loathing. Drawing from Stoicism, Carl Jung, Seneca, Dostoevsky, and Tolkien, I examine why looking honestly at our flaws is necessary—and why beating ourselves up for them isn’t.

The goal isn’t to ignore your mistakes.

The goal is to face them honestly, learn from them, and move forward without carrying unnecessary suffering.

Because grace is a paradox:

“I accept you exactly as you are, and I believe you can become more.”

That applies not only to your friends and family.

It applies to you.