What This Philosophy Is Here For

“You’ve got problems. We all do. Maybe you’re having a difficult time in your relationship. Or work has worn you down. Or you’re trying to figure out what to do with your life. Maybe the pandemic has shaken you to your foundation and you’re still reeling from the blow. Or things have gone exceedingly well and now you’re overwhelmed by opportunities you never thought possible. Or you’re stuck, or you’re lacking motivation, or you’re terrified by all the uncertainties facing the world as we enter this new decade.”Learn why Stoicism can be a practical antidote for your stress and anxiety, if you let it be, on 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 Daily Stoic: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.

• 0:04Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom, designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  What this philosophy is here for. You've got problems. We all do. Maybe you're having a difficult time in your relationship, or your work has worn you down. Maybe you're trying to figure out what to do with your life. Maybe the pandemic has shaken you to your foundation, and you're still reeling from the blows. Or things have gone exceedingly well, and now you're overwhelmed by opportunities you never thought possible. Or you're stuck, or you're lacking motivation, or you're terrified by all the uncertainties facing the world as we enter this new decade. Who can help you with this? Can anyone? Yes. "Would you really want to know what philosophy offers humanity?" Seneca wrote. "Philosophy offers counsel." Philosophy isn't something for the classroom and isn't about abstract questions

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  or debating the existence of free will, something that helps you with life. Epictetus is here, and he knows about freedom. He's here to show you how to work day and night to attain a liberated frame of mind. Instead of a rich old man, cultivate the company of a philosopher, he said. Marcus Aurelius is here to show you how to accept success without arrogance and setbacks with indifference. Agrippinus is here to show you how to follow your conscience, how to be the bright thread in the sea of conforming colors, and on and on and on. But you have to turn to these counselors. You have to engage. You can't treat philosophy like a side job, as Seneca reminds you. It must be the main thing. Love it like you love your birth mother, Marcus reminds you.

• 1:58Ryan Holiday?

  Return to it again and again. Stop drifting. Start committing. Find others who have committed too. Find yourself a Cato or a Zeno to measure yourself against. Find a Junius Rusticus. Who can give you advice and check in on you. The wisdom is here. It's here and has been, sitting patiently, waiting for you for over 2,000 years. The question is if you'll listen, if you'll take heed of the counsel. Or will you be like Nero, leaving Seneca disappointed again and again, proving the idea that a horse can be led to water, but not made to drink? So, will you drink? Will you listen?

• 2:37Ryan Holiday?

  If you want some counsel from the ancient Stoics, of course, we profile them all in the new book Lives of the Stoics, The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. But if you want to engage with some modern day Stoics, you want to get some day to day counseling, accountability partners, people to talk with, I strongly suggest you join us over at Daily Stoic Life, our members only community. You get a special cloth bound edition of last year's Meditations, which you can't buy anywhere. Get this cool Marcus Aurelius coin. You get access to all the courses we do here at Daily Stoic, along with a bunch of other awesome bonuses. Plus, you get Friday and Saturday emails, some of our best writing here at Daily Stoic. So, check that out, dailystoiclife.com.