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THE BIG IDEAS The Stoic Challenge

Setbacks
A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More
And exemplars of personal triumph.
Resilient
BY WILLIAM B. IRVINE · W. W. NORTON & COMPANY © 2019 · 224 PAGES
Resilience Continuum
And antifragility.

The Stoic Test

Is where it’s at. “This book is an exercise in what might be thought of as twenty-first-century
Stoicism. In these pages, I have fused the advice given by the first-century Stoic
The Frame Game
Play it well! philosophers with the research done by late twentieth-century psychologists. Some
Sinking Anchors in academia will resent me for meddling with classical Stoicism in this manner.
Via negative visualization. They think of Stoicism the way they think of a priceless ancient relic—as something
Studying for Stoic Tests to be kept in a hermetically sealed case, to be seen but not touched. By contrast, I
By challenging yourself. TODAY! treat Stoicism as a tool that, although in need of sharpening because of the passage
of time, is not only still useful but can have a profoundly beneficial impact on
modern lives. ...

I begin by describing the sorts of setbacks to which we are susceptible and the ways
in which we typically respond to them. Although many people become frustrated,
angry, anxious, or even despondent, others take setbacks in their stride. How do
they do it?

I then explore the psychology of setbacks: why do they affect us emotionally

“It is tempting, at this point,
to describe the Stoics as
patient people, and indeed they
were, but a caveat is in order.
In one sense, a patient person
is one who can suffer a
setback without complaint.
That is not, however, what
the Stoics were doing. Their
goal was not to remain calm
while *suffering* a setback
but rather to experience a
setback *without thereby
suffering*. It is an
important difference.”
~ William B. Irvine
the way they do? I go on to show how, instead of thinking of setbacks merely
as unfortunate experiences, we can reframe them as tests of our resilience and
ingenuity. Doing this can have a profound impact on how we respond to them.
Instead of experiencing a mixture of anger and anxiety, we might be surprised to
discover that we are rising enthusiastically to the challenge presented by a setback.
And finally I show how using the Stoic test strategy, besides helping our days go
better, can help us have a good life—and when it comes time to make our exit from
this world, a good death.”
~ William B. Irvine from The Stoic Challenge
William B. Irvine is a professor of philosophy at Wright State University. He’s also a fantastic
(and prolific) writer.
And... Unlike many of his academic, professor-of-philosophy peers, he is a practicing Stoic
philosopher. In the words of Donald Robertson (another Stoic author and practitioner; see The
Philosophy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), he is both a librarian AND a warrior of the mind.
We featured another one of Professor Irvine’s great books on Stoicism called A Guide to the
Good Life. I enjoyed that one quite a bit but I REALLY (!) enjoyed this one. Like, jumbo loved it.
In fact, I’m going to put this one right at the top of our growing collection of books on Stoicism—
along with the must-read classics by Aurelius (Meditations), Seneca (Letters from a Stoic, On
the Shortness of Life), and Epictetus (Discourses, Enchiridion) plus the modern classics like
Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle Is the Way and The Daily Stoic.

If you’re looking for “A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient,”

1 PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge


“Ideally, the setback won’t
give rise to negative emotions
within us, not because we
are successfully concealing
our distress but because we
have no distress to conceal.”
~ William B. Irvine
“The word commiserate
comes from the Latin
commiseratus, which in turn
derives from com, meaning
‘with,’ and miser meaning
‘wretched.’ We want them, in
other words, to get angry as
well, so they can share our
wretchedness.”
~ William B. Irvine
2 PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge
I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I HIGHLY recommend it. (Get a copy here.)
Of course, it’s PACKED (!) with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share a handful of my favorites we
can apply to our lives TODAY, so let’s jump straight in!
SETBACKS AND EXEMPLARS OF PERSONAL TRIUMPH
“Setback stories like those related above leave me with curiously mixed emotions. On hearing
them, I might be moved to tears, but at the same time, I might feel ashamed for myself for
taking so much of my life for granted. In the course of going about my daily business, I might
experience a minor setback, like discovering that all the parking spaces close to the grocery store
have been taken. Oh, great! I might think, only to recall that in walking the few more steps that
I was complaining about, I was living the life that Stephen Hawking or Jean-Dominique Bauby
could only dream of. Shame on me!
Although setback stories can sadden and shame us, they can also be enormously uplifting. In
them, we encounter ordinary people who have experienced setbacks vastly more challenging
than any we are likely to experience, and who, instead of wallowing in self-pity, responded with
courage and intelligence. They thereby transformed what could have been personal tragedy into
personal triumph.”
That’s from the third chapter in Part I: Dealing with Life’s Challenges. Chapter 1 is on
“Setbacks.” Chapter 2 is on “Anger Issues.” And Chapter 3 is on “Resilience.”
Professor Irvine walks us through the fact that “setbacks” are an inherent part of life. He tells us
that, of course, there are a range of ways with which we can choose to deal with those setbacks.
Although many of us forget, we’d be wise to remember the fact (and the Stoic wisdom) that how
we choose to respond to setbacks is ALWAYS (!) a CHOICE.
We’ll talk more about the “resilience continuum” and how to leverage Stoic wisdom for modern
awesome in a moment. For now, how about some radiant resilient exemplars?
William gives us a bunch of stories to shine a light on what’s possible.
How about Bethany Hamilton? You know, the 13-year-old surfer who lost her arm when a shark
bit it off. How’d she respond to that setback? She was back in the water 26 days (!) later. And
winning championships within a couple years. Now, she’s a pro surfer and world-class exemplar.
Then there’s Stephen Hawking. Lou Gehrig’s disease slowly took away his ability to move his
body or even talk. What did he do? He changed the world of theoretical physics—communicating
with his assistant by raising his eyebrows and, eventually, via software designed for him that
allowed him to type computer messages using a clicker.
These exemplars are important because they shine a light on what’s possible. If THEY can
surmount THEIR difficulties, then we can surmount ours. (See: The Science of Self-Confidence.)
I recently experienced the power of seeing someone else do something I wasn’t sure I could do.
Short story: I’m at the Spartan World Championships. I wasn’t planning to do the Race. (In
part, due to the fact that I had 20 screws put into my wrist and wasn’t supposed to be able to do
burpees yet let alone a 14-mile race with 39 obstacles.)
Then... Emerson runs into a guy with NO LEGS who was there to do the Race. He told me,
“Daddy. If he can do it, so can you.” Yes. If he can do it, so can I. So I did.
(btw: That guy’s name? Casey McCallister. Check him out here. He’s one of my heroes.)
So... Setbacks. They happen. The question for us is: Then what?
The Stoic answer? That, of course, is what the book is all about.
 P.S. I just told Alexandra about this book over lunch. She said, “That’s amazing. The kids and I
just learned about Spencer West. He doesn’t have legs. And he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro.” Check
out this astonishing video of another radiant exemplar showing us how to face setbacks.

RESILIENCE/ANTIFRAGILITY
“If you are reading these
“We explored what might be called the resilience continuum. At one end we find resilient
words, you are doubtless
individuals. When they encounter a setback, they bounce back quickly—or better still, they don’t
a thoughtful individual
get upset by the setback, meaning they have nothing to bounce back from. They come off looking
who spends time and energy strong and even heroic. At the other end of the continuum we find fragile individuals. On being
thinking ahead in order to set back, they become flustered, angry, or even despondent. As a result, they tend to be unhappy,
prevent foreseeable setbacks. and their friends and relatives may pity them rather than admire them.”
But have you also spent
Welcome to Chapter 4: “Can We Become More Resilient?” (<- Answer: Yes.) As I read that
time and energy developing a
paragraph, I underlined “fragile.” Then I drew the “continuum.” Like so:
strategy for minimizing the
emotional harm done to you
( ) ———————— ( ) ————————— ( )

by unforeseeable setbacks? Fragile Resilient Antifragile

You should have, since
Although William doesn’t actually use the word “antifragile,” that’s EXACTLY what he hints at
when you add up the costs
throughout the book.
imposed on you by being set
Recall the theme we come back to again and again (and again). If you’re fragile, when you get
back, you will often find that
knocked around, you break. If you’re resilient, you last a little longer before you break and then
the biggest cost by far is
you bounce back faster. BUT... When we’re antifragile, we actually GET STRONGER every time
emotional distress a setback
we’re knocked around. Nassim Taleb says that the wind extinguishes a candle. But it fuels a fire.
triggers.”
As William puts it: Fragile people get hit by a setback and get “flustered, angry, or even
~ William B. Irvine
despondent.” Resilient people bounce back quickly. ANTIFRAGILE (near heroic!) exemplars?
“They don’t even get upset by the setback, meaning they have nothing to bounce back from.”

Wouldn’t that be AMAZING?! To have no negative emotional response to life’s inevitable

challenges? To simply see everything in our lives as opportunities to practice our philosophy and
fuel for our growth? The Stoics thought so, too.

P.S. William also puts it this way: “A resilient person will refuse to play the role of victim. To
play this role is to invite pity, and she doesn’t regard herself as a pitiful being. She is strong
and capable. She may not be able to control whether she is a target of injustice, but she has
considerable control over how she responds to being targeted. She can let it ruin her day
and possibly her life, or she can respond to it bravely, remaining upbeat while she looks for
workarounds to the obstacles that people have wrongly placed in her path.”

Plus: “Consider how different our world would be if Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi
had played the role of victim. Suppose, more precisely, that they had been raised to think it
was emotionally risky to deal with setbacks on their own and that at any rate, they shouldn’t
have to deal with them. Under such circumstances, they probably wouldn’t have responded
to the injustices they experienced as bravely as they did. They might instead have made an
appointment with a therapist for advice on how best to cope with their situation, or they might
have restricted their efforts to writing heartfelt letters to elected officials.”

P.P.S. William references Elizabeth Kübler-Ross’s stages of grief a number of times—pointing

out the fact that research shows flaws in her model. He says: “If we presented a Stoic with a
list of Kübler-Ross’s five stages of grief, his response would be to skip the first four—denial,
anger, bargaining, and depression—and go directly to stage five, acceptance. The Stoic would
add that since we don’t have it in our power to resurrect the dead, we are wasting our time
mourning their passing excessively. To the extend possible, we should simply accept their death
and get on with life.”

PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge 3

 “Stoics, as we have seen,
are often caricatured as
emotionless, wooden figures,
but this simply isn’t the
case. The Roman Stoics had
a reputation for being not
just optimistic but positively
cheerful.”
~ William B. Irvine
4 PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge
THE STOIC TEST STRATEGY
“The Stoics weren’t anti-emotion; indeed, they placed a high value on positive emotions,
including delight, joy, and a sense of awe. They knew that without these emotions, ours would be
a gray existence—and probably pointless as well. At the same time, though, they were intent on
reducing the number of negative emotions they experienced, including frustration, anger, grief,
and disappointment.
This is why they came up with what I am calling the Stoic test strategy. To employ it, we assume
that setbacks we experience are not simply underserved tribulations but tests of our ingenuity
and resilience, administered by imaginary Stoic gods. To pass these tests, we must not only
come up with effective workarounds to setbacks but must also, while doing so, avoid the onset of
negative emotions.
By treating a setback as a Stoic test, we take our subconscious mind out of the setback-response
loop. More precisely, we preclude it from suggesting a finger-pointing explanation for a setback,
an explanation that assumes that someone else is taking advantage of us or abusing us. This
prevents the activation of our emotions, which not only dramatically lowers the personal cost
of being set back but also improves our chances of dealing with the setback in a thoughtful
manner.”
Alright. We’re officially ready for the tools that will help us meet life’s setbacks with the
toughness, calmness and resilience of a modern Stoic.
First thing to note: Stoics were not EMOTIONLESS automatons. They just thought the good life
was one in which we experienced a lot more joy and tranquility than anger, anxiety and despair.
And, they were willing to do the hard work to CREATE that eudaimonic equanimity.
Which brings us to William’s #1 tool: The Stoic Test Strategy.
Facing a challenge in your life? Rather than get all up in your stuff about, try stepping back,
smiling and saying something along the lines of: “Aha!! The Stoic gods are testing me here! I see
what they’re up to. They threw this challenge in my way to see just how strong I’m getting. Bring.
It. On!! LET’S DO THIS!” (Of course, insert your preferred entity as the issuer of the test—
whether that’s your Christian God or Muslim Allah or even an admired hero or coach.)
That’s “The Stoic Challenge.” We’d be wise to reframe the setback. Which leads us to...
PLAYING THE FRAME GAME
“The last frame that we shall consider has gamelike elements: when confronted by a setback,
the Stoics say, we should pretend that imaginary Stoic gods are testing us with our well-being
in mind. To pass this test—and thereby win the game—we must stay calm while finding a
workaround for the setback. It is a fanciful frame, to be sure, but useful nonetheless.
The ancient Stoics knew that although we have limited control over what setbacks we experience,
we have considerable discretion in how we frame them and hence considerable control over how
they affect us. People normally think of setbacks as annoying events, or even worse, undeserved
tribulations; as a result, they respond by getting frustrated or angry. By choosing another frame,
we can keep our cool in the face of a setback and thereby increase our chances of finding the
optimal workaround. And not only that, but by employing the Stoic test frame, we can interpret
setbacks as interesting challenges, thereby deriving a degree of satisfaction from dealing with
them. This sounds amazing, I know, but it’s true...”
That’s from a chapter called “The Frame Game” in which William connects ancient Stoic ideas to
modern science. Short story: There are a LOT of ways we can choose to explain what’s happening
to us—how we “frame” setbacks. Some are more effective than others.

“Whereas the use of
anchoring can help us better
appreciate our lives, the
use of framing can prevent
setbacks from disrupting
our tranquility; indeed, frame
events cleverly, and we might
even find ourselves welcoming
the setbacks we experience.”
~ William B. Irvine
PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge
The most common frame we use when we’re in fragile-mode? “The Blame Game.” It’s not very
helpful. In fact, it’s the fastest way to experience all the negative emotions we’re trying to avoid.
William encourages us to imagine that you’re running on a big green field. Then someone
comes up from behind you and TACKLES you! How would you respond? Well, if that’s all the
information you had, you might get quite angry and react from a “blame frame,” eh?
But... What if you were playing rugby or American football? Then “it would be absurd for you to
point an accusing finger and place the event in a blame frame. You should instead place it in
what might be called a game frame. Getting tackled is, after all, part of the game of rugby, and
if you didn’t want to get tackled, you should have stayed off the field of play.”
The good news? We can make our ENTIRE LIVES one big game. And... Guess what? Getting
tackled is part of the deal. So we might as well make it fun. :)
SINKING ANCHORS
“The ancient Stoic philosophers were way ahead of these psychologists and businessmen. They
employed the anchoring phenomenon not to sell shirts but to have a more fulfilling life. In
particular, they would periodically make a point of imagining ways in which their lives could
be worse. This might sound like a recipe for a miserable existence, but was in fact quite the
opposite. By thinking about how things could be worse, they effectively sank an anchor into their
subconscious minds (not that they thought in these psychological terms). The presence of the
anchor affected how they subsequently felt about their current situation. Instead of comparing it
to the superior situations they routinely found themselves dreaming of, they compared it to the
inferior situations they imagined and thereupon concluded that things weren’t so bad.
This process, now known as negative visualization, is one of the most remarkable psychological
instruments in the Stoic tool kit. It is important to realize that in advising us to negatively
visualize, the Stoics weren’t advocating that we dwell on how things could be worse; that would
indeed be a recipe for misery. Instead, what we should do is periodically have flickering thoughts
about how our lives and circumstances could be worse.”
That’s from a chapter called “Sinking Anchors” in which William tells us about some of the
fascinating research done on what is now known as the “anchoring effect.”
Get this: It’s 1974. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman are doing some research. They have
people spin a wheel of fortune. It looks like it could land on any number between 1 and 100.
But... It was rigged so half of the time it landed on 10 and the other half on 65.
They had people spin the wheel. It landed on either 10 or 65. Then they asked them to guess
what percentage of the nations in the UN were African. Those whose subconscious minds were
“anchored” to 10 guessed, on average, that 25% of the nations in the UN were African while
those who landed on 65 guessed 45%. (Think about that for a moment. That’s crazy.)
The practical application of the “anchoring effect”? It’s a paradoxically powerful practice.
Imagine that things could be WORSE than they are. Just a flicker.
Here’s how I did it this morning in my Carpe Diem journaling. I started by doing my normal Big
3 (x2) (+1s): Energy + Work + Love x Identity + Virtues + Behaviors. Then I reflected on how
things could be worse in each of those domains. I could have cancer. I could have a job I hated.
My kids could be chronically ill.
What’s interesting is that just yesterday Eleanor fell and hit her head hard enough at the park
to get Alexandra to call our pediatrician. As I held her while she was crying I thought of how
precious and brilliant our 2 1/2-year old is. Thankfully, she’s fine. But this morning I had a
profound sense of appreciation for the fact that she didn’t suffer permanent brain damage.
It’s hard to put it into words, but that simple flicker of a “negative visualization” created more
5
 authentic gratitude than any “gratitude journaling” I’ve ever done. I was TRULY grateful for her
mind being intact. I didn’t take it for granted. The “anchor” significantly boosted my sense of joy
and gratitude for life.

How about YOU? How could your life be WORSE? If you feel so inspired, allow that thought to
“In his autobiography,
flicker in your mind for a moment. And see what happens.
Theodore Roosevelt offered
this bit of Stoic-inspired
STUDYING FOR STOIC TESTS
advice: ‘Do what you can,
“A spectator at a regatta would naturally think that I am rowing against the other rowers.
with what you’ve got, where
From my Stoic point of view, though, the other rowers are my teammates in a much more
you are.’”
important undertaking: my battle against Lazy Bill. I have nothing against winning a race, in the
~ William B. Irvine conventional sense of the word, by rowing faster than the other boats that have entered. What
really matters to me, though, is that I soundly defeat Lazy Bill.

I am probably not alone in having a lazy self lurking within me; indeed, it is conceivable that
you, dear reader, have one as well. In the coming days, be on the lookout for this being, and
when it appears, don’t simply capitulate, but consider your options. Experiment with ignoring
or even reprimanding it. Ask yourself whether you really want this lowly creature, who has never
accomplished anything worthy of note, running your life.”

That’s from one of the final chapters on “Studying for Stoic Tests” in which William walks us
through the how’s and why’s of training our toughness by creating challenges for ourselves.

He also tells us some pretty funny stories about his rowing experiences. And... He introduces us
to Lazy Bill—that part of himself that’s always trying to talk himself out of crushing it. (Think:
Part X, Resistance, or whatever you want to call it. Lazy Bri works for me. :)

William uses rowing as a way to “study for Stoic tests” by getting more and more comfortable
with being more and more uncomfortable. I use Spartan Races. I mean... They are the PERFECT
metaphor for the Stoic Challenge—I PAY to go over and under and through obstacles.

William tells us that, ultimately, the obstacles we face in life can be viewed through the heroic
lens of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey. The hero NEEDS the challenges to become all he/she’s
destined to be. And so do we. So... Let’s face them with calm, antifragile confidence. TODAY.

Brian Johnson,
Philosopher in Residence

If you liked this Note, About the Author of “The Stoic Challenge”
you’ll probably like… WILLIAM B. IRVINE

A Guide to the Good Life

William B. Irvine is professor of philosophy at Wright State University. The
Letters from a Stoic author of seven books, including The Stoic Challenge and A Guide to the Good
Meditations Life, he has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Salon,
Time, and the BBC. He lives in Dayton, Ohio.
Discourses
The Obstacle Is the Way
About the Author of This Note
The Daily Stoic BRIAN JOHNSON
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Brian Johnson loves helping people optimize their lives so they can actualize
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more and optimize your life at optimize.me.

6 PhilosophersNotes | The Stoic Challenge