We then looked at a number of Stoic techniques. Journaling facilitates the same process, but it is an intellectual process, rather than physical. It wasn't simple, it was a long process of learning, step by step, until eventually it became second nature. Then think back to the first time you sat behind the wheel of a car. All without a single thought about how to drive or what to do - it all happened naturally. Think of how today you probably jumped in the car, backed out of the driveway and drove off to work. The daily process is most important – self-mastery happens over time, not in an instant.

For Ryan Holiday, the young powerhouse who has recently published The Obstacle is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and The Daily Stoic, journaling is Stoicism.

Seneca journaled every evening to reflect on the lessons of the day.

It was never meant to be a book for public viewing as far as we know. The book Meditations is what survives as his journal.

Marcus Aurelius journaled every morning to prepare for the day ahead.The best way to do this is to slow down the process of managing our impressions, or interpreting how we perceive external events. External things are beyond our control, but we can control how we react.

Don't feel harmed - and you haven't been'. For Marcus Aurelius: 'Choose not to be harmed - and you won't feel harmed. Like with learning if we are never challenged, we never grow. Stoics see the externals as opportunities to practice our virtues. Not uncaring, not unsympathetic, simply indifferent. Our response can be good or bad, but one should be 'indifferent' to the external event. Only our actions (which are the only things we can really control) can be good or bad. So Stoics see things in terms of good, bad, or indifferent. Imagine if you were stuck with your first opinion of everything? As they say, 'first impressions last'. For Marcus Aurelius, 'external things are not the problem. Imagine if you were unable to change your first 'opinion' or 'impression' or 'perception' of what the pictures above represent? There are two possible ways to comprehend what you see.

The practising stoic