You Make Your Own Good Fortune

Ryan talks about the power you have over your circumstances. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee 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 Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  You make your own good fortune. We can all remember times when it felt like everything was going our way. We were getting the breaks we wanted and opportunities came easy. It was the opposite of Murphy's Law. What could go right, did. Perhaps we remember a time when we were younger, when it felt more like people were willing to help and teach us. But as time passes, this passes with us. Lucky breaks seem less common. We become like the man that Marcus Aurelius mimics by saying, "I was once a fortunate man, but at some point, fortune abandoned me." This is absolutely the wrong way to look at it. Because, as Marcus continues, "True good fortune is what you make for yourself." Good fortune is good character, good intentions,

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  and good actions. Let us face today with that attitude in mind. Good fortune is not getting lucky. It's not the ball bouncing your way. It's not other people doing stuff for you. Because all of those things are out of your control. They're not up to you. True good fortune is you doing stuff for other people. It's you being a good person, regardless of whether you get cut a break for it. It's you starting each day with a commitment to be your best, whatever happens. That is up to you, always.

• 1:45Ryan Holiday?

  Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. If you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. Check it out at DailyStoic.com/email.