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The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventureswondery.com

For centuries, all sorts of people—generals and politicians, athletes and coaches, writers and leaders—have looked to the teachings of Stoicism to help guide their lives. Each day, author and speaker Ryan Holiday brings you a new lesson about life, inspired by the thoughts and writings of great Stoic thinkers like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca the Younger. Daily Stoic Podcast also features Q+As with listeners and interviews with notable figures from sports, academia, politics, and more. Learn more at DailyStoic.com.

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Episodes

Which Approach Will You Take? | The Sign Of True Education

✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email : https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail 🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more. 📱 Follow us: Instagram , Twitter , YouTu See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....

Mar 22, 20249 minEp. 2055

This Choice Can Change Everything | Ask Daily Stoic

Get a copy of Brent Underwood's new book from the Painted Porch Bookshop: Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley ✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail 🏛 Check out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more. 📱 Follow us: Instagram , Twitter , YouTube , TikTok , Facebook See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sel...

Mar 21, 202420 minEp. 2052

Solve The Problem First

Yeah, it’s frustrating. Yeah, it was preventable. Yeah, you told them it was preventable, you warned them what would happen. They didn’t listen and now here you are. Yeah, it’s gonna be costly. Yeah, you’re pissed. But you know what you should do? You should solve the problem first. You can put your emotions about it aside. You can worry about blame later. “You don’t have to turn this into something,” Marcus Aurelius wrote in Meditations . “It doesn’t have to upset you.” He also writes about how...

Mar 20, 20242 minEp. 2051

How to be an Honorable Leader and Combat Imposter Syndrome | Admiral Bill McRaven

Ryan speaks with Admiral Bill McRaven about the nature of being a Stoic, imposter syndrome when being a leader, and how resilience is sometimes enduring injustice. They also discuss McRaven’s two books, The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple and Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…and Maybe Even The World . Admiral Bill McRaven is a retired US Navy four-star admiral. He served 37 years as a Navy SEAL leading men and women at every level of the special operations co...

Mar 20, 20241 hr 41 minEp. 2043

You Can’t Change What Happened, But… | 13 Ways A Stoic Challenges Themselves Every Day

With a business partner, some investors, and his life savings, Brent Underwood bought the abandoned mining turned ghost town, Cerro Gordo, in 2018. The plan was to bring the town back to life, to turn the 336 acres and 22 buildings into a historical destination. That plan largely revolved around the American Hotel, the literal and metaphorical center of town. But then on June 15, 2020, 149 years to the day it opened, the American Hotel caught fire and burned to the ground. “It was probably the m...

Mar 19, 202417 minEp. 2050

Do This While You Can | The Portable Retreat

It’s funny, over here at Daily Stoic, we do these challenges throughout the year (maybe you’ve joined one before) . On the one hand, this name is probably bad marketing. People don’t usually get excited by the thought of being challenged. In fact, what they usually want is a secret or a shortcut or a hack. They want someone to solve the challenges for them. On the other hand, isn’t embracing life’s challenges what Stoicism is all about? So naturally, we couldn’t call the Daily Stoic Spring Forwa...

Mar 18, 202412 minEp. 2049

It's Time To Get Clean | Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

On this weekend episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan talks with Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball Team in which he focuses on the timeless wisdom of the four cardinal virtues—wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance—Holiday adeptly tailored his message to the elite world of collegiate basketball. ----------------------------- Today is that day many dread—the day the clocks spring forward. Yes, in the middle of the night, you lost an hour that you’ll never get back. An hour of sleep, an hour...

Mar 17, 202421 minEp. 2039

Seasonality and Understanding Pseudo-Productivity | Cal Newport PT 2

Ryan continues his conversation with computer science professor and bestselling author, Cal Newport. They discuss how to be indispensable in your personal and professional life, the myth of busyness, Cal’s latest book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout , and more. Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. His scholarship focuses on the theory of distributed systems, while his general-audience writing explores intersections ...

Mar 16, 20241 hr 9 minEp. 2038

Every Day Is A Chance For This | The Present Is All We Possess

That was the purpose behind Stoicism, behind the journaling, and the reading, and studying of this philosophy, behind the Daily Stoic Spring Forward Challenge (which starts on Tuesday, the first day of spring)—to use each day as an opportunity to improve yourself action by action, step by step. This might not seem like much, as Zeno said, but it adds up to no small thing. Every one of us wants to improve, wants to be better, wants to have better habits, live better, think better. But most of us ...

Mar 15, 202411 minEp. 2045

Don’t Rush Through This | Ask DS

Seneca makes the point, however, that what we are really rushing towards—with all deliberate speed—is death. That’s what he means when he says that we get death wrong. Death is not some distant thing in the future, not some one-time thing that looms ahead. Instead, death is something happening to you right now. It’s happening as you read this email (hope it’s been worth it!), it’s happening as you struggle to put your daughter’s shoes on so you can drop her off at school and then it’s happening ...

Mar 14, 202413 minEp. 2044

You Gotta Be Able To Do This

Marcus Aurelius was, of course, an incredible man. He endured more than most people. He had more power than most people —and wore it more lightly. He did more work on himself than most people, understood people, and himself, better than most people. Was he perfect though? Of course not. No one is. In Lonesome Dove , the Texas Ranger Captain Woodrow Call seems almost superhuman, especially to the young cowboy Newt. Newt worships the ground the man walks on, believing he isn’t like the rest of the...

Mar 13, 20242 minEp. 2042

Slow Productivity and Anticipating Consequences | Cal Newport PT 1

In the first half of this two-part conversation, Ryan talks with computer science professor and bestselling author, Cal Newport. They discuss the facade of hustle culture, understanding what really moves the needle in your process, Cal’s latest book Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout , and more. Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University. His scholarship focuses on the theory of distributed systems, while his general-audience...

Mar 13, 20241 hr 4 minEp. 2035

You Don't Want To See This | The Stoic Guide To Freedom And Power (From Epictetus)

That obnoxious person. That contractor who ripped you off. That slow driver. That overly enthusiastic exercise instructor. That brusk receptionist. That clingy parent . That friend holding a grudge. That loud neighbor. They’re not exactly your favorite. They don’t exactly make your life easier. But you know what you need to remember? You need to remember that they are just doing their jobs. “Is a world without shameless people possible?” Marcus Aurelius asks in Meditations . No, it isn’t, he rem...

Mar 12, 202414 minEp. 2041

Everybody Is Doing Their Job | Think About It From The Other Person's Perspective

That obnoxious person. That contractor who ripped you off. That slow driver. That overly enthusiastic exercise instructor. That brusk receptionist. That clingy parent . That friend holding a grudge. That loud neighbor. They’re not exactly your favorite. They don’t exactly make your life easier. But you know what you need to remember? You need to remember that they are just doing their jobs. “Is a world without shameless people possible?” Marcus Aurelius asks in Meditations . No, it isn’t, he rem...

Mar 11, 202410 minEp. 2040

Are You Spending This Wisely? | Lives Of The Stoics ( Antipater the Ethicist )

Today is that day many dread—the day the clocks spring forward. Yes, in the middle of the night, you lost an hour that you’ll never get back. An hour of sleep, an hour of leisure, an hour to spend with your kids. You mourn that loss of time, wondering all the ways you could’ve spent it otherwise. He is the pupil and successor of Dioghenes ho Babylonios (Diogenes of Babylon or of Seleucia) as head of the Stoic school. Antipater is also the teacher of Panaitios ho Rodos (Panaetius of Rhodes). In t...

Mar 10, 202421 minEp. 2030

Changing the World with Civility and the Core of Stoicism | Alexandra Hudson

Ryan speaks with author Alexandra Hudson about how to navigate pragmatic situations through civility, unbundling the mental framework of people, her new book The Soul of Civility , and more. Alexandra is a writer, speaker, and the founder of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to beauty, goodness and truth. She was named the 2020 Novak Journalism Fellow, and contributes to Fox News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME Magazine, POLITICO Magazine, ...

Mar 09, 20241 hr 19 minEp. 2031

Everybody Wants To Rule The World | Don't Unintentionally Hand Over Your Freedom

For as long as there have been groups of people, people have wanted to be in charge of those people . For as long as there have been armies, people have tried to use them to conquer, to rule, to accumulate empires. Was it worth it? Did they enjoy it? Did it mean anything? Few, if any of them, ever bothered to honestly answer that question. This is what makes Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations such a remarkable and unprecedented text. Here you have the most powerful man in the world, head of the most p...

Mar 08, 202410 minEp. 2037

You Aren’t Killing Time. Time Is Killing You | Ryan Holiday Answers On Ego And Mentorship

Seneca reminded himself that death is not this thing in the future, but something that is happening now. It is always happening. It is the ticking hand of the clock. It is the spring flowers. It is the fall harvest. It is the summer rains. It is the first snow of the year. This idea is a reminder that each moment is precious. It tells us to wake up and really live, not just watch time go by. To embrace the longer days and make the most of it. If that sounds like something you’re up for, why don’...

Mar 07, 202419 minEp. 2036

Why Reflection is a Super Power | Lt Colonel Mike Erwin

Ryan Holiday is joined by Lt Colonel Mike Erwin. Together they discuss the central practice of journaling and reflection, how wisdom and discipline is a form of freedom, and although emotions make us human, it is critical for us to control them. They also discuss his two books Lead Yourself: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude and Leadership is a Relationship: How to Put People First in the Digital World . Lt Colonel Mike Erwin is a West Point graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Econ...

Mar 06, 20241 hr 16 minEp. 2027

Can You See This In It?

Seneca was exiled to what he felt was a rock in the middle of the ocean. He hated it. He thought it was torture. And of course, it was unfair that he was sent there—on trumped up charges no less—and it would have been lonely and sad to be so far from his family. Yet it is a little funny that the place he was sent to, Corsica, is a beautiful vacation spot for people all over the world today. Seneca couldn’t see that, just as perhaps you can’t see what’s just underneath the rough exterior of the s...

Mar 06, 20242 minEp. 2034

Do Not Miss This Reminder | This Single Word Will Give You Back Your Life

Spring is the most beautiful of the seasons. Suddenly, after a dreary winter, the colors come back. The birds are out. The days last longer. The breeze is light and the air is cool. But as Phillip Larkin’s bittersweet poem reminds us, beneath this turning of the seasons is a kind of darkness. The trees are coming into leaf Like something almost being said; The recent buds relax and spread, Their greenness is a kind of grief The inherent grief is the passage of time. Each season brings new life, ...

Mar 05, 202415 minEp. 2033

No One is Self-Made | What Expensive Things Cost

Marcus Aurelius opens Meditations reflecting upon what he has learned from various influential individuals in his life. It’s titled “Debts and Lessons,” and the 17 entries spanning nine pages and more than 2,000 words make up nearly 10% of the entire book! Marcus writes with the humility of someone in the final act of their life taking stock of how lucky they are to be where they are. It’s beautiful. And it totally dispenses with the notion of the "self-made man," the idea that someone got somew...

Mar 04, 20248 minEp. 2032

How To Remain Calm | 9 Tips From The Stoics

In today's weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan reminds us How To Remain Calm When The Rest Of The World Is Freaking Out: 9 Tips From The Stoics by the way of voice actor Michael Reid. The article delves into specific Stoic practices, such as mindfulness, self-reflection, and the deliberate contemplation of worst-case scenarios, to empower individuals to confront challenges with equanimity. Additionally, it highlights the importance of maintaining perspective, recognizing the imperma...

Mar 03, 202422 minEp. 2023

Robert Greene and Ryan Holiday on Ego and Power | LIVE in LA

This discussion between Ryan Holiday and Robert Greene took place in September of 2023 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Ryan and Robert talk about a range of topics from artificial intelligence, the perils of ego, success and failure, the power of self control, and key Stoic reminders like Memento Mori and Amor Fati . If you want to be a part of a talk similar to this, Ryan Holiday is going on tour to Australia in July. Ryan Holiday Live in Australia will be in Sydney an...

Mar 02, 20241 hr 12 minEp. 2022

Are You Too Much Of A Coward? | Where Philosophy Begins

It’s good that you’re tough. It’s good that you’re a fighter —maybe even trained in wrestling, as so many of the Stoics were. It’s good that you’re a risk taker, that you’ve put yourself out there, pushed through fear and doubt to do what others were afraid to do. But it’s important you don’t forget that there is more to the virtue of courage than just this. There’s a great song that talks about “being too much a coward to admit when you’re in need.” Marcus Aurelius makes a similar note to himse...

Mar 01, 20249 minEp. 2029

Whatever You Call It, Steer Clear | Ask DS

Marcus Aurelius called it a few different things. His translators varied even more in their interpretations. Gregory Hays used the word “imperialization.” Robin Waterfield called it “becoming Caesarified” and “dyed in purple.” Pierre Hadot has it, “becoming Caesarized.” George Long translates it, “Take care that thou art not made into a Caesar, that thou art not dyed with this dye.” In The Daily Stoic , we have Marcus express his worry of being “stained purple.” Ok, but what is he actually talki...

Feb 29, 202415 minEp. 2028

Why Humans are Wired for Status, Not Happiness | Morgan Housel PT 2

Ryan continues his conversation with Morgan Housel, they discuss the power of storytelling, how humans are wired for status and not happiness, his latest book Same As Ever , and more. Morgan Housel is the New York Times Bestselling author of The Psychology of Money and Same As Ever . His books have sold over 4.5 million copies and have been translated into more than 50 languages. He is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and ...

Feb 28, 20241 hr 5 minEp. 2019

You Can Always Possess This

This tradition of warrior Stoics continued up through and past Admiral Stockdale, who would test Epictetus’s doctrines in the prison camps of Vietnam (his book Courage Under Fire is a must read for any modern Stoic). Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, all but predicted this would be the fate of the Stoics. “If you lay violent hands on me,” he said in 3rd century Greece, “you’ll have my body, but my mind will remain with Stilpo.” Stilpo was a Greek philosopher, meaning that you could torture Zeno, yo...

Feb 28, 20243 minEp. 2026

It’s Producing Something Good | 20 Inspiring Moments Of Stoicism

The regular person in us is frustrated by all this. But the Stoic in us knows that this is leading us, teaching us, shaping us. Seneca said that misfortune toughens us up , forges us the way that fire tests gold. Epictetus said that life pairs us with these sparring partners for a reason—to turn us into Olympic-class material. And the Book of Romans says that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” The hope is really our sense of our capacit...

Feb 27, 202423 minEp. 2025

Stop Expecting This | Cultivate Indifference

At this point, you should have a pretty good understanding of human nature. That’s why we read history after all (and if you don’t, we suggest this reading challenge ). You’ve met people—you’ve seen what they do. People lie. People take the easy way out. People chase the wrong things. Not always, not all people, but most people, most of the time. Yet here you are, perpetually shocked and disappointed. Perpetually upset and resentful. Cato , it was said by Cicero, seemed to forget that he didn’t ...

Feb 26, 20247 minEp. 2024
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