This Is The Point of Philosophy | You're Wasting Your Life

Summary

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The Daily Stoic – "This Is The Point of Philosophy | You're Wasting Your Life"

Date: November 7, 2025
Host: Ryan Holiday (Daily Stoic)

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Overview

In this episode, Ryan Holiday dives into the true purpose of philosophy, particularly Stoicism, and why it matters in the modern world. He challenges listeners to view philosophy not as an abstract exercise, but as a practical guide for daily betterment. Holiday explores how Stoicism can help individuals break down overwhelming goals, cultivate discipline, and reflect for continual improvement—emphasizing that the “point” is real, lived change, not theoretical knowledge or fleeting inspiration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is Philosophy For?

• Holiday opens by questioning the role of philosophy:
  • Is it for impressing others, academic debate, or self-help?
• Core Argument:
  • “The point of philosophy, Stoic philosophy anyway, is to make you a better person, to make your life better and through that, to lift up the lives of the people around you. It was self help in the truest sense, to help you live a good life and be a good person.” (01:27)
• Distinction between real application and passive consumption:
  • Philosophy isn’t meant to be “nodded along to” on podcasts or social media.

2. Overwhelm & Where to Start

• Holiday acknowledges how Stoicism can be overwhelming due to its breadth but insists it must be applied to daily life.
  • “First, you have to learn what the Stoics have to teach you... and then you have to apply it, putting ancient ideas into modern practice.” (02:00)
• Announcement of "Stoicism 101"—a course on integrating Stoic ideas (promo, not detailed here).

3. The Problem of Overambitious Goals

• People set big, ambitious goals (e.g., losing 100 pounds, writing a book) and quickly become overwhelmed.
  • “They want to lose 100 pounds, write a bestselling book, build a business... but then they almost immediately get overwhelmed...” (08:16)
• Many give up or become self-critical when facing the hugeness of these challenges.

4. The Value of “The Process”

• Sports Analogy: Cites Coach Nick Saban’s “process” philosophy in elite sports.
  • “Don’t focus on the end of the season, don’t focus on the playoffs, don’t look at the scoreboard, don’t look at any other external factors. Just all your focus, all your concentration, all your effort, all your toughness, all your discipline to execute went into that particular play.” (07:29, paraphrasing Saban)
• “What is your job in this moment, in this play, that’s where your attention has to be focused.” (07:55)
• Carl Jung’s “Next Right Thing”:
  • Focus less on the ultimate outcome, more on the next actionable step.

5. Breaking It Down: Small Steps

• Citing his own writing process, Holiday explains how small, manageable pieces add up to big results.
  • “I am at 1200 words, which doesn’t seem like a lot, and it’s not. But I know that basically this full book will probably be that 75 more times. If I show up every day ... in a few months I will have a finished manuscript.” (09:03)
• As with other areas (parenting, health), focus on “winning the morning” or one meal at a time.

6. Discipline & Persistence

• Epictetus Quote:
  • “First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do to do.” (09:34)
• Discipline is not just about breaking goals down; it’s about “showing up and doing that work” daily.

7. Reflection: The Feedback Loop

• Stoicism isn’t just about action; it’s about reflection.
  • Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and Seneca’s end-of-day reviews are cited as practices of evaluating progress, mistakes, and intentions.
  • “Marcus is ... reflecting on it. Meditations is his private journal. Seneca talks about ... he’d sit down and he put the day up for review. What could he have done better? Where did he fall short? ... This loop of focusing on what’s in front of you, adding the discipline ... and then the reflective process ... this is a feedback loop that helps us get better and better.” (11:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Philosophy’s Purpose:
  • “Philosophy is not supposed to pump you up or make you feel good. The point of philosophy... is to make you a better person, to make your life better...”
    — Ryan Holiday (01:16)
• On the Value of Process:
  • “Just all your focus, all your concentration, all your effort, all your toughness, all your discipline to execute went into that particular play.”
    — Nick Saban (as paraphrased by Holiday) (07:29)
• On Breaking Things Down:
  • “Piece by piece, you take where you want to go, who you want to be, and then you begin to break it down.”
    — Ryan Holiday (09:34)
• On Daily Discipline:
  • “Do what you need to do, don’t do what you shouldn’t do. Simple, but not easy.”
    — Ryan Holiday (10:51)
• On Reflection:
  • “He’s set the intention of who he wants to be. He’s trying to do that day to day. And then he is reflecting on it.”
    — Ryan Holiday on Marcus Aurelius (11:29)

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Timed Segment Highlights

• [00:00–01:40] — Opening, the purpose of Stoic philosophy.
• [07:00–08:00] — Introduction of the “process” concept via sports coaching.
• [09:00–10:30] — Holiday’s personal writing process as an example of breaking big goals down.
• [10:51–11:29] — The virtue of discipline and the importance of consistency.
• [11:29–12:22] — The reflection-feedback loop, as illustrated by Marcus Aurelius and Seneca.

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Takeaways

• Stoic philosophy is meant to be lived—it’s about small, intentional daily actions that accumulate to yield a good life.
• Big, audacious goals can overwhelm; the antidote is to focus on manageable, present steps and “win” today by consistent, disciplined effort.
• Self-improvement requires reflection; reviewing and refining your actions creates a feedback loop for continuous growth.

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Summary prepared for those seeking the heart of The Daily Stoic’s November 7, 2025 episode, providing actionable wisdom in the true spirit of Stoic philosophy.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign 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 this is the point of philosophy. What's the point? What is philosophy for? Is it for impressing people? Is it for exercising your brain? Is it to land a job at a university teaching philosophy? Certainly it's not nodding along to a podcast or an Instagram video or a daily email. Philosophy is not supposed to pump you up or make you feel good. The point of philosophy, Stoic philosophy anyway, is to make you a better person, to make your life better and through that, to lift up the lives of the people around you. It was self help in the truest sense, to help you live a good life and be a good person. But this is obviously easier said than done because first you have to learn what the Stoics have to teach you, which is a lot you and then you have to apply it, putting ancient ideas into modern practice. And there's a lot to Stoicism and it can feel overwhelming and it has been overwhelming to people for thousands of years. So where do you start? How do you put Stoicism into practice? Well, this is exactly what we answer in Stoicism 101 Ancient Philosophy for your Actual Life. A 14 day course designed to help you start integrating these ideas into your daily life. As I said, it is a 14 day course designed to help kickstart your study and practice of Stoicism, to introduce you to Marcus Aurelius and Seneca and Epictetus and the other Stoics, to learn what made them great, what we can learn from them, what you should read and how to read it. And think about what it would be worth to be able to put these ideas in practice, to get upset with your spouse less, to be anxious less, to be stronger, to be more resilient, to be able to bounce back faster. Think about that over the course of your lifetime. And Stoicism 101 is there to do that, to help you live a great life. So real solutions to your real problems. I'm really proud and excited about it. This course is beginning on November 10, which is right here around the corner and we'd love to have you Join us together and you can sign up right [e-mail] 101. And remember, Daily Stoic Life members get this course and all our daily STO courses for free. You've probably heard of eight Sleep by now because I talk about it all the time. I woke up on my eight Sleep mattress pad this morning and I've slept on one for years. Eight Sleep is a company that is about improving your sleep and they have dramatically improved mine. The Pod 5 is the newest generation of Eight Sleep's signature product, the Pod, which is a smart mat cover that you put right on top of your existing mattress. Their results are up to one hour of additional quality sleep per night. Eight Sleep also just came out with their new Pod pillow cover. It syncs with your POD system and automatically adjusts your head and neck temperature in real time based on your sleep patterns. And like the mattress cover, you slip it over any pillow you already love. Just head over to eightsleep.com dailystoicnow and use code DAILYSTOIC to get 350 bucks off your very own Pod 5 UL. And the best part is you still get 30 days to try it at home and return it if you don't like it. I think you'll love it. Your body will thank you for this investment in better sleep. Eight Sleep ships to many countries worldwide and you can see all the details at eightsleep.com dailystoeic. One of the hardest things to watch the last several months has been the cuts to organizations all over the world that provide aid to the poorest, most vulnerable people. That's not just a political issue that has real consequences for real people. And if you're like me, that's sort of heartbreaking to watch. And maybe you're wondering, like, how can I help? What can I do about it? I researched today's sponsor, actually, when I was writing Right thing right now. GiveWell is an incredible organization. It's trusted by tens of thousands of donors all over the world and it provides free and independent research about how you can provide a big impact. GiveWell has spent the last 18 years researching global health and poverty alleviation and it directs funding to the highest impact opportunities they've found. Over 150,000 donors have already trusted GiveWell to direct more than $2.5 billion, including some donations from me. Their evidence suggests that these donations will save over 300,000 lives. And thanks to the donors who choose to sponsor their research, GiveWell doesn't take a cut from your tax deductible donation to their recommended funds. If this is your first gift through Goodwill, you can have your donation matched up to $100 by the end of the year or as long as those matching funds last. To claim your match, go to givewell.com and pick, podcast and enter the Daily Stoic at checkout. Make sure they know that you heard about GiveWell from the Daily Stoic. To get your donation matched, givewell.org code Daily Stoic to donate or find out more. Your New Year's resolutions have set you up to fail. You made them a long time ago. You fell off and now you're on the verge of coasting through the holidays, writing this year off to then do the same thing over again when you promise yourself in January you're gonna get serious. There's a trend I saw on social media recently called the Great Lock In. The Great lock in of 2025 is here. The great lock in of 20 means it's time for the Great Lock in. The start of the Great Lock In. Basically the idea is that you can't write these last few months of the year off. You got to double down on your goals. Don't wait, don't push stuff off, start now, and let that new momentum carry you in to January. One of the things I talk about in the obstacle is the way is this idea of the process.

[B]

Now the officials are going to huddle, obviously. Instant revlon.

[A]

If you've ever spent time around elite sports teams, whether it's college football or professional basketball, you hear them talk about this idea of the process.

[B]

We decided to use the approach that we were not going to focus on the outcome, that we were just going to focus on the process of what it took to play the best football you could play, which was to focus on that particular play like it had a history and a life of its own.

[A]

Nick Saban, the legendary coach at Alabama, talked about it the most. He was saying, you know, don't focus on the end of the season, don't focus on the playoffs, don't look at.

[B]

The scoreboard, don't look at any other external factors. Just all your focus, all your concentration, all your effort, all your toughness, all your discipline to execute went into that particular play. And regardless of what happened on that play, success or failure, you would move on to the next play and have the same focus to do that on the next play, and that you would do that for 60 minutes in the game and then you would be able to live with the results regardless of what those results were.

[A]

What is your job in this moment in this play, that's where your attention has to be focused. Carl Jung talked about the next right thing. That's the process. What is the next right thing? Most of us are trying to do too much. We set what they call big, hairy, audacious goals, right? They want to lose 100 pounds, write a best selling book, build a business so they can quit their job. They set these goals which are inspiring and exciting to think about, but then they almost immediately get overwhelmed by the sheer scale of what they're trying to accomplish. And then they end up giving up, or they quit, or they tell themselves it was impossible and they were stupid to even try. And I think what the process does is it flips that script. You got to break these big goals, the person you want to be in the future, down into these small, manageable steps. I am on day three of my next book. Let's see how many words I have. I am at 1200 words, which doesn't seem like a lot, and it's not. But I know that basically this full book will probably be that 75 more times. If I show up every day, if I just show up every day and do a word count like that, in a few months I will have a finished manuscript. I didn't say I will have a publishable manuscript. I didn't say I would have a bestseller. I would say I would have. The first step in getting towards those things. Epictetus says, first say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do to do. Piece by piece, you take where you want to go, who you want to be, and then you begin to break it down. As a parent, it's not, I want to have the perfect day. Tomorrow you go, hey, I want to win the morning. If you're trying to lose weight, maybe you're thinking about one meal again. As a writer, it's not the finished manuscript. I'm breaking this book down into its composite parts. I've got an intro, a conclusion. How many chapters in the middle, how long is each chapter? What is the opening of this chapter? Right, I'm breaking it down into small, manageable pieces. Now, breaking it down into small pieces only works as a strategy. If you couple that with the day to day discipline of showing up and doing that work, I think that's the critical part of what Epictetus is telling us. First you say what you want to be, you break it down in those pieces, and then you do what you have to do. What is Marcus Aurelius? Open Meditations Book 5 with. He says, @ dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, I have to go to work as a human being, right? But I want to huddle under the blankets. It's warmer here. He says, you were born to feel nice instead of doing things and experiencing them. He says, don't you see the plants and the birds and the ants and the spiders and the bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order as best they can? Why aren't you running to do what your nature demands? So that's the consistency, that's the day to dayness. A writer wants to find all of Epictetus thinking all of his teachings about this virtue of discipline as two persist and resist. Do what you need to do, don't do what you shouldn't do. Simple, but not easy. And then, of course, I think the other critical part of stoicism is this reflection process. That's what Marcus is doing in Meditations. He's set the intention of who he wants to be. He's trying to do that day to day. And then he is reflecting on it. Meditations is his private journal. Seneca talks about how every night when his wife would go to sleep, he'd sit down and he put the day up for review. What could he have done better? Where did he fall short? What was he proud of? What did he want to do more of? And so this loop of focusing on what's in front of you, adding the discipline and the commitment and the routine to it, and then the reflective process where we fine tune and tighten and improve, this is a feedback loop that helps us get better and better. It starts with these small, unsexy steps, but it is by no means a small thing.

[C]

The world is full of tours.

[A]

But.

[C]

You don't choose a Toyota truck to follow the beaten path. You choose it to find the places.

[B]

In between.

[C]

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? Toyota trucks.

[D]

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 it 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 at Toyota. Com Trucks Adventure Detours. That's Toyota. Com Trucks Adventure Detours.