The Power of Stoic Detachment

Embracing Life's Temporary Nature: The Power of Stoic Detachment

What if nothing truly belongs to you? In this thought-provoking episode, we explore a transformative Stoic principle that challenges our fundamental understanding of ownership and attachment. Rather than promoting apathy, this perspective offers profound clarity—teaching us to see life as a series of experiences rather than possessions. The result? Less anxiety, deeper appreciation, and a remarkable freedom that comes when we stop clinging to what was never ours to keep.

This episode delves into how our suffering often stems from attachment—to people, outcomes, titles, and control. When we shift our perspective to view everything as temporary experiences rather than permanent possessions, we create space to live more fully and authentically. Through personal stories from the Kokoda Track and practical wisdom from ancient Stoics, you'll discover how embracing impermanence can transform your relationship with both joy and loss.

Timestamps & Key Takeaways:

**3:15** - The Stoic perspective: Nothing truly belongs to us, everything is simply an experience
**5:30** - How attachment creates suffering and detachment creates freedom
**8:40** - The Kokoda Track as a metaphor for impermanence and presence
**12:15** - Five practical ways to practice detachment:
- Observe experiences without claiming ownership
- Practice gratitude without possession
- Reflect daily on what you're clinging to
- Remember mortality (Memento Mori)
- Serve others without expectation

**17:30** - The paradox of loving fully while accepting impermanence

Ready to transform how you approach life's inevitable changes and challenges? This episode might be the perspective shift you've been searching for. Listen now to discover how to experience everything while being owned by nothing—and finally live with open hands and an open heart.

The Building Better Humans Project is brought to you by ADVENTURE PROFESSIONALS. Visit www.adventureprofessionals.com.au

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Approcha Production.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome back to the building BET, a Human Project podcast,
a place where we talk about mindset growth and how
to show up as the best version of yourself even
when life's uncomfortable. Say, I want to talk about a
powerful stoic principle, one that's changed how I approach everything
in my life. It's the idea that nothing belongs to me.
Everything is just an experience. Now. I know that might

(00:30):
sound a bit cold at first, almost like it's saying
I don't care about anything, but that's not it. This
isn't about apathy. It's about clarity. It's about seeing life
for what it really is, temporary, unpredictable and precious. Because
of that, and before we get into it, it creeps
out to the people who make this podcast possible, which
is our very own adventure Professionals, my team that's been

(00:51):
taking people to some of the most incredible places on
Earth for over twenty years. What I love about adventure,
and it ties perfectly in today's topic, is that every trek,
every man, every jungle is a lesson in detachment. You
can't control the worst, you can't control the train, you
can't even control how you feel out there. Some days
all you can do is experience it, be present in it,

(01:12):
and come home changed because of it. And that's what
we do with Adventure Professionals. We create experiences that remind
you what really matters. No distractions, no noise, just you, nature,
challenge and growth. So if you've ever ever thought about
doing something that pushes you beyond your comfort zone, whether
it's the Kokoda Track, Everspace Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro or one

(01:32):
of our Aussie adventures, I'd love you to check out
Adventure Professionals at www dot Adventure Professionals dot com dot
au or just shoot me a message directly. All right,
let's get back into it. The Stoics, so people like
Marcus Aurelius, Seneca Epictetis, they all said the same thing
in slightly different ways. You don't own anything, not your house,

(01:53):
not your body, not even the people that you love.
You simply get to experience them for a while. You
can hold them, appreciate them, learn from them, but you
can't keep them. And when you really get that, when
it sinks in that belongs to you, something powerful happens.
You stop clinging, you stop chasing, you stop fearing loss
so much because you realize there was never anything to lose.

(02:14):
I think about this often when I'm on the Kokoda track.
Every single trek is different, different weather, different people, different energy,
slightly different terrain. Things change in the jungle. I can
walk the same track a hundred times and it will
never be the same experience twice. And that's the point.
I don't own the experience of Kokoda. I get to
be in it, to witness it, to feel it, and

(02:36):
when I leave, the mountains stay the same. I'm the
one who's changed. That's detachment, being all in but not
owned by it, being present but not possessive. The Stoics
taught that almost all human suffering comes from attachment. We
attach to people, to outcomes, to titles, to control, and
when any of those things shift, as they always will,

(02:58):
we fall apart. We say things like I lost everything.
I can't live without them. I work so hard and
now it's gone. But here's the truth. You never owned
any of it. You just experience it for a season.
That's a confronting thought, but it's also very freeing. Think
about how much anxiety in modern life comes from the

(03:19):
idea that we're losing something that's ours. The job the relationship,
the house, the status. But if you shift the frame
and remind yourself that everything is temporary, you start to
approach life with more gratitude and less fear. You stop
saying why is this happening to me, and you start saying, Okay,
this is a part of the experience, because that's all life, ever,

(03:42):
is one experience after another. When you can let go
of the illusion of ownership, you create space to actually live.
You stop holding on so tightly that you forget to
enjoy it. You start showing up more fully because you
know it won't last forever. I've lost people, I've lost businesses,
I've lost money, I've lost versions of myself. And I

(04:03):
used to fight that feel angry or empty about it,
But now I said differently. None of it was ever
mine to keep. It was mine to learn from, to
grow through, to experience. So how do you actually practice detachment?
Let me share a few things that have helped me.
Number one, observe don't own when something happens, good or bad,

(04:25):
pause and say to yourself, this is an experience, not
this is mine, Not this defines me, just this is happening.
That tiny shift changes everything. Number two, practice gratitude without possession.
Appreciate what's here right now, knowing it's temporary. Gratitude turns
moments into gifts. Possessions turn them into prisons. Number three

(04:49):
reflect daily, ask yourself what am I clinging to? What
am I afraid to lose? And why. Most of the time,
the fear of losing something says more about our ego
than about what's real. Number four memento Mauri. Remember that
even or everything I should say will die, including you.
It's not morbid, its perspective. When you remember life's shortness,

(05:12):
you stop wasting it, you stop chasing what doesn't matter,
and you start living. What does. My last one for
today is serve others. When you give freely your time,
your care, your knowledge without needing anything back, you're living
in detachment. You're contributing, not clinging. I think this is
one of the hardest but most beautiful lessons in life,

(05:32):
to love fully knowing you can't keep what you love,
to give your best, knowing you don't control the outcome.
To walk through experience is not trying to own them,
but to learn from them. That's what stoic detachment really is.
It's not about not feeling It's not about not needing,
It's about experiencing everything but being owned by nothing. So

(05:53):
the next time you feel like something slipping away, maybe
it's a relationship, a job, your youth, your identity, just
remember this. Nothing belongs to me. Everything is an experience.
And when you can live from that space, you stop
fearing change, you stop chasing control, and you start to
experience life like really experience it with open hands and

(06:14):
an open heart. Because when you stop trying to hold
onto everything, your hands are finally free to live. That's it, team,
Thanks for tuning into The Building Better Humans Project podcast.
A massive thank you again to adventure professionals, because life's
greatest lessons aren't founding things you own, they're found in
the experiences that you live. If this episode landed for you,
please share it with someone who needs to hear it,

(06:36):
and remember life isn't about ownership, It's about experience, so
go live it.

Speaker 1 (06:50):
Thanks for listening to this episode of The Building Better
Humans Podcast with your host Glenn A'ser for feedback. To
stay up to date or go back and find an
old episode, head over to one eighty dot net dot
au here the Building Better Humans Project Podcast.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Let's go mhmm.