Marcus Aurelius read Epictetus…a lot. We know this because Meditations is proof of it. Almost every page has some direct quote or allusion to Epictetus. We also find, upon deeper inspection, references to the works of Panaetius, Chrysippus, the plays of Euripides, Zeno and countless other philosophers. How does someone develop recall like that? How did he become so wise, not just on the page but in life? Through repetition and practice . Marcus Aurelius never refers to Seneca, but it’s clear tha...
Jan 03, 2024•4 min•Ep. 1961
Arnold Schwarzenegger is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder best known for his roles in high-profile action movies. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011 and was among Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world in 2004 and 2007. Ryan speaks with Arnold Schwarzenegger on how to be useful, the mental, physical and psychological benefits to nurturing the mind and body, their shared lov...
Jan 03, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 1952
Like any normal person, part of Marcus Aurelius did not want to wake up, especially early. No, he wanted to “huddle under the blankets and stay warm,” he would say. It was nicer there. Easier there. But another part of him knew he wasn’t created to feel nice, to have it easy. “I have to go to work — as a human being,” he said, hauling his feet up and onto the floor. This is the internal back and forth so many of us have every morning. Not Arnold Schwarzennegger though. “My rule in the morning is...
Jan 02, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1960
It’s January 1st. It snuck up on you, didn’t it? You knew the year was wrapping up, you had resolutions you meant to make, a review you meant to do of the last twelve months, goals you intended to set, habits you were going to start in 2024…and then here it is already. Or worse than procrastination, you may have already relapsed on your resolutions. You had a late one last night, and you’re already saying to yourself this morning, what’s one cup of coffee or one cigarette? (even though you were ...
Jan 01, 2024•13 min•Ep. 1959
Meditations is perhaps the only document of its kind ever made. It is the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Trained in Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius stopped almost every night to practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with. Today, Ryan breaks down 100 app...
Dec 31, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 1948
They come from all over the world. They have little in common. And, for some reason, instead of beginning the New Year by making resolutions, they begin by taking on a set of actionable challenges. Some of the challenges are physical. Some are mentally challenging. Some spur them to practically investigate and overcome internal adversities. Others have them take on external adversities out in the real world. Some of the challenges are completed in a single day and others over the course of the y...
Dec 31, 2023•4 min•Ep. 1957
Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2023. Ryan talks to reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek, along with record executive and co-founder of Def Jam Records Rick Rubin about the value of experimenting with new methods and building a routine that fits you. Ryan also talks with Alexander Ludwig , and Whitney Cummings over trusting the process and continuing to be disciplined during the hard times. Lastly, he speaks with Nate Boyer an...
Dec 30, 2023•58 min•Ep. 1947
The latter was something that the late Paul Woodruff tried to remind himself, having picked up the insight from Marcus Aurelius. The squirrels were not trying to give Paul a hard time, they did not mean any harm when they stole the birdseed he was putting out. As Paul explained in his wonderful episode on the Daily Stoic podcast before he died, he came to understand that the squirrels were simply doing what they do. They were doing what their nature demanded. Some people are thieves. Some people...
Dec 29, 2023•7 min•Ep. 1955
At last the day came and you made a New Year’s resolution that would get rid of the whole base evil. And then the next year came around and you were doing the same old evil thing. Can you remember the surprise and disappointment that gripped you when you discovered that…after all that you had done through your resolutions to get rid of it—the old habit was still there? And out of amazement you found yourself asking, “Why could I not cast it out?” So we’ll leave you today by putting a challenge i...
Dec 28, 2023•15 min•Ep. 1954
Sometimes it’s obvious why certain things are expensive, why people will pay more for it. The feel of a luxury vehicle. The taste of one of those insane smoothies from Erewhon. The upgrade to a better seat on an airplane. It’s not cheap, and maybe you don’t do it all the time, but when you can afford it, you go for it. It almost makes you question this whole Stoicism thing, you wonder if perhaps you’re not more of an Epicurean after all. For the last five years, we have been doing what we call t...
Dec 27, 2023•2 min•Ep. 1953
Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2023. Ryan talks to Academy Award-winning actor and producer Matthew McConaughey , life coach, and executive consultant Greg Harden who is best known for his work with 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady, American country music singer Morgan Wade, and YouTube personality, filmmaker, vlogger, Casey Neistat , the co-founder of the multimedia company Beme, and Dr. Samantha Boardman, a Positive Psychologist based in New ...
Dec 27, 2023•59 min•Ep. 1943
What about you? Are you ready for the inevitable, unending challenges that lay ahead? Just think about what 2024 could bring—we’re facing global conflicts, a make-or-break presidential election, untamed inflation, climate change…plus all the regular stuff! How dug in are you? How tough is your inner citadel? How is your battle stance? How sharp are your weapons? How prepared is your mind? Are you a wrestler? You have to be. For the last five years, thousands of Stoics from across the globe have ...
Dec 26, 2023•17 min•Ep. 1951
This is the story of Jesus, who people all over the world celebrate today on Christmas. But just as well, this is the story of Seneca. Remarkably, Seneca and Jesus lived nearly parallel lives. Not only that, but they were also born—according to many sources—in the same year. No one can confirm for certain the exact birth date for either, but it is indisputable that two of history’s greatest philosophers walked the earth at the same time. More incredible is just how much their teachings overlap. ...
Dec 25, 2023•11 min•Ep. 1950
It’s kind of crazy to think how recent December 2019 feels. Not that long ago, it seems, we were getting ready for what a new decade might bring us. It’s even crazier when the truth settles in: 2019 was FOUR years ago. We are almost half way into that “new” decade. So much has changed. So much has happened. But at the same time, so little has changed. We’re still struggling with the same things. The aspirations we had back in 2019—this was the year we were going to turn a new leaf, lose weight, ...
Dec 24, 2023•4 min•Ep. 1949
On today’s special episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan talks at Dr. Edith Egar's workshop about 4 stoic quotes to get us through the new year. Dr. Eger’s story as a Holocaust survivor & work as a renowned therapist has impacted millions around the world. As someone who lived through unthinkable trauma, Dr. Eger intimately knows the greatest prison is not the one created by the world… it is the prison created in our own minds. A native of Hungary, Edith Eva Eger was just a teenager in 19...
Dec 24, 2023•20 min•Ep. 1940
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with YouTube Superstar Ali Abdaal during part 2 of 2 interview on how stoicism influences analytics, concrete vs. ineffable, the importance of sticking to the system, and his new book: Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You. Ali Abdaal is a doctor, entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert. He became intrigued by the science of productivity while juggling the demands of medical training at Cambrid...
Dec 23, 2023•56 min•Ep. 1938
In Meditations , Marcus Aurelius says that what you throw on top of a fire is fuel for the fire . But anyone who has had a little campfire going knows how easily you can snuff out the flames with a poorly placed log or even a few sticks. Marcus is speaking metaphorically of obstacles , not of an actual campfire…but that metaphor only works with a few assumptions. - And with today's meditation on the day's Daily Journal excerpt, Ryan reminds us stake our own claim with actions.For the last five y...
Dec 22, 2023•8 min•Ep. 1946
At the founding of Stoicism was a choice. Zeno hears the legend Hercules, a story about a young man who came to a crossroads one day in Greece, where the great hero had to choose between virtue and vice, the easy way and the hard way. It was inspired by this very story that Zeno rebuilt the wreckage of his life and founded the school of Stoicism. So we’ll leave you today by putting a challenge in front of you. For the last four years, we have been doing what we call the Daily Stoic New Year New ...
Dec 21, 2023•21 min•Ep. 1945
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with YouTube Superstar Ali Abdaal on how stoicism influences analytics, concrete vs. ineffable, the importance of sticking to the system, and his new book: Feel Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You. Ali Abdaal is a doctor, entrepreneur, and the world’s most followed productivity expert. He became intrigued by the science of productivity while juggling the demands of medical training at Cambridge University with building h...
Dec 20, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 1935
“Through philosophy and in the company of philosophy,” Plutarch writes, “it is possible to attain the knowledge of what is honorable and what is shameful, what is just and what is unjust, what, in brief, is to be chosen and what it is to be avoided.” That’s what we’re all trying to do, isn’t it? That’s what Panaetius was trying to do with his “Scipionic Circle,” which met in the great house of Athens and Rome to discuss philosophy, share ideas and explore Stoicism. That’s why we’re studying the ...
Dec 20, 2023•4 min•Ep. 1944
It can be hard to remember this when you see them on the news, lying through their teeth. It can be hard to remember when they cut you off in traffic. It can be hard to remember when they try to stop progress. It can be hard to remember when they say or do abhorrent things. But we do have to remember, we have to remember, as Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations that “all of us are working on the same project. Some consciously, with understanding; some without knowing it. Some of us work in one ...
Dec 19, 2023•21 min•Ep. 1942
Dwight Eisenhower gave himself the order. Quit smoking. It had become a 4-pack-a-day habit. It had been part of his life for nearly 40 years. It was comfortable. It was more than a habit, it was an addiction. His health hung in the balance, his doctor said, his ability to serve at risk. So, after nearly four decades of smoking, he made the decision to quit, cold turkey. “The only way to stop is to stop,” Eisenhower would tell an aide, “and I stopped.” This story is in Discipline is Destiny . It'...
Dec 18, 2023•11 min•Ep. 1941
You could argue that Meditations is Marcus Aurelius’ daily philosophical battle with himself to overcome this natural fear of change, to avoid getting trapped in a velvet rut, to not get complacent. Even into old age, Marcus was talking to himself firmly, pushing himself to do better, to not try to stay the same as he always was. It’s why he was famously seen leaving the palace as an old man, trying to learn, as he said, “that which I do not yet know.” They say that the definition of insanity is...
Dec 17, 2023•6 min•Ep. 1939
In today’s audiobook reading, Ryan presents an excerpt from one of the seminal texts of Stoicism, the Discourses of Epictetus, read by Michael Reid. As a series of lectures given by Epictetus that were written down by his pupil Arrian in 108 A.D., these discourses provide practical advice to think on and practice in order to move oneself closer toward the ultimate goal of living free and happy. In this fifth section, Epictetus discusses how we build strength and respond to conflict through ancie...
Dec 17, 2023•7 min•Ep. 1931
On this weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with clinical psychologist Dr. Becky Kennedy on how we emotionally vaccinate, the ability to cope through stress, educating our kids on emotions and her new book Good Inside Dr. Becky Kennedy is an American clinical psychologist who is founder and chief executive officer of the Good Inside company, an online parenting advice service. She has been called the "millennial parent whisperer" by Time Magazine and is a number one New York T...
Dec 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 1932
So it goes for ego . To the untrained eye, it can be mistaken for confidence. The person’s self-centeredness, their certainty, their entitlement—this seems like the way that only the most important and gifted person in the world could get away with acting. In reality, the person doesn’t feel that way inside at all. On the contrary, they feel very small. Nero, for instance, demanded that enormous audiences celebrate his greatness. This was also the same emperor who banished a poet from Rome for b...
Dec 15, 2023•7 min•Ep. 1937
It’s sad that when we think of a philosopher we don’t think of somebody tough. We don’t think of a soldier or a skilled professional. We don’t think of a happily married parent raising kids. We don’t think of someone thriving amidst the chaos of the world. No, for some reason, we think of an academic. We think of somebody scrawny. We think of someone whose life is mostly sedentary, mostly spent at a desk with their stacks of books around them and their scrolls in front of them. - In part 2 of to...
Dec 14, 2023•9 min•Ep. 1936
We often think that greatness is a synonym for brilliance. That great leadership is all about magnetism and communication. For which we need vision and boldness, allies and luck. And of course, to be successful in any field, but particularly in leadership, all of those things are true. But we also need something far simpler that is yet even more rare. We need the ability to focus, to lock in, to do what has been termed “deep work.” As one of Churchill’s political contemporaries would observe of ...
Dec 13, 2023•4 min•Ep. 1934
On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan talks with entrepreneur and wisdom seeker behind Farnam Street Shane Parrish on Why people who are popular on social don’t succeed when they write books, The mark of wisdom is looking downstream and seeing how a decision affects your life, Delaying gratification isnt easy but is important to learn and his book Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results a must-have manual for optimizing decision-making, gaining competitive ...
Dec 13, 2023•51 min•Ep. 1926
In 1922, while an unpublished, struggling writer named Ernest Hemingway was covering events in Switzerland, his wife Hadley came from Paris to see him. Assuming he would want them, she packed up the writings Hemingway had accumulated in their apartment–manuscripts, short stories, poetry, and an unfinished novel, it was his life’s work. Hemingway had made some important literary contacts on his trip and she was sure he’d want to show off his work. - And in today's Daily Stoic video excerpt, Ryan ...
Dec 12, 2023•17 min•Ep. 1933
