Finally, modern research illuminates how to bridge thought and deed. Cognitive-behavioral therapy traces a lineage to Stoic insights—Albert Ellis (1962) credited Epictetus’s maxim that people are disturbed not by things, but by their opinions (Enchiridion 5). Yet change sticks when intentions are operationalized: Peter Gollwitzer’s implementation intentions (1999) show that if-then planning dramatically boosts follow-through. Thus, when values (think) are encoded into cues, timings, and specific behaviors (do), the citadel’s stones actually set. [...]
