The #1 Gift You Can Give Your Future Self | Former Marine Elliot Ackerman
The Daily Stoic6 Aug 2025

The #1 Gift You Can Give Your Future Self | Former Marine Elliot Ackerman

Former Marine turned novelist Elliot Ackerman sits down with Ryan to talk about what discipline really looks like in everyday life. From 100-degree runs to cold plunges and daily writing routines, they discuss what helps them stay steady, focused, and consistent even when it’s hard.


Elliot Ackerman is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels 2054, 2034, Halcyon, Red Dress in Black and White, Waiting for Eden, Dark at the Crossing, and Green on Blue, as well as the memoirs The Fifth Act: America’s End in Afghanistan and Places and Names: On War, Revolution, and Returning.


Elliot’s books have been nominated for the National Book Award, the Andrew Carnegie Medal in both fiction and nonfiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, among others. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, and a veteran of the Marine Corps and CIA special operations, having served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.


Be sure to check out Elliot’s latest book, SHEEPDOGS. Apple Studios has actually bought the rights to develop the book as a series with Tom Hanks production company.


Grab signed copies of Elliot’s books 2054 and 2034 at The Painted Porch | https://www.thepaintedporch.com/


Follow Elliot Ackerman on Instagram and X @elliot.ackerman


📖 Preorder the final book in Ryan Holiday's The Stoic Virtues Series: "Wisdom Takes Work": https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/wisdom-takes-work


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