A Stoic Psychotherapist on the Inner Game of Powerful Men | Donald Robertson

About this episode

Donald Robertson discusses the Stoic approach to emotional regulation and composure with Ben Pakulski.

Want to work with Muscle Intelligence? Apply Now Most men try to out-discipline their emotions and wonder why they still snap, freeze, or stew at the worst possible moment. Donald Robertson, the cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist who wrote the book on thinking like a Roman emperor, has spent three decades proving there's a better operating system. Drawing on the same Stoic playbook that ran an empire, he and Ben discuss why composure isn't suppression, why the calmest man in the room is almost never the one trying hardest to stay calm, and where the real leverage hides inside every reaction you have. The edge, it turns out, lives in a gap most people never notice… the split second between what happens to you and what you make it mean. Robertson breaks down the two-phase machinery behind anger and anxiety, the reason your meditation practice keeps failing you the moment you actually need it, and the counterintuitive move Marcus Aurelius used to command loyalty when his own generals turned against him. If you've built the career, the body, and the bank account and still get hijacked by your own nervous system, this is the conversation that explains why — and what the most…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Pakulski

Guest: Donald Robertson

Topics covered

• Stoicism
• emotional regulation
• cognitive-behavioral therapy
• composure
• meditation
• anxiety
• anger

Keywords

• Stoicism
• emotions
• composure
• meditation
• anxiety
• anger
• cognitive-behavioral therapy
• Marcus Aurelius

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: thinking like a Roman emperor

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