Think Like a Stoic – Or at Least Pretend You Do

*(A review of Massimo Pigliucci’s Think Like a Stoic)

Congratulations, You’re Going to Die! 

Now What?

If that sentence made you panic, this book is for you. If it didn’t, either you’ve already read it or you’re in denial. Stoicism is the fine art of not losing your mind over things you can’t control. Which is most things.

Massimo Pigliucci lays out Stoicism as a kind of mental life-hack: no religious commitment required, no mandatory toga-wearing, just a practical guide to being slightly less of a mess. The core idea is music to my ears: stop whining about reality and start acting within your tiny circle of influence.

As a crypto-Buddhist, crypto-Stoic career coach, this is where I live: the space between “let go of attachment” and “for the love of Zeus, do something about your situation.” Pigliucci gets it. His book isn’t about sitting on a mountaintop contemplating the void—it’s about surviving traffic, office politics, and the occasional existential crisis without turning into a raging lunatic.

Three Career Lessons from Stoicism (That Won’t Bore You to Death) 

1. Preferred Indifferents: You Can Want Things, Just Don’t Be an Idiot About It

Want success? Money? Recognition? Great. Just don’t build your personality around it. Stoics divided life into two categories:

• Things you control (your actions, your attitude, your reactions).

• Things you don’t (literally everything else, including other people, the job market, and whether your boss has the emotional intelligence of a radish).

The sweet spot is preferred indifferents. It means, yes, go after good things, but if they slip through your fingers, don’t throw yourself into the abyss. Your career, like life, is a game of probabilities, not guarantees. You can be either strategic or desperate - which do you choose?

2. Virtue is the Highest Good—Which is a Nice Way of Saying “Don’t Be a Sellout”

Stoicism boils down to four virtues:

• Wisdom (make smart choices, avoid Twitter fights).

• Courage (do hard things, say no to soul-crushing jobs).

• Temperance (don’t chase dopamine like a golden retriever).

• Justice (don’t be a jerk; it won’t help you long-term).

Notice how “being rich” or “winning at life” didn’t make the list? That’s because the Stoics understood something most self-help books miss: real success isn’t about what you have, it’s about who you are while getting it. If you have to sell your soul for a paycheck, it’s a bad trade.

3. Friendships Matter—But Not All of Them

There are three types of friends, according to Aristotle (who the Stoics cribbed from):

• Friends of utility – You’re useful to each other. Think networking buddies, LinkedIn connections, your dentist.

• Friends of pleasure – Party friends, gym bros, people who disappear when the fun stops.

• Friends of the good – The rare few who stick around when life goes sideways.

Most people fill their lives with the first two kinds and wonder why they feel lonely. Stoics, on the other hand, were selective. They understood that a handful of real allies beats a hundred superficial connections.

(Yes, this applies to your career. Stop sucking up to people who wouldn’t remember your name if their life depended on it.)

Is This Book Worth Your Time?

If you’ve ever felt like you’re one bad email away from quitting your job and moving to a yurt, then yes. Pigliucci delivers Stoicism in a way that’s smart, engaging, and mercifully free of pretentious drivel. No, it won’t fix your life overnight, but it will give you better mental armor for the chaos ahead.

And if that’s not a career advantage, I don’t know what is.

One simple Stoic trick: Every time you leave home, pledge: ‘Today, I will be in harmony with myself and all beings around me.’ 

It’s like setting your mental GPS—so you don’t end up lost in frustration.

Your career is a plotline. Make it a good one.