It’s Important to Have Reminders

"It seems crazy now, but amongst the Stoics in the ancient world there was once intense disagreement over whether philosophers should have “precepts” or sayings to remind them of their teachings. Stoics like Aristo, who lived around the time of Zeno, believed that this was cheating. A wise man, properly trained, should just know what to do in any and every situation. "Ryan discusses how we should use reminders to stay on the right path in today's episode.****If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanholidayInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/Facebook: http://facebook.com/ryanholidayYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. It's important to have reminders. It seems crazy now, but amongst the Stoics in the ancient world, there was once an intense disagreement over whether philosophers should have precepts or sayings to remind them of their teachings. Stoics like Aristote, who lived around the time of Zeno, believed that this was cheating. "A wise man, properly

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  trained," he said, "should just know what to do in any and every situation." Later Stoics like Seneca thought this was ridiculous, which is why his letters to Lucilius are filled with all sorts of quotes and aphorisms and rules. Marcus Aurelius, who admittedly was a fan of Aristote, seemed to follow a similar path to Seneca's, laying down those epithets for the self and all sorts of other precepts for living. In a way, this debate continues today. Some people sneer at self-help and motivational sayings, and even the medallions we sell at Daily Stoic. Why do I need a coin to remind me of that? Isn't all this stuff obvious? But if you walk into a locker room of any professional sports team or

• 1:32Ryan Holiday?

  elite D1-level program, you'll see the walls are tattooed with precepts and reminders. The Pittsburgh Pirates even have "It's not things that upset us, it's our judgment about things," from Epictetus in their clubhouse in Florida. Iowa football has "Ego is the enemy" in their weight room. For our Saturday podcast, we recently asked two-time NBA champion and six-time NBA All-Star and fan of Stoicism, Pau Gasol, about the role these precepts play in sports. And he talked about how, when he was with the San Antonio Spurs, they would repeat "Pound the rock" and Aforism or a precept about the idea that the more you pound on a rock,

• 2:14Ryan Holiday?

  you might not see it making a difference, but eventually it cracks. He talked about the precepts he learned when he was with the Lakers and how sports teams have used this idea for decades. Reminders matter. They aren't cheating. They make you better. Mantras keep you centered. They give you something to rest on, a kind of backstop to prevent backsliding. So whatever form these things take for you, a coin, or a print, or a tattoo, or just a watchword you like to chant for yourself, go for it.

• 2:48Speaker 01

  Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.