The Daily Stoic – "You Know It’s Time to Change | Keep The Rhythm"

Host: Ryan Holiday
Date: December 9, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Ryan Holiday explores the Stoic imperative for personal change and the importance of maintaining philosophical discipline, especially at the turning of a year. He encourages listeners to reflect on habits that aren’t serving them and introduces the "Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge"—a program designed to help cultivate Stoic practices for lasting growth. The second half of the episode, "Keep the Rhythm," discusses the crucial theme of rhythm in life and philosophy, drawing on insights from Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus on returning consistently to one’s core values and practices, especially when life's busyness causes drift.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Recognizing the Need for Change (00:56 – 04:28)

• Stuck in Habits: Ryan begins by listing familiar, stagnant behaviors—quick temper, poor diet, distraction, skipping exercise—and asks listeners to reflect: “How is that working out for you?”
• Stoic Perspective: Citing Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, he calls it “madness” to continue living a degraded life without real change.
• Imagining Progress: Ryan invites the audience to imagine their ideal self a year from now, emphasizing that transformation doesn’t happen by accident.
• Daily Stoic "New Year, New You Challenge":
  • A 21-day program of Stoic-inspired challenges.
  • Designed for anyone—parents, professionals, athletes, students—to cement positive habits and perspectives.
  • Encourages joining a community for mutual accountability and growth.

Notable Quote:

“No one becomes this way by chance.” — Ryan Holiday (01:50)

Call to Action:

“Let’s make this the year that you make those changes and let’s do it. I’ll see you in there soon.” — Ryan Holiday (04:12)

2. Keep the Rhythm – Returning to Philosophy (06:20 – 11:57)

• Theme of the Rhythm:
  • Marcus Aurelius saw himself, and all individuals, as part of a larger historical pulse—a rhythm we must continually return to.
  • When life gets busy and we drift, the Stoics remind us to realign with our philosophy.
• Quotations from Stoic Masters:
  • Marcus Aurelius:
    • “Walk the long gallery of the past… you can also see the future, for surely it will be exactly the same. Unable to deviate from the present rhythm. It’s all one.” (Meditations 7.49, 06:55)
    • “When forced, as it seems by circumstances into utter confusion, get a hold of yourself quickly. Don’t be locked out of the rhythm any longer than necessary. You’ll be able to keep the beat if you’re constantly returning to it.” (Meditations 6.11, 07:30)
  • Epictetus:
    • “When you let your attention slide for a bit, don’t think you will get back a grip on it whenever you wish… bear in mind that perhaps because of today’s mistake, everything that follows will be necessarily worse…But it is possible for a person to always be stretched to avoid error, and we must be content to at least escape a few mistakes by never letting our attention slide.” (Discourses 4.12, 07:58)
• Personal Reflection:
  • Ryan recalls periods in his life when busyness led him away from philosophical practice, citing old blog posts and the experience of “drift.”
  • Stresses the importance of making an active return to philosophy—even and especially when life feels “off.”

Notable Quote:

“No matter how much learning or work or thinking we do, none of it matters unless it happens against the backdrop of extortive analysis, the kind rooted in the deep study of the mind and emotion and demands that we hold ourselves to certain standards. We must turn to the practical, to the spiritual exercises of great men, and actively use them.” — Ryan Holiday (08:47)

• Physical vs. Mental Tools:
  • Drawing from Marcus Aurelius’ analogy:
    • “Doctors carry their tools on their person. Or more ideally, a boxer’s tools are their person. We should seek to do the same. There is no excuse for being too busy or too distracted, nor is there any alternative.” (10:21)
• Self-Compassion:
  • Acknowledges that everyone, including himself, slips from discipline; the Stoic solution is simply to return, re-engage, and "keep the rhythm."

Memorable Closing:

“If you feel like you’re slipping a little bit, know that I do that too. And I have now for well over a decade and a half…you pick yourself back up, you go back to the rhythm, as Marcus Aurelius says, you pick up your philosophy, you return to it and you keep going.” — Ryan Holiday (11:20)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On Change’s Necessity:
  “What could this year be if you actually lived up to your potential? … No one becomes this way by chance.” — Ryan Holiday (01:20–01:50)

• On Community and Challenge:
  “Just ask yourself, like, what is one good habit worth? … If you can make progress on one thing, what would that be worth?” — Ryan Holiday (03:24)

• On Stoic Rhythm:
  “Walk the long gallery of the past… it’s all one. Whether we’ve experienced 40 years or an eon, what more is there to see?” — Marcus Aurelius, quoted by Ryan Holiday (06:55)

• On Returning After Drift:
  “The busier we get, the more we work and learn and read, the further we drift. We get in a rhythm… We drift further and further from philosophy, so we must catch ourselves and return to it.” — Ryan Holiday (08:17)

• On Tools and Preparedness:
  “Doctors carry their tools on their person. Or more ideally, a boxer’s tools are their person. We should seek to do the same. There is no excuse for being too busy or too distracted, nor is there any alternative.” — Marcus Aurelius, paraphrased by Ryan Holiday (10:21)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:56 – “You Know It’s Time to Change” — identifying habits and the need for realignment
• 01:50 – Imagining your ideal self; nobody changes by chance
• 02:56 – Introduction of the “New Year, New You Challenge”
• 03:24 – The worth of forming new habits and accountability
• 04:12 – Challenge details and call to action
• 06:20 – Theme of “Keep the Rhythm”; historical perspective from Marcus Aurelius
• 06:55–07:58 – Stoic quotations on maintaining and returning to rhythm
• 08:17 – Reflection: drifting from and returning to philosophy
• 10:21 – Tools analogy and the importance of always being prepared
• 11:20 – Closing encouragement; everyone slips, but Stoicism is about returning to your discipline

Conclusion

Ryan Holiday invites listeners to honestly evaluate their habits and life trajectory, to harness the new year as a catalyst for meaningful change through intentional Stoic practice. Drawing on both personal experience and ancient texts, he stresses that discipline wavers for everyone, but Stoicism provides the practical and philosophical tools to keep returning—again and again—to your best self and to the rhythm that sustains real growth.