Dear Lover of Wisdom, 
Welcome to my blog. Here you will see mainly videos from ALKISTIS-TV®.
After more than 15 years, it is still going strong, with more valuable content
than ever before.
"Wisdom, Wellness & Wonder" are the theme of my show, that centers
around Greek Philosophy and the Art of Living.
ALKISTIS-TV® weekly episodes are viewed by CEOs and top executives
all over the world​ including professional Greeks of the diaspora. 
The unique motivational weekly series in English is estimated to reach 
​10,000+ exclusive (CEO) viewers by May 2020.

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Thank you for subscribing!
​Alkistis
(Dr. Alkistis Agio, Trainer, Author of THE STOIC CEO)

Did you know that you are often lying to yourself and you are now even aware of it? We often take our beliefs and thoughts for granted, thinking to ourself that just because we thought about it, it means it's 'right' or 'correct' or 'true'...
​This self-deception is a habit for many people, who don't take the time for mindfulness ie to reflect on their own thinking. Socrates, the famous Greek philosopher often had dialogues with people that would slowly (but surely) reveal to them how they lie to themself about the most important things in their life.

He even compared himself to a 'gadfly'; Like a gadfly irritates a horse, Socrates
would make people uncomfortable, by posing novel, potentially upsetting
​questions (based on logic and reason) about their beliefs and their way of life.
In this exercise with a group of young diplomats I act in a way similar to Socrates....
This video is part of a recent workshop that I gave at the Academy of Diplomats
in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a leadership training program.
If you would like to invite me to speak to your group about SELF-LEADERSHIP,
do not hesitate to contact me.
​For more details click here:
https://www.alkistis.net/leadership-training.html

Today, we all know that there is an epidemic of 'fake news', but did you know that you often tell yourself 'fake stories'?We have the tendency to assemble unrelated events of the past into stories that we keep telling ourself. These stories are often gratifying to narrate, but they are misleading. 

They lead to a sense of certainty and coherence, but they are founded on half-truths...They are not real. To make matters worse, we also go around narrating these same stories to other people, often hoping for some appreciation and acceptance and even admiration...
It makes us feel good to dominate the conversation and tell these stories about how great you are, but do you really think that people are not on to you? Do you think you can fool people? Just because they seem to be enjoying your big stories, it doesn't mean that they believe you! 
​That's why Epictetus, the great Stoic philosopher said, " In public avoid talking often and extensively about your accomplishments and adventures, for however much you enjoy recounting your adventures, it's not so pleasant for others to hear about your affairs..." Enchiridion 33:14 So next time you are about to open your mouth, ask yourself: Is it true? is it kind? Is it useful? ​​

One of the best ways to start this year is to do an ancient technique for
weathering the storms that may be coming your way…
The Roman Stoics called this practice “Premeditatio Malorum”.
​“Premeditation of evils” simply means taking a moment to think through
​everything that could go wrong with a particular plan. ​

​Regularly engaging in premeditation of evils delivers three main benefits.
First, it forces us to consider outcomes that are unpleasant but fairly likely.
Second, it prepares us for hardship in general.
Third, it makes you more realistic.
So before you start making big plans for 2020,
​I recommend you do this exercise of “Premeditatio Malorum”
​
Enjoy & as always, share your comments &
support my work on Patreon.com !

Sincerely, 
​Alkistis

​Managing your psycho-physiology, (Greek: thoughts-body (ie “State”) is no easy task, especially when there are deep seated fears and insecurities. The application of Ethos, Pathos and Logos as ‘filtering system’ for dealing with unwanted thoughts is very useful, as this anecdotal story with Socrates demonstrates....

 
This video is part of a recent workshop that I gave at the Academy of Diplomacy in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs as part of a leadership training program. If you would like to invite me to speak to your group about SELF-LEADERSHIP, do not hesitate to contact me. For more details click HERE or click on the image below.

The aim of this video is to support you to overcome a big challenge that you are facing right now. In ancient times people set time aside without distractions for contemplation. Today we are too busy (and have a very limited concentration span), so I made this video to walk you through some thoughts that may be very helpful in your process to get inspiration and solutions.

The video will mainly help you to create the time and space necessary to gain clarity on anything that is really frustrating to you lately. You can keep replaying this video until you get a solution...Be patient with yourself, the solution is already there, and will rise to the surface, as you do this ASMR exercise.
​
Enjoy & as always, share your comments &
support my work on Patreon.com !

Words cannot express the exhilaration of going to India and doing a TEDx talk 
in Odisha, India. So, I just thought that I would bring you along, on a very
​short "virtual trip" with me to India and to my TEDtalk; 

See some of the sights and sounds of "Incredible India" where
I had the honor of being invited to give a TEDxtalk on
" OVERCOMING FRUSTRATION, ANXIETY & ANGER THROUGH
THE 3 GOLDEN PRINCIPLES OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY"
Many years ago, when I was a learning yoga, I longed to go to India,
but I couldn't afford the long trip, my wish came true, when
the International Management Institute of Bhubaneswar invited me.
The trip surpassed my expectations, mainly because of the 
incredibly welcoming people who received me there.
I made the video short and sweet, and I hope it inspires you to 
visit India one day soon too!

“Most excellent men, are you not ashamed to care for the acquisition of wealth and for reputation and honor, when you neither care nor take thought for wisdom and truth in the perfection of your soul... ” - Socrates (The Apology, Plato 399 BC)

All human beings naturally strive after happiness, thought Socrates,
for the pursuit of happiness (Eudaimonia) is the greatest goal in our life.
And everything we do, we do because we think it will make us happy.
​We therefore label what we think will bring us happiness as ‘good’.
And those things we think will bring us suffering and pain we label as ‘bad’.
So it follows, that if we have a mistaken conception of what is good, then we
will spend our lives frantically chasing after things that will not bring us
happiness, even if we attain them.
Socrates has been proven right after all, by modern science:
Scientific surveys in many countries over decades proved that most
blue-collar working people are just as happy as rich people, and
teenagers from working class families describe themselves as
happier than teenagers from affluent families.
The point here is that obtaining wealth and power are fine but are
not ends in themselves. We must also satisfy our soul, which
seeks love, connection, contribution, harmony in order to be truly fulfilled.
That may seem obvious, but how many of us have
lost track of... What is really valuable and good for us, in our pursuit for the stars?

How do you feel about this?
Share your comments!
Remember:
"The quality of your life depends on the
​quality of your thoughts...." as Marcus Aurelius taught...
And the quality of these videos
depend on the quality of your patronship ! ; ) THANKS
Love Always,
Alkistis

Self-Leadership means having: A developed sense of who you are, where you’re going, and what you want, as well as... The ability to formulate a strategy and influence and inspire yourself and others to follow it through.
​Self-Leadership is probably the most important skill you can ever develop as a person and as a professional. And as you see, it’s quite complicated. WATCH VIDEO.

The importance of self-leadership, has been taught since the beginning of history, when the ancient Greek sages recited The Odyssey, the story of King Odysseus setting out on a journey to return to his homeland after the end of the Trojan war.

He famously faces countless dangers and hardship - monsters like the Cyclops, the Scylla and Charybdis, enchantresses like Queen Circe and the Sirens, but he never loses hope or focus, no matter how big the obstacles, because he knows what he wants. He wants to return home to his wife and family.

To his kingdom. It doesn’t matter that the gods, the winds and the sea are all against him. He conquers his demons, adapting to changes, keeping his course, fighting through storms and monsters, to the very end, because his goal is clear, virtuous and heartfelt, and it gives him the strength and purpose he needs.

“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.” - Plato
​
Watch today's VIDEO (above) episode where I share with you part of my speech at Stoicon Athens !
It was featured in The Sunday Times Magazine...

Keep on sharing your comments
below and most of all, support my
​work via www.patreon.com/alkistis 
You will get many wonderful
gifts & benefits in return!
Sincerely, 
​Alkistis

The SUNDAY TIMES (Dec. 8, 2019) recently published an article about "Stoicon Conference of Athens" explaining how Silicon Valley CEO's are turning to Modern Stoicism for wisdom and strength. Here is how it begins...

"About 2,300 years ago a successful businessman suffered a reversal of fortune over which he had no control. Zeno of Citium was sailing from Cyprus with a ship full of expensive purple dye, which had been squeezed from special snails – a costly procedure. There was a storm, the ship went down and, with it, Zeno’s livelihood. He was left a beggar, roaming the streets of Athens in rags. But rather than becoming depressed or trying to get his snail-dye business going again, he became a philosopher, launching a school of thought that would become known as Stoicism, based on the central premise that we shouldn’t get upset about things over which we have no control...Much has changed in the past two millennia, but mankind still seeks answers to the complexities of life.." ​

In 2019 I had the honour of being chosen to co-organize STOICON, the annual conference of the Modern Stoicism Movement, that was born in Great Britain, (Professor Christopher Gill, University of Exeter), Donald Robertson, Therapist, Professor John Sellars etc) but has spread rapidly to North America and the rest of the world, especially through Ryan Holiday (best-selling author "The Obstacle is the Way").
The conference in Athens, was a historical event, as Stoicism returned to Athens after thousands of years, a great success with over 350 attendees from all over the world. So we have decided to make StoiconX an annual event, here in Athens, Greece...
The Sunday Times featured my photo in the article...Of course, I was happy about it, but we Stoics don't get too excited about these things : )

Here are the six ways of thinking so that YOU can practice, a Stoic way of life: 
1.Tell yourself: “It’s not things that upset me, but my opinions about them.” 
2. Describe upsetting events without any emotive language or value judgments, instead sticking to the facts. 
3. Picture the longer-term consequences of allowing fear or anger to guide you, versus responding rationally, with greater self-discipline. 
4. Ask yourself what someone wise, just, self-disciplined and courageous would do when faced with one of the problems you’re facing. 
5. Imagine a situation that’s troubling you from high above, as though looking down on it from a hill or mountaintop.
​6. Come to StoiconX in Athens, Greece each year or at a Stoicon near you.
​Watch Video to find out more...