One Stoic exercise is the Memorization of Sayings: understanding and memorizing important Stoic sayings and maxims.

This practice allows you to internalize Stoic principles and have the ready at hand. It's similar to the use of coping statements in CBT.

One way to do this is create an Anki deck with your favorite quotes and sayings.

Anki is spaced-repetition software. It allows you to create flashcards and then shows you those flashcards in a timing that's optimal for retention.

A few tips:

  • Start small. Don't create too many cards otherwise you'll start to see them build up. This is demotivating.
  • Write out the cards yourself. Don't use someone else's deck. You're more likely to remember your own system.
  • Use flashcards ("Marcus Aurelius' description of the universe and life" => "the universe is transformation; life is opinion") and cloze completion (complete the blank as in "the universe is transformation; life is ") for the same quotes.
  • It's ok to put the quotes in your own words.
  • Set aside a specific time to go through your Anki cards. Ideally, it won't take more than 5 to 10 minutes. You can also try installing the habit to do it during downtime (while waiting in line, etc.)