This Is What Progress Looks Like

How do you know you’re making progress in this philosophy? It’s a question that every person has struggled with at some point in their practice, including Seneca. When he was writing his famous letters, he meditated on this theme. What does getting better look like? How do you know any of this is working? Quoting one of his favorite philosophers, Hecato, Seneca comes up with a pretty good metric:“What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.”What a wonderful way of putting it. Not, “I am richer.” Not, “I am more famous.” Not even, “I sleep more soundly” or “I am handling a crisis well.” Sure those things are nice, and possibly even important. But to the Stoics, the point of this work was something simpler and more earnest: to be comfortable in your own skin; to be enough; to be a good friend to yourself. A person who is a friend to themselves, Seneca wrote, is an aid to all mankind. They are kind. They are calm. They have empathy—for themselves and for others. They aren’t desperate. They can quietly spend time alone. They don’t need to pull others down to lift themselves up. They can stand on shoulders of giants, as Isaac Newton famously said in 1675, instead of stepping on their necks to secure advantage. Use that as your rubric. Is the voice in your head getting nicer? Are you more still? Are you practicing good self-care? That’s what progress looks like. That’s what you deserve as a human being—and as a friend. 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. This is what progress looks like. How do you know you're making progress in this philosophy? It's a question that every person struggles with, including Seneca. When he was writing his famous letters, he meditated on this theme: "What does getting better look like? How do you know if any of this is working?" Quoting one of his favorite philosophers,

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  Hiccup, Seneca comes up with a pretty good metric: "What progress," you ask, "have I made?" "I have begun to be a friend to myself." What a wonderful way of putting it. Not, "I am richer, I am more famous," not even, "I sleep more soundly, or I am handling a crisis well." Sure, those things are nice and possibly even important, but to the Stoics, the point of this work was something simpler and more earnest: to be a good friend to yourself. "A person who is a friend to themselves," Seneca wrote, "is an aid to all mankind." Why? Because they are kind, they are calm, they are healthy, they have empathy for themselves

• 1:30Ryan Holiday?

  and for others. They aren't desperate. They don't need to pull others down to make themselves feel better. They can quietly spend time alone. Use that as your rubric. Is the voice in your head getting nicer? Are you more still? Are you practicing good self-care? That's what progress looks like. That's what you deserve as a human being and as a friend. If you like the podcast that we do here, and you want to get it via email every morning, you can sign up at dailystoic.com/email.