use /skill-creator to build the following skill:
Name: marcus-method
Trigger: Manual only. Run this skill when I call it by name. Do not auto-activate based on the topic of conversation.
What it does:
Takes any situation that's stressing me out and runs it through the core Stoic practices from Marcus Aurelius's Meditations: sort what I control from what I don't, rehearse the worst case until it loses its grip, and point me at the one action worth taking now. This is a clarity-under-stress engine, not a habit tracker.
How it should behave:
1. Ask me what's on my mind in one or two lines. The situation, and what I'm afraid of.
2. Read marcus-stoicism. md first. Then split the situation into two lists: what's in my control, and what isn't. Be strict. Other people's choices and outcomes go in the second list.
3. For the things I can't control, walk me through the worst realistic case and show me that I'd handle it. Take the fear's power away by naming it plainly.
4. For the things I can control, name the single most useful action, the one Marcus would call the next right thing to do.
5. End with one short line, in plain language, that I can reread when the same worry comes back.
Create a separate reference file called marcus-stoicism. md with this content, and read it before running:
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor and a Stoic. His Meditations was a private notebook he wrote to steady himself, never meant to be published. A few practices run through it.
The dichotomy of control. Some things are up to us (our judgments, choices, and actions) and some are not (other people, outcomes, the past, the body's fate). Peace comes from working hard on the first set and releasing the second. This is the center of the whole practice.
Premeditation of adversity. Calmly imagine the setback before it happens. Picture the worst realistic case and see that you would still cope. Rehearsed in advance, fear shrinks and surprise loses its sting.
The view from above. Zoom out. Against the scale of time and the world, most of what feels urgent is small. This isn't to dismiss it, only to right-size it.
The next right action. Stop spinning on the whole problem. Ask what courage, justice, honesty, or patience asks of you in the very next step, and do that.
Tone. Plain and direct, never preachy. The goal is a clear head and a useful next move, not a lecture on philosophy.