This Is What Comes Next

Look, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if in their opinion, that’s what Stoicism is in their view—God bless them. But the facts just don’t support it. There was literally a Stoic (Chrysippus) who laughed so hard he died, ok? What more do you need to know? Sure, Marcus Aurelius opens Meditations with some observations about how annoying and obnoxious people can be, but his personal letters to Fronto are filled with affection and wit—he even tells of a prank he pulled. Every somber note in Meditations is matched by reveries for the beauty of the natural world and gratitude for the gifts life has given him.-Stillness is that quiet moment when inspiration hits you. It’s that ability to step back and reflect. It’s what makes room for gratitude and happiness. It’s one of the most powerful forces on earth. In this video excerpt Ryan Holiday talks about some key Stoic practices that will help you find stillness.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6 Feb 202414min

In the early years, there was an excuse. Nero was just a teenager when Seneca started tutoring him. The boy was timid and coddled. He had experienced tragedy and his childhood had been strange. Besides, for Seneca, the alternative to taking the job was going back to his unfair and lonely exile in the middle of the ocean.But the viability of Seneca’s excuse fell apart pretty quickly. The famous Barrón González, Eduardo statue captures how disinterested Nero was in learning from Seneca. Nero wanted the perks of being emperor but none of the responsibilities. He was not competent, which was fine as long he was content to let others make the decisions. When Nero started asserting control, bad things started happening. Plus there was the fact that he kept killing people…including his own mother.-If you want to do more reading on these topics, we highly recommend Dying Everyday by James Romm (and we have a podcast with him on this topic). Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe is a great modern read on one of the biggest crimes of the 20th/21st centuries. And for more on the life of Seneca and Thrasea and some Stoics who did resist Nero, check out Lives of the Stoics (signed copies here).In today's Daily Stoic Journal reading, Ryan reminds us thats its easier to leave other peoples mistakes to their makers, that looking inward instead of outward and giving people a chance to make their own mistakes makes for a better way of life.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Feb 20249min

In today's weekend episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan pulls an excerpt from Colin Elliott's latest book, POX ROMANA: THE PLAGUE THAT SHOOK THE ROMAN WORLD. Learn how the Antonine Plague exposed the crumbling foundations of a doomed empire. Arguing that the disease was both cause and effect of Rome’s fall, Elliott describes the plague’s “preexisting conditions” (Rome’s multiple economic, social, and environmental susceptibilities); recounts the history of the outbreak itself through the experiences of physician, victim, and political operator; and explores post pandemic crises.If you enjoyed this chapter from POX ROMANA, grab yourself a copy by clicking here.Be on the lookout for Ryan's interview with author Colin Elliott on February 14th or listen one week early by becoming a Wondery Plus subscriber.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4 Feb 202410min

On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan continues his conversation with one of the world's top high-performance psychologists and leading experts on the relationship between the mind and human performance, Dr. Michael Gervais. Together they talk about living in the present moment, Austin Kleon's “people would rather be the noun than do the verb”, and the tension of virtue in Stoic texts. Dr. Michael Gervais has spent his career being called on by the best of the best across the worlds of business, sport, the arts, and science. His client roster includes Super Bowl winning NFL teams, Fortune 50 CEOs, Olympic medalists, internationally acclaimed artists, and so many more. He is also the founder of Finding Mastery and the founder/host of the Finding Mastery Podcast, and the co-creator of the Performance Science Institute at USC. His work has been featured by NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, ESPN, NFL Network, Red Bull TV, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Outside Magazine, WIRED, and ESPN Magazine.Signed copies of Dr. Gervais' is latest book, THE FIRST RULE OF MASTERY: STOP WORRYING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU is available at The Painted Porch. IG and X: @MichaelGervaisYouTube: @FindingMastery✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Feb 20241h 7min

Imagine the jealousy that they must have felt. Hadrian was gifting the purple—the job of the emperor—to a teenager he wasn’t even related to. In 138 AD, his succession plan involved adopting Antoninus Pius who in turn was to adopt young Marcus Aurelius so that he would one day become the most powerful man in the world.How many Romans hated Marcus for this? How many distant relatives of Hadrian thought themselves more qualified, more entitled to it? And how many people disliked Marcus throughout the years simply because he seemed to have a perfect life—a happy family, a great reputation, perfect character.-In today's Daily Stoic Journal excerpt, Ryan reminds us to free ourselves now while we still have time. How much longer will we be tied up in impulses? We are independent self-efficient people who must remain free and slaves to power.Grab a hard copy of The Daily Stoic Journal here or grab the leatherbound edition. ✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2 Feb 20248min

Maybe towards the end, it’s possible to get to that level. Maybe after a lifetime of study and practice, a Stoic can come to not just understand but to live up to the insight that Marcus Aurelius writes about in *Meditations—*that things aren’t asking to be judged by us, that we always ‘have the power to have no opinion.’ Maybe Marcus Aurelius got there himself.If so, good for him.But most likely he didn’t. And most likely, you’re nowhere close either.In the meantime, why don’t you at least try to voice fewer of those opinions. If we can’t stop ourselves from judging things that aren’t asking to be judged by us, if we can’t stop ourselves from having thoughts about things that have little to do with us, we can at least try to keep those judgments and thoughts to ourselves.-In today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan talks Leadership / Obstacle is the Way to 200 HOLT managers and executive leaders from 50 plus locations in Texas and Oklahoma. HOLT CAT is a leader in heavy caterpillar equipment, engines, machines, caterpillar equipment product and provide rental services at holtcat in Texas.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Feb 20248min

The fact of life is that we’re going to get tossed around by forces outside our control. Never forget fortunes’ habit of behaving exactly as she pleases, Seneca reminds us, never forget that adversity is inevitability. There would be war, he said, and torture and shipwrecks and exile, along with a lot less dramatic stuff: traffic jams, divorces, food poisoning, annoying neighbors, bad weather, pets that run away.The only option according to the Stoics was to submit. No amount of wishing otherwise, no amount of anxiety, no amount of power or wealth would fully protect us from this. We had to surrender to the fates, let them guide us. But perhaps we could add to this idea a little corollary from Cheap Trick—surrender, but don’t give yourself away.✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

31 Jan 20242min

On this episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast, Ryan is joined by Dr. Michael Gervais, one of the world’s top high-performance psychologists and leading experts on the relationship between the mind and human performance. Together they discuss FOPO (fear of other people's opinions), the reality of imposter syndrome, and Dr. Gervais' book, The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying What Other People Think of You. Dr. Michael Gervais has spent his career being called on by the best of the best across the worlds of business, sport, the arts, and science when they need to achieve the extraordinary. Dr. Gervais’s client roster includes Super Bowl winning NFL teams, Fortune 50 CEOs, Olympic medalists, internationally acclaimed artists, and more. He is also the founder of Finding Mastery and the founder/host of the Finding Mastery Podcast, and the co-creator of the Performance Science Institute at USC. His work has been featured by NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN, ESPN, NFL Network, Red Bull TV, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Outside Magazine, WIRED, and ESPN Magazine.You can buy signed copies of his brand-new book, The First Rule of Mastery: Stop Worrying What Other People Think of You, at The Painted PorchIG and X: @MichaelGervaisYouTube: @FindingMastery✉️ 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, FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

31 Jan 202458min