Podcast Summary: The Daily Stoic

Episode Title: Every Day Can Be A Thanksgiving | Ask Daily Stoic
Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Ryan Holiday

Episode Overview

In this special Thanksgiving episode, Ryan Holiday explores the Stoic notion of gratitude—not just for obvious blessings, but for the challenges and setbacks that shape our lives. Through reflections on the philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and personal anecdotes, Ryan encourages listeners to make gratitude a daily practice, regardless of circumstance. The second half is a listener Q&A, tackling questions around motivation, creativity, work-life balance, and the difficulty of deep work.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stoic Gratitude—Every Day as Thanksgiving

• Ryan sets the tone: Thanksgiving is a salient time to reflect on gratitude, but Stoicism challenges us to push further—to appreciate not just the good, but also the difficult ("Can you work to be grateful for the less obvious things? For the travel delays and the annoying people at the store?... For the obstacles at work? For the political dysfunction?... The Stoics saw gratitude as a kind of medicine." [01:20])
• Perspective on obstacles:
  • Marcus Aurelius believed "everything is a gift from the gods" even amid suffering.
  • Obstacles are opportunities: "Because obstacles are a form of fuel for us, an opportunity inside each one." [01:57]
  • Reference to Epictetus: "Every situation has two handles. Which are you going to decide to grab? The anger or the appreciation?" [02:42]
• Gratitude's role in resilience:
  • "Resentment or thanks? You're going to let those situations defeat you or help make you stronger." [02:56]
  • Make gratitude a regular habit—especially for the hard stuff.

2. Giving Back & Community

• Partnership with Feeding America:
  • Ryan shares a fundraising effort for hungry families, quoting Marcus Aurelius: "It's not just that he had never known serious want, it's that he was always lucky enough to be able to help other people. Like, what a wonderful thing to be grateful for and a thing to pay forward." [03:30]
  • "As they say, if you've been blessed, be a blessing." [03:46]

3. Parenting and Stoic Practice

• Anecdote: Ryan recounts a family outing and framing chaotic parenting challenges through the Stoic lens:
  • "I don't control my kids’ behavior, especially when they're too far gone... But I do control how I respond, right? That's stoicism." [06:17]
• Endorsement: Recommends Dr. Becky’s parenting programs for navigating the emotional challenges of parenthood.

4. Listener Q&A: Motivation, Creative Process, Work-Life Balance

A. Staying Motivated & Managing Multiple Interests

• Q (09:22): Do you ever feel burned out or distracted by other interests?
• Ryan’s Answer:
  • "I get to bring in all the other things I'm interested in... so there's not a ton that I feel like... I can't use." [09:47]
  • When something "lights you up," you naturally focus your energy there: "Mostly I'm saying no to things so I can say yes to this one thing that I'm the most excited about." [10:34]

B. Finding Motivation When Overwhelmed

• Q (10:54): Where do you find inspiration on long workdays?
• Ryan’s Approach:
  • "Just two crappy pages a day, that's all you have to do." [11:09]
  • "What is the least amount you can do to call it a win?" [11:19]
  • Protect your ‘main thing’ (writing in Ryan’s case) from distractions:
    • "The reward for succeeding as an author cannot be that I don't get to be [an author]... That's the thing I control, that inspires me and fulfills me." [12:11]

C. Stoicism and Work-Life Balance

• Q (12:46): How can Stoicism support those struggling to find work-life balance?
• Ryan’s Advice:
  • Cites Marcus Aurelius’ tension between work and self-care:
    • "People love what they do, wear themselves down doing it... but he also says… don’t be all about business." [13:24]
  • Encourages thinking in ‘seasons’—life circumstances and needs change:
    • "You find maybe you go too far in one direction, you got to correct a little bit... It is, to me, just a constant process of figuring it out as opposed to having figured it out." [14:36]
    • "There is no singular balance. You're just always adjusting..." [14:47]

D. The Difficulty of Deep Creative Work

• Q (14:52): Does writing get easier?
• Ryan’s Response:
  • "If it was easy, everyone would do it... that's what keeps the riff raff out." [15:25]
  • The challenge remains, but experience brings confidence and understanding of the process:
    • "You're trying to do a really hard thing... I'm more confident as I go because I know what to expect... but it's still fundamentally, you're starting with a blank." [15:58]
  • Honest admission: "I am dreading what I'm going to have to start in the next couple months because I know what to expect, which is why it's going to be hard." [16:22]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On gratitude beyond pleasure:

  • "Can you work to be grateful for the less obvious things? For the travel delays and the annoying people at the store?... For the obstacles at work?" – Ryan Holiday [01:22]

• On obstacles as opportunity:

  • "Obstacles are a form of fuel for us, an opportunity inside each one." – Ryan Holiday [01:57]

• On giving back:

  • "If you've been blessed, be a blessing." – Ryan Holiday [03:46]

• On control in parenting:

  • "I don't control my kids’ behavior... But I do control how I respond, right? That's stoicism." – Ryan Holiday [06:17]

• On minimum daily effort:

  • "Just two crappy pages a day, that's all you have to do." – Ryan Holiday [11:09]

• On creative struggle:

  • "If it was easy, everyone would do it... that's what keeps the riff raff out." – Ryan Holiday [15:25]

Key Timestamps

• 00:57 — Opening meditation on Thanksgiving, everyday gratitude, and the Stoic challenge.
• 02:40 — The “two handles” of any situation (Epictetus), obstacles as fuel.
• 03:20 — Reflection on giving, Marcus Aurelius, and partnership with Feeding America.
• 06:09 — Parenting, controlling reactions, and finding stillness.
• 09:22 — Listener Q&A begins: motivation, creativity, and sustaining focus.
• 13:11 — Stoic principles for work-life balance.
• 15:25 — The challenge of writing and creative work.

Episode Tone & Language

Ryan speaks in a calm, thoughtful, and encouraging manner, blending philosophy with real-life anecdotes. He is candid about his own struggles and consistently relates abstract Stoic concepts to modern, everyday scenarios.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking depth, application, and memorable wisdom from the episode.