Always Focus on the Response

It was December 25th, 1776. One of the darkest times in the American Revolution. George Washington was planning to cross the Delaware, a desperate move necessitated by a string of setbacks and ebbing support for the revolution across his struggling country. Whose fault was this despair? How had things gone so poorly? Washington wasn’t interested in those questions. As he wrote in a letter to Robert Morris from his headquarters that day, “it is in vain to ruminate upon, or even reflect upon the Authors or Causes of our present Misfortunes.” Instead of looking backwards, Washington said, “we should rather exert ourselves,” meaning they should focus on how they were going to respond. His response was a daring attack on the Hessian Troops in Trenton the next day, which may well have saved his army and the floundering nation. This mindset is part and parcel of the Stoicism that Washington had known and followed all of his life. Looking at events in the calm light of mild philosophy, as he liked to quote from the Stoic philosopher Cato, deciding not to be ruled by his phantasai and instead focusing on what he’d do next. And that’s what we should take a minute to think about this Christmas, whether we’re busy working or taking some time with family or planning out how we’re going to use 2020 for a fresh start. Not what caused our troubles. Not who authored them. Not how much blame they deserve. Those questions are irrelevant distractions—answering them an exercise done only in vain. What matters is how we plan to exert ourselves, how we plan to fix our situation, how we plan to respond to what life has thrown at us. Whether it’s a passive aggressive family member, a struggling business, or a series of bad personal choices, we have the power to decide what we’re going to do next. We can exert ourselves. We can still turn this around. 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. Always focus on the response. It was December 25, 1776, one of the darkest times in the American Revolution. George Washington was planning to cross the Delaware, a desperate move necessitated by a string of setbacks and ebbing support for the revolution across his struggling country. Whose fault was this

• 0:51Ryan Holiday?

  despair? How had things gone so poorly? Washington wasn't interested in those questions, as he wrote in a letter to Robert Morris from his headquarters that day, "It is vain to ruminate upon or even reflect upon the authors or causes of our present misfortunes." Instead of looking backwards, Washington said, "We should rather exert ourselves," meaning that they should focus on how they were going to respond. His response was a daring attack on the Hessian troops in Trenton the next day, which may well have saved his army and the Foundry Nation. This mindset is part and parcel of the Stoicism that Washington had known and followed all

• 1:33Ryan Holiday?

  of his life. "Looking at events in the calm light of mild philosophy," as he liked to quote from the Stoic philosopher Cato, "deciding not to be ruled by his phantasisia and instead focusing on what he'd do next." And that's what we should take a minute to think about this Christmas morning, whether we're busy working, or taking some time with family, or planning out how we're going to use 2020 for a fresh start. Not what caused our troubles, not who authored them, not how much blame they deserve. Those questions are irrelevant distractions. Answering them is an exercise done only in vain. What matters is how we plan to exert ourselves, how we plan to fix our situation,

• 2:18Ryan Holiday?

  how we plan to respond to what life has thrown at us. Whether it's a passive-aggressive family member, a struggling business, or a series of bad personal decisions, we have the power to decide what we're going to do next. We can exert ourselves. We can still turn this around. You know, I always ask people, what would getting rid of one bad habit be worth? Or what would adding one new positive habit be worth? What would you give to be the person you know you're capable of being? Well, that's why for this new year, we've made a Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge that's going to help you do just that. It's 21 custom challenges delivered each morning. There's a video from me. There's a printable 21-day calendar.

• 3:03Ryan Holiday?

  There's a group Slack channel. It's going to be awesome. I'm doing the challenge alongside everyone this year. We can do it together. We can talk together. We can make ourselves be better. You can check it out at dailystoic.com/challenge.