The Daily Stoic

On today’s episode, Ryan discusses the 3 books that completely changed his life. Listen to find out what books had such a great impact on Ryan’s thinking, and why re-reading important books can give you new insights. This episode is also brought to you by HelloFresh , the meal-kit subscription that gets you healthy and delicious home-cooked meals, right to your doorstep. HelloFresh sends you meal...

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2020. Ryan talks to Matthew McConaughey, Pete Holmes, Martellus Bennett, and George Raveling about focusing on what’s in your control, finding growth in suffering, the Stoic virtue of justice, and why all leaders are readers. This episode is brought to you by GiveWell , the best site for figuring out how and where to donate your mo...

“2,000 years ago today there was a woman who went into labor in a province of the Roman Empire, she couldn't find shelter, she was young, and she was scared. 150 years ago soldiers fighting to preserve the Union and to free their fellow man, found a way to celebrate Christmas in forts and trenches dividing a sundered Nation. Almost a century ago in the worst part of the Great Depression, pare...

“It was a dark day exactly 244 years ago. Christmas was here, at one of of the darkest times in the American Revolution. George Washington was planning to cross the Delaware, a desperate move necessitated by a string of setbacks and ebbing support for the revolution across his struggling country.” Learn about how George Washington applied Stoic principles to help guide the Continental Army to vict...

“It’s almost a cliché at this point. A reporter walks into the locker room of a victorious team and gets some version of the following quotes from the athlete who has pulled it off: ‘It was a team effort.’ ‘We worked hard and got lucky out there.’ ‘I trusted in God and did my best.’” Ryan discusses the importance of cultivating humility, and keeping your ego at bay, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast....

Today’s episode features clips from some of the best interviews in 2020. Ryan talks to Cal Newport, Jocko Willink, Tim Ferriss, and Robert Greene about time management, daily routines, how to deal with fear, and facing the truth.  This episode is brought to you by Amazon Music . one of the things that makes this time of year truly wonderful is the music—and my family’s getting its holiday music fi...

“Epictetus said that the root of beauty was beautiful choices. He was talking less of physical beauty, one imagines, than of true beautiful human behavior, but actually, it applies to both. A stunning woman whose looks are the result of her vanity and self-obsession will be rather unattractive when you get to know her. A man with strapping muscles acquired through steroids and a neglect of all oth...

“ In his 91st Letter, Seneca tells Lucilius about his friend Liberalis who is “in some distress at the present moment following the news of the complete destruction of Lyons by fire.” It was a terrible, savage tragedy that calls to mind the images we see on the news all over the world on a day-to-day basis.” Ryan explains the importance of being prepared and seizing the present moment, and reads t...

On today’s episode, Ryan discusses 5 of the most Stoic moments in history with examples from Agrippinus, Steve Scott, Kerri Strugg, Frederick Douglass, and Epictetus. Today’s episode is also brought to you by Thuma . Thuma has spent thousands of hours making the perfect platform bed frame, called The Bed. The Bed by Thuma is super supportive of your mattress, breathes well, and is built to natural...

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to the lead singer of indie rock band The National about the false glamour of the rock n’ roll lifestyle, staying creative during the pandemic, and how he has sustained a successful career in the music industry. After quitting a career in advertising in his thirties, Berninger went on to form The National in 1999. The band has released several critically acclaimed al...

“Whether it’s a great athlete or a great comedian, the truth is the same. The better they get, the less they care about results. That’s not to say they don’t care about winning, or about success—of course they do—it’s that the longer you do something, the closer you get to mastery, the less external results matter in terms of measuring progress.” Ryan discusses why you should strive to measure pro...

“One of the strangest pejoratives that has come up in this new divisive political era is the idea of calling someone a “globalist.” It’s particularly popular in far right circles. If someone believes in NATO, if someone can see the obvious self-interest that the United States has in basing troops on the Korean Peninsula, or if they like doing trade deals with other countries, then they are clearly...

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to champion MMA fighter Michelle Waterson about the philosophy of being a mother, a business owner, and a world renowned fighter. Known as “The Karate Hottie”, Waterson made her fighting debut in 2007 and is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. In 2013 she joined the UFC and was later ranked the #1 women’s atom weight fighter in the world. She is currently rank...

“A quarterback can spend thousands of hours in the gym, watching footage, and working on their throwing accuracy. But ultimately, what matters is what they do on Sunday. What matters is what they do in the 4th quarter. Surgeons can study pre-med, go to med school, spend years in residency, and read every scientific journal ever published. But ultimately, what matters is whether they can perform in...

“We’ve been this way for a while. We are set in our ways. We’ve always had a short fuse. We’ve always been sad about our childhood. We’ve always had trouble with our eating. We’ve never been much good at being faithful. Maybe you’ve had a mean streak. Maybe you’re too timid. Maybe you don’t like to try very hard. Maybe you don’t think you’re good enough. How’s that working out for you? Why keep go...

"You didn’t cause the pandemic. You might have even been one of the people who was vocal about the dangers early on. Perhaps you didn’t vote for the leaders—worldwide—who have so failed us in preventing it or protecting us. Yet here you are, stuck dealing with the fallout."   Ryan explains the importance of doing what is right, even when faced with unfair circumstances, on today's D...

On today’s episode, Ryan features another clip from the audiobook of Donald Robertson’s 2019 book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor , published by Macmillan Audio, and available wherever book and audios are sold. This chapter focuses on the last days of Marcus Aurelius, and what lessons they hold for all of us. For more from Ryan and Donald, check out their appearance on Daily Stoic’s podcast from...

On today’s podcast, Ryan talks to his longtime friend, author and financial expert Ramit Sethi. From backbreaking summer jobs in Sacramento to financial success and acclaim, Ryan and Ramit have walked a similar path—hear them talk about what they’ve learned from those shared experiences. Ramit Sethi is a bestselling author and expert on how to use money to live the richest life. His first book, I...

"A leader will be forced into countless situations that they have never been in before. Trying, painful, stressful, baffling dilemmas and difficulties unlike any they have known. Nothing could have prepared Kennedy for the Cuban Missile Crisis, but it’s a good thing he had read B. H. Liddell Hart a few years before—it was Hart’s wisdom that helped Kennedy rationally and calmly deal with that...

"Go stand in front of the Jefferson Monument in D.C. on an early morning, watch the sun rise through the columns and shining on those words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…” and try not to feel anything. Go stand in fron...

"Life is hard. We face insurmountable odds with so many problems. We get bad news. We mess up. We find out that what we wanted—what we deserve, what is fair—is just not in the cards for us.  Think about Pete Frates. In his late 20s, he was hit by a pitch in an amateur league baseball game. At the doctor, shortly thereafter, it was discovered that he had ALS. Talk about “crying, stung by bee.”...

On today’s episode, Ryan talks to a fellow Southern transplant, writer Conor Towne O’Neill. They nerd out over their mutual fascination with the ghosts of American history that linger in the South, and how their presence looms in the Confederate monuments that even now, unconscionably, still stand on American soil. Connor Towne O’Neill is an author and journalist based in Alabama . His new book, D...

"Today, we find ourselves in the teeth of a global pandemic, one with a mortality rate close to the Antonine Plague that killed millions of people during Marcus Aurelius’ reign. Our medical efforts are running behind. Our supply chains are overtaxed. The cowardice and incompetence of many governments (or rather the heads of many governments, since responsibility falls on the leader, whether t...

"You consider yourself a programmatic thinker, a political realist , a student of history, a righter of wrongs, a teller of truths. The world is going to hell and you know how to fix it. But maybe you’ve become blind to the way your decisions, your actions, your beliefs are contributing—not to any sort of solution, but rather to the very thing you’re bemoaning. Maybe you’re the problem."...

On today’s episode, Ryan features a clip from the audiobook of Donald Robertson’s 2019 book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor , published by Macmillan Audio, and available wherever book and audios are sold. For more from Ryan and Donald, check out their appearance on Daily Stoic’s podcast from August , when they discussed the history behind Stoicism, the Antonine Plague, and more Donald Robertson...