The Daily Stoic: THE PHENOMENAL WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER: 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD

by Ryan Holiday

a tool in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance,

“What is the best way to live?” “What do I do about my anger?” “What are my obligations to my fellow human beings?” “I’m afraid to die; why is that?” “How can I deal with the difficult situations I face?” “How should I handle the success or power I hold?”

The Discipline of Perception (how we see and perceive the world around us) The Discipline of Action (the decisions and actions we take—and to what end) The Discipline of Will (how we deal with the things we cannot change, attain clear and convincing judgment, and come to a true understanding of our place in the world)

Education—reading and meditating on the wisdom of great minds—is not to be done for its own sake. It has a purpose.

But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do.

Perception, Action, Will. Those are the three overlapping but critical disciplines of Stoicism

Control your perceptions. Direct your actions properly. Willingly accept what’s outside your control.

In this way, self-control becomes the real pleasure, and the temptation becomes the regret.

Within that head of yours is all the reason and intelligence you need.

“There is nothing so certain in our fears that’s not yet more certain in the fact that most of what we dread comes to nothing.”

Getting upset is like continuing the dream while you’re awake.

Life (and our job) is difficult enough. Let’s not make it harder by getting emotional about insignificant matters or digging in for battles we don’t actually care about.

Happiness has all that it wants,

Our reaction is what actually decides whether harm has occurred.

We should enjoy this brief time we have on earth—not be enslaved to emotions that make us miserable and dissatisfied.

“Above all, it is necessary for a person to have a true self-estimate, for we commonly think we can do more than we really can.”

If we do not focus on our internal integration—on self-awareness—we risk external disintegration.

Listen and connect with people, don’t perform for them.

How much more tolerant and understanding would you be today if you could see the actions of other people as attempts to do the right thing?

“It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

The longest and the shortest life, then, amount to the same, for the present moment lasts the same for all and is all anyone possesses. No one can lose either the past or the future, for how can someone be deprived of what’s not theirs?”

Take a little time today to remember that you’re blessed with the capacity to use logic and reason to navigate situations and circumstances.

That’s what the Stoics urge us to consider. Not how things appear, but what effort, activity, and choices they are a result of.

We can’t blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our jealousy.

The point is not to wish for these adversities, but for the virtue that makes adversities bearable.”

If you could find and focus on the pockets of freedom you already have? Well, then you’d be free right here, right now.

What influences the ruling reason that guides your life?

The good things in life cost what they cost. The unnecessary things are not worth it at any price. The key is being aware of the difference.

“Chasing what can’t be done is madness.

there is nothing that says we have to allow those influences to penetrate our minds. We have the ability to put our guard up and decide what we actually allow in.

Fight to remain the person that philosophy wished to make you.

We’re still free to use our instincts, but we should always, as the Russian proverb says, “trust, but verify.”

It’s that, maybe, because you’ve prepared for it, you’ll be able to act with patience, forgiveness, and understanding.

we’re not as smart and as wise as we’d like to think we are.

“the first and greatest task of the philosopher is to test and separate appearances, and to act on nothing that is untested.”

Next, examine and test it by the rules you possess, the first and greatest of which is this—whether it belongs to the things in our control or not in our control, and if the latter, be prepared to respond, ‘It is nothing to me.’ ”

our attraction toward what is new and shiny can lead us into serious trouble.

A person needs to stand on their own, not be propped up.”

There are many forms of taxes in life. You can argue with them, you can go to great—but ultimately futile—lengths to evade them, or you can simply pay them and enjoy the fruits of what you get to keep.

Attention matters—and in an era in which our attention is being fought for by every new app, website, article, book, tweet, and post, its value has only gone up.

“These are the characteristics of the rational soul: self-awareness, self-examination, and self-determination. It reaps its own harvest…. It succeeds in its own purpose …”

In these cases, their power exists because of our wants. You change that, and you’re free.

If you know what you believe and why you believe it, you’ll avoid poisonous relationships, toxic jobs, fair-weather friends, and any number of ills

So yes, spend some time—real, uninterrupted time—thinking about what’s important to you, what your priorities are.

the justification for philosophy is when “one brings together sound teaching with sound conduct.”

An even keel, a sense of justice, a commitment to duty. These are beautiful traits—and they go much deeper than appearances.

Here is how to guarantee you have a good day: do good things.

As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must seize what flees.”

therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead.

“We are what we repeatedly do,” Aristotle said, “therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit.”