You Have To Do What You Think Is Right

There will come a moment in your life when you are faced with an important decision that appears to have two choices: one that feels like the status quo, the path of least resistance, the way things have always been done. And then there is the one that appeals to you most. The exciting one; the new, risky one. The one that, if you make it, people are going to think you’re crazy. They’re going to think you’re stupid. Think of your career, they’ll say. You worked so hard to get here. You can’t listen to that. You can’t listen to the mob or to the doubters. You can’t look at the averages or concern yourself with the odds. If it’s right, Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, you have to do it. No matter the circumstances. No matter the fear. No matter the well-wishers who hope you’ll choose a safer path. History is made by those who take risks. Who stand on principle. Who defy expectations and conventional wisdom. The battles are won by those who are willing to go further, to go alone, to do it a way it’s never been done before. You have to do what you think is right. For you. For your family. For your country. For what you believe in. The rest doesn’t matter. See 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  You have to do what you think is right. People are gonna think you're crazy. They're gonna think you're stupid. But think of your career, they'll say. You worked so hard to get here. You can't listen to that. You can't listen to the mob or to the doubters. You can't look at the averages or concern yourself with the odds. If it's right, Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, you have to do it, no matter the circumstances, no matter the fear, no matter the well-wishers who hope you'll choose a safer path. History is made by those who take risks, who stand on principle, who defy expectations and conventional wisdom. The battles are won by those who are willing to go further, to go alone, to

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  do it in a way it's never been done before. You have to do what you think is right, for you, for your family, for your country, for what you believe in. The rest doesn't matter. Hey, everyone. I just wanted to invite you to do the 21-day New Year, New You Daily Stoic Challenge that we're starting. We know, as Epictetus said, that the real delight comes from focusing on our own improvement day to day, on doing the work, on doing the training we know to be the person we want to be. Well, you can do that with our new Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge. It's starting very soon, so check it out, dailystoic.com/challenge.