Do Less, Better

Here’s the simple recipe for improvement and for happiness. It comes from Marcus Aurelius and the fact that it came from such a busy man with so many obligations and responsibilities should not be forgotten. “If you seek tranquillity,” he said, “do less.” And then he follows the note to himself with some clarification. Not nothing, less. Do only what’s essential. “Which brings a double satisfaction,” he writes “to do less, better.” Follow this advice today and everyday. So much of what we think we must do, so much of what we end up doing is not essential. We do it out of habit. We do it out of guilt. We do it out of laziness or we do it out of greedy ambition. And then we wonder why our performance suffers. We wonder why our heart isn’t really in it. Of course it isn’t. We know deep down there’s no point. But if we could do less inessential stuff, we’d be able to better do what is essential. We’d also get a taste of that tranquillity that Marcus was talking about. A double satisfaction. 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. Do Less, Better. Here's the simple recipe for improvement and for happiness. It comes from Marcus Aurelius, and the fact that it came from such a busy man with so many obligations and responsibilities should not be forgotten. "If you seek tranquility," he said, "do

• 0:46Ryan Holiday?

  less." And then he follows the note to himself with some clarification. "Not nothing less, do only what is essential," he said, "which brings a double satisfaction: to do less, better." Follow this advice today and every day. So much of what we think we must do, so much of what we end up doing, is not essential. We do it out of habit, we do it out of guilt, we do it out of laziness, or we do it out of our greedy ambition. And then we wonder why our performance suffers. We wonder why our heart isn't really in it. Of course it isn't. We know, deep down, there is no point. But if we could do less inessential stuff, we'd be able to better do what is essential. We'd also get a taste

• 1:31Ryan Holiday?

  of that tranquility Marcus was talking about: a double satisfaction. If you're liking this podcast, we would love for you to subscribe. Please leave us a review on iTunes or any of your favorite podcast listening apps. It really helps. And tell a friend.