The Daily Stoic

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Tim Urban On Procrastination, Changing Habits, And Slow Improvement May 27, 2023

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Ryan speaks with Tim Urban about his new book What's Our Problem?: A Self-Help Book for Societies, why everyone who wants to improve at something should aim to do it slowly, what it really means to “trust the process,” why they like writing so much, and more.

Tim Urban is a writer, illustrator, blogger, and entrepreneur. He earned his A.B. from Harvard University, graduating cum laude with a major in Government. Since starting his long-form, stick figure-illustrated blog Wait But Why in 2013, he has become one of the most popular writers and thinkers on the internet. His articles have been regularly republished on sites like Quartz, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Business Insider and Gizmodo, and his 2016 TED Talk: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator has been viewed over 50 million times on YouTube alone. Wait But Why regularly receives over 1.5 million unique visitors per month on average, and his blog is read by over 300,000 email subscribers. His work, which covers a wide range of topics, including technology, human behavior, self-improvement, and more, can be found at waitbutwhy.com and on Twitter @waitbutwhy and Instagram @timurban.

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How The Stoics Got Rich | Stop Caring What People Think May 26, 2023

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When you think of Stoicism, you don’t usually think of words like “rich” or “wealthy.”

But you should.

Before he founded Stoicism, Zeno was a wealthy and successful merchant from a family of wealthy and successful merchants. Seneca was so wealthy that when he called in some of his loans to the Roman colony in Britain, it crashed their economy and sparked a rebellion. Marcus Aurelius was born with ordinary bloodlines but–in part because of his serious study of philosophy–he became the richest and most powerful man in the Roman Empire.

The point is most—not all, but most—of the Stoics, ancient or modern, built some kind of wealth.

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And in today's Daily Stoic Journal excerpt reading, Ryan discusses how the Stoics handled the opinions of others, and why getting comfortable with being judged by others will help you maintain a healthy mindset.

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It’s Never Too Late To Get Back | Ask DS May 25, 2023

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Maybe you said some stuff you regret. Maybe the stress of the business has made you a nightmare of a boss lately. Maybe you’ve not been the parent you want to be. Maybe you’ve not been the spouse you’ve promised to be. Maybe you’ve relapsed on some bad or destructive habits. Maybe, but hopefully not, you’ve been heading in the direction of Elon Musk and gotten yourself in a kind of downward spiral of negative attention and impulsive decisions.

And now, staring at the consequences of this–invariably your own unhappiness and quite possibly disrepute–you’re wondering if all is lost.

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And in today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan answers questions from the audience during a Stoicism 101 seminar. The topics that he covers include focusing on your own work instead of someone else's, whether or not the concepts of Premeditatio Malorum and the Black Swan are in conflict, avoiding feeling a sense of superiority when studying and improving your Stoicism.

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David von Drehle On The Pursuit Of A Good And Meaningful LIfe May 24, 2023

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Ryan speaks with David von Drehle about his new book The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man, what he learned from one of the oldest people in the world, how being a Stoic shaped Charlie’s boundless optimism, and more.

David von Drehle is an author and deputy opinion editor and columnist at The Washington Post whose work focuses on national affairs and politics. Prior to joining The Post in 2017, David worked at Time magazine, where he wrote more than 60 cover stories as editor-at-large, including high profile pieces on the 2008 Person of the Year (Barack Obama), Glenn Beck, and the deaths of Michael Jackson and Osama Bin-Laden. He started his career in journalism at the age of 17 as a sports writer for The Denver Post. David is also the author of five books, including the award-winning bestseller “Triangle: The Fire That Changed America.”

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This Can Drive You Nuts, Or You Can Learn To Love It May 24, 2023

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You clean and then it gets dirty. You do the dishes and then five minutes later, the sink is full again. You made it through your inbox in the morning and by the time late afternoon strikes, you’re already digging yourself out again. Literally before you’ve even finished putting the dog’s toys away, they’re splayed out across the floor. Just as you put the finishing touches on that big project, another is dropped on your plate. You finally organize your kids’ clothes and now they’ve grown out of them.

This can drive you nuts. Or you can learn to love it.

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This Is Demanded Of You | 5 Stoic Secrets From The Ultimate Man Of Principle (Cato The Younger) May 23, 2023

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Seneca tried to teach it to Nero but Nero couldn’t grasp it. To be fair, most leaders, most powerful people, most governments and civilizations struggle with it. In fact, up until Seneca sat down to write De Clementia there wasn’t even a word for what we have, ever since, called clemency.

Clemency, as Seneca explains it, is basically how a powerful person treats a person they have power over–particularly when the less powerful person has done wrong.

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And in today's Daily Stoic video excerpt, Ryan shares some of the most strongest examples that Cato The Younger set for living like a Stoic.

📺 You can watch the video at The Daily Stoic YouTube channel.

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Ask Yourself These Crucial Questions | Practice True Joy May 22, 2023

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There’s a story of Musonius Rufus paying a thousand sesterces to a charlatan posing as a philosopher. When an observer stepped in to say that the man was a liar unworthy of the payment, Musonius replied, “money is exactly what he deserves.”

It’s always revealing to look closely at those who seem to prize financial success above all else. The writer Anne Lamott jokes in Bird by Bird, “Ever wonder what God thinks of money? Just look at the people he gives it to.” Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations, “Robbers, perverts, killers, and tyrants—gather for your inspection their so-called pleasures!”

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And in today's Daily Stoic Journal excerpt reading, Ryan meditates on the unique aspects of Stoic joy, and why it should be practiced every day.

💵 Visit dailystoic.com/wealth to sign up for The Wealthy Stoic wealth management course today.

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Just Start Journaling May 21, 2023

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In today's audiobook excerpt, Ryan cracks open his best-selling book Stillness Is The Key to read the chapter titled “Just Start Journaling,” which covers why you should start your journaling practice.

📔 Visit the Painted Porch to order a copy of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

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Renée Mauborgne On Blue Oceans, Disruption, And Succeeding By Being Yourself May 20, 2023

Show notes

Ryan speaks with Renee Mauborgne about her new book Beyond Disruption: Innovate and Achieve Growth without Displacing Industries, Companies, or Jobs, the strategies that have helped both of be find success in their careers, why we are all blue oceans, the philosophy behind positive disruption, the deep level of dedication that it takes to “make it” in anything, and more.

Renee Mauborgne is an economist, business theorist and author. She is a professor of strategy at INSEAD, a business school based in France, and the co-director of the Fontainebleau-based INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. In 2005, she co-authored with W. Chan Kim the hugely successful business book Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, and its 2017 follow-up Blue Ocean Shift. Beyond Competing. Both works focus on developing a unique brand and product in order to become the “only” rather than competing to become the “best.” You can find Renee and Blue Ocean Strategy’s work at their website: blueoceanstrategy.com, and on Instagram and Twitter @blueoceanstrtgy.

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Money Isn’t Rare | Learn, Practice, Train May 19, 2023

Show notes

It’s interesting how infrequently money comes up in Meditations. Here was a guy who had incredible wealth, whose predecessors obsessed over it and found it to be a source of both pleasure and conflict, and yet in his private meditations, it hardly comes up at all.

In his actions, we see Marcus was conscious of money, but primarily as a means to an end not as an end to itself. He was more interested in what it could do for other people. He declined gifts and inheritances. He gave liberally to the poor. He sold off palace furnishings at Rome’s lowest point.

But perhaps these attitudes are related.

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And in today's excerpt reading from The Daily Stoic, Ryan discusses the vital importance of actually training yourself for something rather than simply knowing about it, especially with philosophical ideas.

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