If You Want to Look Better, Do This

“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 other concerns is not really that impressive.”Ryan explains why the intentions behind the choices you make matter, and how to start making beautiful choices, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast. We created the New Year, New You Challenge to help you create a better life, and a new you in 2021. Sign up for the challenge at https://dailystoic.com/challenge.***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: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow Daily Stoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: 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.

• 0:04Speaker 00

  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.

• 0:26Ryan Holiday?

  If you want to look better, do this. Epictetus said the root of beauty was beautiful choices. He was talking less of physical beauty, one imagines, than of beautiful human behavior. But actually, it applies to both. A stunning woman whose looks are a 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 neglects of all other concerns is not really that impressive up close. Beauty, then, is difficult to separate from the intention, from the choices that create it. So if you'd like to look better, that gives you a good place to start, in your choices, but also in your motivations and intentions.

• 1:11Ryan Holiday?

  It's the decision to get out of bed early and go for a run, so you can be around to see your children grow up, not so you can look good in the mirror. Do your makeup because it gives you confidence, because the ritual of applying it is some quiet time to yourself, not to cover your flaws. Hire a trainer because you want to learn the discipline of weightlifting or boxing, not just because you want someone to tell you what to do. Remember, the Stoics tried to separate what was up to us and what wasn't. Of course, things can get between you and your goal, but nothing can stop you from getting started. Nothing can stop you from making a beautiful choice for yourself today. And look, the new year is almost here, and that is a great chance to make a beautiful choice, to live up to your potential.

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  It's also a chance to let another year of resolutions go by the wayside. You know you deserve better. You know you're capable of better. So what's it going to take for you to actually ask for it? When are you going to fulfill that potential that's just sitting there? When will you make beautiful choices? How about right now? It's possible, this year. We're putting it to you here. Stop putting it off till tomorrow, until Monday, waiting for it to just happen. That's an ugly choice. Someone has to choose it. That someone is you. And look, we've created the New Year, New You Challenge for that person. And for that reason, to help you create a better life and make more beautiful decisions in 2021. And it starts, of course, with this beautiful decision right here.

• 2:40Ryan Holiday?

  When you sign up, you get 21 custom challenges delivered daily, over 30,000 words of exclusive content, weekly check-in calls with me, audio meditation from me, a printable 21-day calendar with custom daily illustrations, Slack channel for accountability and all that. You've always wanted to make a change. Let's make 2021 the year where you finally bring yourself closer to living your best life. There's only 10 days left to join us on the challenge. Don't wait to better yourself. Start here. Make the good step. Make a beautiful choice. And in the process, you'll have made yourself more beautiful. You can sign up with us at dailystoic.com/challenge. It's dailystoic.com/challenge.

• 3:22Ryan Holiday?

  And of course, remember, if you're a Daily Stoic Life member, if you've been on the fence about signing up for that, you get this challenge and all the other challenges for free. So I'll see you at dailystoic.com/challenge. And I will be doing the challenge right there alongside you. Can't wait.