← The Daily Stoic
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- [00:00]
Narrator/Poet
Foreign.
- [00:06]
Ryan Holiday
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each day we bring you a Stoic inspired meditation designed to help you find strength and insight and wisdom into everyday life. Each one of these episodes is Based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. Help you learn from them, to follow in their example, and to start your day off with a little dose of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. For more visit Dailystoic.com. Over 2000 years ago, one of the world's greatest philosophers was born. He came of age under the Roman Empire and spread a message of kindness and mercy and doing one's duty. He taught millions how to live and how to die over the course of his life and his legacy, how to better themselves and treat their neighbors too. But eventually, this wisdom grew controversial, a threat to the state and his death came at the hands of the centurions they sent for him. And yet, even during the very public agony and humiliation of his death, he asked his loved ones and followers to stay strong, to forgive the excesses of an emperor who did not know what he was doing. In those brave final moments, he immortalized himself forever. 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 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. And it's worth taking some time on this Christmas morning to consider those similarities. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. That's Jesus. Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. That's Seneca. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, then turn to him the other also. That's Jesus. It is a petty and sorry person who will bite back when he is bitten. That's Seneca. We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance, and endurance develops strength of character. That's Jesus. Constant misfortune brings this one blessing to whom it always assails. It eventually fortifies. That's Seneca. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye but do not consider the plank in your own eye? That's Jesus. You look at the pimples of others when you yourself are covered with a mass of sores. That's Seneca. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. That's Jesus. Two elements must therefore be rooted out once and for all. The fear of future suffering and the recollection of past suffering, since the latter no longer concerns me and the former concerns me not yet. That's Seneca. Ultimately, both these men lived on far beyond their deaths. According to scripture, Jesus he would rise from the dead after three days. And Seneca, through his writings, feels as alive to us as he would have to many Romans. So on this Christmas Day, we can simply marvel at this near miracle that two wise men were alive at the same time. And through their sufferings and teachings, a great legacy has been passed down to us. Which one of them we choose to rely on most heavily is an individual decision, but that we should do something with their teachings. That's a gift we would all be wise to receive this Christmas. Anyways, Merry Christmas everyone. I love putting this together, these Christmas messages every year. And it's been my privilege and honor to do this now every Christmas since 2016. Thank you for subscribing. Thank you for giving me the opportunity, giving me the platform, for making me better by allowing me to write this to you. I hope to see you all in the Daily Stoic New Year, New youw Challenge, which is going to start in just a few days. You can join there@dailystoic.com challenge. And now I'm going to go be with my family, and I hope you do the same.
- [04:45]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
The world is full of tours.
- [04:50]
Ryan Holiday
But.
- [04:50]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
You don't choose a Toyota truck to follow the beaten path. You choose it to find the places.
- [04:56]
Narrator/Poet
In between.
- [04:59]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
The detours, where each adventure pulls you toward the next. And wrong turns turn out right. So why would you ever take a tour when you could take a detour?
- [05:13]
Ryan Holiday
Toyota Trucks thanks to Toyota Trucks for sponsoring this episode. When I bought my ranch in 2015 out here in Bastow County, I drove my car about halfway down the dirt road that we live on, thought, this isn't going to work. Stopped, parked it walked the rest of the way home, borrowed my wife's car, drove into Austin and bought a truck. What I bought was a Toyota Tacoma. And this truck wasn't just transportation getting me to and from my house. It unlocked a whole different style of living for us. Not just on the ranch, but in our little Texas towns. There were places I could go now that I couldn't go before, especially out here in the piney forests, through the fields and on the unpaved roads like the one that I lived in, we got to go deep into the Hill Country's wild beauty. We've driven all the way out to East Texas. We've driven it across the country. And by we, I mean not just my wife, but both my kids, who I drove home from the hospital in that truck. Toyota trucks are built for those who understand that the best adventures happen when you're willing to veer off course, because you never know when you'll end up on a Toyota Adventure Detour. And of course, this is stoicism, too, because every detour, every obstacle is an opportunity. But it's helpful if you can handle the difficulty inherent in that. If you've got the resilience and the right companion to make it wherever the road takes you, discover your uncharted territory. Learn more@toyota.com Trucks Adventure detours. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoke Podcast. Yesterday was a very crazy day for me. I don't know when you're listening to this, but I'm telling you when I'm recording it. So I flew to Seattle, I guess the night before, woke up, went for a long run, did about eight miles around Lake Washington there in Seattle, and then I had breakfast and did some research for the book that I'm working on. As I'm getting ready to go do this talk, I see they've got this sauna, like a floating sauna there on the lake. And I've done something like this before in Finland, where you would go in the sauna and then you're jumping a hole through the ice into the ocean, back and forth, back and forth and forth. And it was funny because I was going to talk about cold plunges in my talk later that night that I was doing in Seattle. So I, like, I didn't want to do it. I was putting it off and I was trying to make excuses and I said, you know what? This is going to be awesome. I'm going to do it. So I paid to go in the sauna. It was like 30 bucks. Got in the sauna, jumped in the lake, got in the sauna, jumped in the lake, got in the sauna, jumped in the lake. And then I went and did a talk for the folks at Xbox there at the hotel. I was very excited about it. Not as excited as my 9 year old who was finally impressed about one of the audiences I was talking to did. That talk went for about an hour and a half. Then I went back to my room Took a little nap and then headed down to Seattle Town hall where I did a talk to many of you lovely people. Maybe you were there. You probably don't need to listen to this episode if you were. I did a talk there about how to make 2026 your best year yet. Sort of thinking about some of the themes that we're putting into the Daily Stoic New Year. New you Challenge, which by the way, you can sign up for right now@dailystoic.com challenge I'm pumped and excited to do. Thousands of Stoics all over the world are gonna be doing it together. I hope you are one of them. But anyways, I did the talk and then I got to answer some questions, which is what I love to do. And that's what I am bringing you for today's Q and A. If you wanna come to one of my talks and ask me some questions, I'm gonna be in San Diego and Phoenix as part of the same tour. You can grab tickets for that@dailystoiclive.com San Diego is February 5th. Phoenix is February 27th. Thanks to the folks at Xbox for having me out. And thanks to the folks in Seattle. Came out to the talk. It was a beautiful venue. It was like an old church that had these stained glass windows. People sat in pews. Just a lovely thing. So I'll bring you some questions from that and I hope to see you at one of the talks. Dailystoiclive.com and then most of all, I hope to see you in the Daily Stoic New Year. New youw Challenge. We're going to be starting January 1st. Let's kick the year off right, with some stoic inspired challenges. Dailystoic.com challenge I'll see you in there.
- [09:39]
Audience Member 1
My question is, I think a lot of people my age, millennials, they deal with, you know, anxiety, Right? And so, you know, we know about Memento Mori, remembrance of death. That best from deathbed remorse and, you know, more Fatih love of fate. Right. So it's like letting the things you can't control but also thinking about deathbed remorse and thinking of what am I going to think of later.
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Ryan Holiday
And so you're saying that thinking about your own death doesn't do anything for your anxiety.
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Audience Member 1
Exactly.
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Ryan Holiday
That's a shock. No, I get it. I totally get it. Anxiety is something that I struggle with. I think we all do. One of the things that the Stokes teach us about anxiety that I try to remember is that the things aren't causing my anxiety.
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Right.
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The airport doesn't give me anxiety. Public speaking doesn't give me anxiety. Political events aren't why I'm nervous and frustrated and worrying. Those things are objective. They are outside me. I am the source of the anxiety.
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Right.
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The one thing that all the things that I am anxious about have in common is what? It's me, it's you.
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Right?
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We're the common variable. And so this is why in a famous passage in Meditations Marx, Aulius goes, I'm not going to escape my anxiety. I have to discard it. I have to realize that I am complicit and involved in it and that I have the ability to choose. Now, obviously, look, there's extreme cases that require medication and serious medical interventions. I'm not talking about that. It's just understanding that, hey, this thing is not to blame. It's my opinion, my feelings, my expectations about it that are causing me the anxiety. And that's one of the ways that I can deal with my low level anxiety in that capacity.
- [11:25]
Audience Member 1
Thank you.
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Ryan Holiday
Thank you very much.
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My question, thank you so much for introducing me to stoicism many years ago.
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I'm really thankful.
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And my question is, what do you hate or dislike about stoicism? What would you like to change in stoicism? Sure.
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I mean, look, I don't like people who misuse or misappropriate stoicism to be an asshole.
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Right.
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Like the idea that, like, okay, I don't control your feelings. That's why I'm gonna say mean things or I'm gonna be disrespectful or whatever.
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Right.
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Like, I think there is this idea that stoicism is indifferent or insensitive on purpose, because those things don't matter to me what stoicism is saying. Hey, I'm not gonna be easily offended, but I understand that a lot of people are offended. And so I do try to be conscientious and kind and considerate. And I think there is a contingent of people who are trying to misappropriate and misuse stoicism, as I said, to justify being a jerk. Right. And that's, to me, not what it's about at all. The central stoic virtue is justice and ethics.
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Right.
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Kindness, compassion, how our actions impact other people. That really matters.
- [12:51]
Audience Member 2
Hey, Ryan, thanks for being here.
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Ryan Holiday
Yeah.
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Audience Member 2
Could you talk a little bit more with a stoic lens of how do we thread that line between, especially with news and what's going on politically? The difference between being disengaged and being unbothered? Because I feel like we can Unplug. But that's irresponsible in some ways.
- [13:09]
Ryan Holiday
Yeah, yeah. So to me, like, what's happening is not okay. What happening? What's happening requires people being involved, people being engaged, people, you know, putting their ass on the line. It's going to require courage and discipline, all these stoic virtues. I guess the problem is we have confused reading about what's happening and being outraged about what's happening and sharing things on social media about what's happening with doing anything about what's happening.
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Right.
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And that's really the problem. And so to me, I think, like, let's start small. Let's start where we have impact. Let's get involved. Let's just not confuse being up on all the issues with making a difference for really anyone. Like, we already know what's happening is not okay. Like, we already know why it's happening. Hearing more about it is not critical at this point. Right. And this isn't true for everyone. Some people are journalists, some people are in government. Some people do need have different media debts. But for most of us, like, these are basic bedrock, social contract things, constitutional things, even. Part of the. I believe Steve Bannon said that the Trump strategy is muscle velocity.
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Right.
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The idea is to throw so much stuff at people so fast that they can't even keep up with it, let alone pick what they're gonna take a stand about and do something about. And I think understanding that and then adjusting is like the first step in sort of beating some of this stuff back.
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Narrator/Poet
Curious how you manage relationships, family relationships, or lifelong friendships where their viewpoints are just so fundamentally different from yours, but you care about them so much.
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Ryan Holiday
Yeah. It's challenging, of course. I guess I just try to think, like, does this person believe things that are bad or are they doing things that are bad? And that's maybe where I would draw the line.
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Right.
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So if we can have an intellectual discussion about it, if we can disagree, and of course, there's a broad spectrum of. Of, you know, I think reasonable things.
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That people can disagree with or disagree about.
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That's not what we're talking about, but I think we start to draw the line when someone is sort of actively harming others. Again, not just with their opinions, but with the actions that they're taking. But for the most part, you know, there's maybe a don't ask, don't tell policy that's helpful.
- [16:00]
Narrator/Poet
These days, your practice of stoicism seems to involve lots of facing hard things or doing things that scare you. Is there something in the coming year that you're looking to face.
- [16:11]
Ryan Holiday
Yeah. Okay. So my big goal for 2026 is I am going to declare email bankruptcy and I'm going to mark all the emails in my inbox as read and I'm going to start over. Now, I know this doesn't seem hard. I ran a marathon last year and that was my challenge. But I have, this is clearly hard because multiple years in a row I have said I was going to do this at multiple points. In 2025, I said I was going to do this, I was going to do it. We had a long car ride. I was like, you know what, I'm going to get my laptop up and I'm just going to press this button and it's going to. I'm going to start fresh. And then I just didn't do it. I don't know what I think is in there. And clearly it's not that important because I haven't looked at it in all this time, but that's one of them.
- [16:56]
Audience Member 3
So, Ryan, I got a question for you relation to your book the Obstacle is the Way. So you talk about not dwelling on certain things in the past, especially events, but there are situations that repeat, like situations where you fall into and you could have learned from it from before. I guess the question to you is how can you not look at the meaning? How can you not look at things and dwell onto things because you need to learn from them. So when do you stop learning and how often do you need to repeat something until you get the right learning? And then at the end of the day, what is the definition of the right learning anyway?
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Ryan Holiday
Well, that's the whole thing right there. Yeah, look, I guess if it's a pattern that is repeating, it's not really in the past. I guess sometimes we dwell on mistakes that we have made or things that we wish we hadn't done. Sometimes I'll be on one of my walks, as I'm saying, and I'll just be like violently assaulted by a thought of something dumb I said a really long time ago. And you know, what good is kicking myself about? I can't unsay it. I can't unthink it.
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Sure.
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I think going, well, why did it happen and what did it mean and what am I going to do differently? That's fine. The problem is when we ruminate and when we get stuck and then when we try to spend energy making something unhappen as opposed to making sure it doesn't happen again or just making amends for the fact that it did happen, right? That's, that's what I think it's about. So I just try to ask myself, you know, is, can I influence this? Can I change it? And if not, then I've got to accept it and move on. Hey, it's Ryan.
- [18:41]
Thank you for listening to the Daily Stoic podcast.
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I just wanted to say we so appreciate it.
- [18:46]
We love serving you. It's amazing to us that over 30 million people have downloaded these episodes in the couple years we've been doing it.
- [18:53]
It's an honor. Please spread the word, tell people about it. And this isn't to sell anything.
- [18:58]
I just wanted to say thank you.
- [19:10]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
The world is full of tours.
- [19:14]
Ryan Holiday
But.
- [19:14]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
You don't choose a Toyota truck to follow beaten path. You choose it to find the places.
- [19:20]
Narrator/Poet
In between.
- [19:23]
Toyota Trucks Advertiser
The detours, where each adventure pulls you toward the next. And wrong turns turn out right. So why would you ever take a tour when you could take a detour?
- [19:37]
Toyota Trucks Family Owner
Toyota Trucks My family owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner, and honestly, it's my favorite vehicle that I've ever owned around town. It's smooth and reliable, but where it really shines is on our trips into the backcountry. We've taken it on backpacking adventures to Colorado and New Mexico, loaded up with gear and never had to think twice about whether it could handle the terrain. That's what Toyota Trucks are built for. Off road confidence, rugged durability, and the freedom to explore. Toyota has a long history with the outdoor community, and they're committed to helping more people get out there and experience what nature has to offer. From remote trails to scenic byways, Toyota Trucks empowers you to take the detour, roam freely, and discover places that still feel wild and untouched. And they're not just making great trucks. They're working to expand access to adventure so more people can connect with the outdoors and pass that passion on to the next generation. Discover your uncharted territory. Learn more@toyota.com Trucks Adventure Detours that's toyota.com Trucks Adventure-Detours.