Things Don’t Make The Man

It’s very easy to associate our possessions and our positions with our identity. There’s even an expression to that effect: The clothes make the man. When we have a powerful job, we feel powerful. When the market is hot, we feel like we have a knack for investing. When we are number one in our space, in our industry, in sales, we’re very into checking and monitoring the rankings. When people are saying nice things about us, we revel in it, because of course it’s all true and deserved. If everything stays well, it’s hard to see what the downside of this approach is (excepting the ego that can often creep in). It’s only when the screw turns that we realize how dangerous this has all been. Because when you associate your identity with externals when things are good, it’s impossible not to associate your identity when suddenly the same externals are showing you to be a loser or a fool or the object of other people’s contempt. The Stoics would urge you to remember that things don’t make the man. Not now, not ever. Epictetus reminds us that just because someone has more money than you doesn’t make them superior. No, only their bank balance is superior. If someone is an eloquent speaker, that doesn’t make them better than you either. It just means they have better diction. “You yourself,” he says, “are neither property nor diction.”Nope. You’re you. And you’re not measured or made by externals, or anything that is outside your control. What matter is who you are on the inside. What matters is what you do with the choices and situations that are inside your control. What matters is how you ride out the highs and the lows, and ideally are changed by neither of them. 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. Things don't make the man. It's very easy to associate our possessions and our positions with our identity. There's even an expression to that effect: "The clothes make the man." When we have a powerful job, we feel powerful. When the market is hot, we feel like we have a knack for investing. When we are number one in our space, in our industry, in sales,

• 0:51Ryan Holiday?

  we're very into checking and monitoring the rankings. When people are saying nice things about us, we revel in it, because of course, it's all true and deserved. If everything stays well, it's hard to see what the downside of this approach is, accepting the ego that can often creep in. It's only when the screw turns that we realize how dangerous this has been, because when you associate your identity with externals when things are good, it's impossible not to associate your identity when all those externals are showing you to be a loser, or a fool, or the object of other people's contempt.

• 1:30Ryan Holiday?

  The Stoics would urge you to remember that things don't make the man. Not now, not ever. Epictetus reminds us that just because someone has more money than you doesn't make them superior. No, only their bank balance is superior. If someone is an eloquent speaker, that doesn't make them better than you either. It just means they have better diction. "You, yourself," he says, "are neither property nor diction." No, you're you. And you're not measured or made by externals or anything that is outside your control. What matters is who you are on the inside. What matters is what you do with the choices and situations

• 2:13Ryan Holiday?

  that are inside your control. What matters is how you ride out the highs and the lows, and ideally are changed by neither of them. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. And if you don't get the Daily Stoic email, go to dailystoic.com/email.