Hey, we get it: when you discover Stoicism, it’s tough not to tell everyone about it. But that urge to blab about your knowledge and show people how great you’re becoming can hold you back . . . which is why one famous Stoic thinker used to warn his students about a vomiting sheep.
About 2,000 years ago, a dude named Epictetus said that going around showing everyone how wise Stoicism is making you actually keeps you from improving yourself.
“If anyone starts talking about philosophy, stay quiet, because you might end up just vomiting out the stuff you’ve learned without digesting it. Sheep don’t throw up grass to show a shepherd how much they ate . . . instead, they digest it and use their food to produce wool and milk.”
Epictetus
If you really apply Stoicism to your life and focus on using it to grow, then other people are going to notice that you’ve changed. You won’t need to tell them about your progress, because they’ll see it in your actions.
If you’re busy bragging to everyone about your wisdom, then you’re wasting time that could be used to improve yourself and live a happier life.
Besides . . . who the heck cares what other people think about you, anyway? It doesn’t matter.
So, are you learning Stoicism and then vomiting it out to show people how great you are? Or are you applying it to your life and using it to become a better person . . . without worrying about other people’s opinions?