In a society that applauds achievements and measures success in numbers, Alex Walk proposes a reverse path. The secret to a good life is not in the great moments nor in external recognition, but in inner serenity.

Entrepreneur and book author ImperturbableWalk has made Stoic philosophy a compass to navigate the turbulence of the modern world. And no, it does not talk about repressing emotions or turning ourselves into marble statues.l, but about learning to manage what we feelact with purpose and dedicate a few minutes every day to reflection.

Happiness and success

-Is there a secret to happiness?

Perhaps I would not define happiness as what is usually understood as an explosion, as the great party, as the great participation in something very fun. For me it is calm, it is the serenity of the soul, the serenity of the spirit.

That calm, that tranquility is what really brings us happiness. Not those explosive peaks, but that continued calm for a certain time.

-In your book you make a comparison between the words success and happiness and what they mean to you. Do we need to be successful to feel happy?

No. Success is, let’s say it, the end of something that is happy. In other words, something that we are doing an activity, whatever it may be, and it has a favorable or good or happy result, then it is a success, right? But happiness does not directly intervene with success.

As I said before, it is that calm, that tranquility of the spirit. We find success abroad. Business success, family success, a writer who has written an interesting book that has a lot of impact on a social level. All of this can be a success.

But really happiness is not there. Happiness, as I said before, is in the inner self. In being, not in having or disposing.

-If we talked before about the secret of happiness, I also wonder about the secret of success. Is there a formula for success?

Possibly, it is difficult to express it in a single equation, let’s say. But success really lies, fundamentally, and as the Stoics said, in improving ourselves, doing the best possible and giving to others. The more you give to others, the more you receive back to yourself.

As much as we do to improve ourselves, we are also improving our society. As Marcus Aurelius said, everything that is good for the bee is good for the honeycomb and everything that is good for the honeycomb is good for the bee. And one of the basic Stoic principles is that a worthy life is worth living as long as we give of ourselves to others and of ourselves for others.

modern stoicism

-Your book is titled Imperturbable. But, of course, stoicism is not about canceling our emotions, but about learning to manage them in a certain way. What do you think is the key to achieving that state of serenity that we talked about before?

Stoicism has something important and that is its practicality, it is very practical. So, it’s not about canceling out and having a face that doesn’t move, like botox. No, the other way around.

What stoicism does is, above all that turbulent current of emotions that we have, channel them and control them. There are negative emotions – for example, anger, hatred, selfishness – but there are also positive and constructive ones, such as love, justice, wisdom, kindness and all those values.

The Stoics propose is to remove negative emotions as much as possible and constantly work on positive constructive emotions, which are what will lead us to a good and happy life.

-In your book you tell us about the Stoic compass. Is this compass just practical or is it also moral?

Well, as I said before, there is a theoretical part of Stoicism that gives us a series of tools so that we can move towards practice. But Seneca, for example, said that it is not the words that are important in Stoicism, in his approach, but the facts, the actions.

So, it is not about following a whole series of theories to the letter, but about putting into practice all this knowledge, all those tools that the Stoics provide us and give us a direction. Because the compass is what guides us in a direction. But we must have that direction, because if we do not know where we are going, it is difficult for us to reach that point.

As Seneca said, “no wind is favorable for him who does not know which port he is going to.” So, we have to take advantage of the favorable winds, but knowing where we are going, because if not, it is impossible. And that is the compass, an orientation in the direction of virtue, in the direction that will facilitate that good life for us.

Great teachings

-For you, what has been the Stoic teaching that has transformed you the most on a personal level?

Well, for me, I think the most basic of all, which is that you should not be disturbed by what does not depend on you, and you should dedicate yourself exclusively to what depends on you. Very few things depend on us: our thoughts, our actions and our will. Everything else does not depend on us.

Regarding what depends on us, we can make a change. And what does not depend on us (such as the thoughts or actions of others), we have to let go, because we cannot do anything to change it. For me that is the most important thing, what depends on us and what does not depend on us.

-And to finish, if someone who does not feel that they are in a moment in which they cannot get ahead or believes that they do not have opportunities in life, that they are not going to achieve what they set out to do, what would be your advice?

Well, maybe I’m not much for advice, I’m more for recommendations. Because the council seems to need you to do what I tell you, and you have to do what you feel or think, that’s why.

So, what I would tell you is that the opportunity is there and that stoicism asks nothing of us and gives us everything. It has great simplicity, it is very easy to put into practice. Therefore, I recommend staying with the good will to act, so that, with some perseverance, and even if there are adversities, we can continue along the path.

And something tremendously important, which is reflection. In Stoicism one of the important approaches is to reflect every day. We should reflect every day on what we have done well, what we have done wrong and what we can improve tomorrow.

That is why the Stoics also asked to keep a Stoic diary, written down on paper. This is really going to tell us how we are going to improve every day.

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