What Else Can You Do?

"When all this began, folks were excitedly using this time at home to tackle projects they’d long been putting off. They were focused on being productive, connecting with family, not letting the moment go to waste... Then as time went on, the mood began to falter and resolve began to weaken. What, they started saying, I’m supposed to make the most of the biggest catastrophe of my lifetime? I’m supposed to turn it into an opportunity for self-development?"Ryan describes why you must nevertheless persevere in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***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 @DailyStoic: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.

• 0:06Ryan 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. What else can you do? It's funny how quickly people swing back and forth. When all this began, folks were excitedly using this time at home to tackle projects they'd long been putting off. They were focused on being productive, connecting with family, not letting the moment go to waste. Their friends cheered them on with this. That's a great attitude. Then, as time

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  went on, the mood began to weaken. They started saying, "What? I'm supposed to make the most of the biggest catastrophe of my lifetime? I'm supposed to turn this into an opportunity for self-development?" And now those same friends cheer on this attitude. "Yeah, you're right. This isn't fair." And so the momentary surge in empowerment reverts to the mean of defeatism and a pity party. The Stoics would shake their heads. "Of course, that's what you're supposed to do, because what else are you going to do? We don't control what happens. We only control how we respond. That's what this philosophy is." Marcus Aurelius defined flexibility and resilience as "the ability to look a situation in the face and say, 'You're just what I was looking

• 1:32Ryan Holiday?

  for.'" The Stoics knew that the formula for greatness was the ability to turn obstacles into fuel, to see everything as an opportunity to do something. No one is saying this isn't a catastrophe. No one is saying this is fair. But what life is saying, as life often does, is deal with it. And so we must, not in short bursts, but with sustainable energy and perseverance, with endurance and fortitude, with Churchill's commitment to keep buggering on till the end. Who knows how long this will go on? What we do know is that it's here now, so let's use it.

• 2:10Ryan Holiday?

  Hey there. If you're wondering how to get the most out of this time you have stuck at home, maybe you're working only part-time, or you're working from home, you've got a childcare situation, none of this is what we would choose. But the Stoics say we don't choose what happens, we choose how we respond. And so that's why we put together what we're calling the Daily Stoic Alive Time Challenge. It's 14 days of inspired Stoic wisdom that will help you get the most out of this moment, that will help you seize this moment, rise to the occasion. We're going to challenge you. It's not going to be easy, but I think you will emerge from it better, and that will be some small good that's come out of this experience. So you can check that out right now at dailystoic.com/alive time.