The Daily Stoic – Be The Best Person You Can Be

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday distills the ancient wisdom of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca into 366 daily meditations. These were not armchair philosophers - Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome, Epictetus was a freed slave, Seneca one of the most powerful men in the ancient world. They lived their philosophy under pressure. And the philosophy held.

The Stoics believed that the quality of your life is determined entirely by the quality of your judgments - not your circumstances, not your luck, not your talent. What you control is your response. Everything else is noise. These 10 principles distill what it means to be the best person you can be, every single day.

1. SAY YES TO WHAT MATTERS
   • Focus
   • Requires elimination
   • He who is everywhere is nowhere
   • Say no to the inessential
2. BE DISCIPLINED
   • Marcus Aurelius: "You could be good today instead you choose tomorrow"
   • Discipline of action - ACTION NOT WORDS
   • Take the first step
3. DON'T SUFFER IN ADVANCE
   • Don't suffer in imagination
   • Don't suffer in advance
   • Anxiety doesn't solve the situation
4. STOP WASTING TIME
   • Stop focusing on things outside your control
   • What other people think
5. CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS
   • "There's no problem so bad that you can't make it worse" - Chris Hadfield
   • "Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside his reasoned choice" - Epictetus
6. FOCUS ON HOW FAR YOU HAVE LEFT TO GO
   • Don't focus on how far you've come
   • "There is nothing less philosophical than someone who puts on airs..." - Epictetus
   • Philosophy is a lifelong pursuit
7. STAND UP FOR OTHERS
   • Use power/privilege to ease burden
   • Justice is a core Stoic virtue
   • DO THE RIGHT THING
   • "The fruit of this life is good character and acts for the common good" - Marcus Aurelius
8. FOCUS ON WHAT'S IN YOUR CONTROL
   • 99% of things don't matter
   • "The chief task in life is to separate things that are in our control from those that are not" - Epictetus
9. BE WILLING TO LOOK STUPID
   • "If you wish to improve you must be willing to look clueless or stupid" - Epictetus
   • Be willing to not care
   • Willing to be bad at stuff at beginner stages
10. SEEK CHALLENGES
    • Get up early
    • Workout
    • Fast
    • "We should treat the body rigorously so it's not disobedient to the mind" - Seneca
    • Deliberately challenge yourself
    • Build muscle/mental strength