Daily Stoic Weekly Recap Newsletter

As the sun sets on 2022, a new year is on the horizon. A fresh start. A clean slate. And for the 5th year in a row the Daily Stoic team will start the year out delivering our New Year New You Challenge to ring in that new beginning. Tens of thousands of Stoics across the globe have taken this challenge to quit procrastinating on their dreams, break harmful vices, make amends, and create a solid foundation for the real life they want to live.

 

The 5th anniversary of the New Year New You challenge is special to us, so we’ve taken your feedback to create 21 days of actionable challenges, built around the best, most timeless wisdom in Stoic philosophy. Plus we are mixing in weekly live video sessions with Ryan Holiday to get your questions answered. To learn more and to reserve your spot in the 2023 New Year New Your Challenge head over to dailystoic.com/challenge.

PASSAGE OF THE WEEK:

All of us have fallen short in the last year…and the years before that. We broke our resolutions. We made the same mistakes again and again. We were “jarred, unavoidably, by circumstances,” as Marcus said. But now it’s time to pick ourselves up and try again. We have to keep going. We can’t give up.

Because the alternative is unthinkable. A new year is fast approaching. It’s that time of year where some people will try again and some people won’t.

Which will it be? Who will you be?

— You Can’t Give Up (Listen)

YOUTUBE TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

In one of the most watched videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube Channel this week, Ryan Holiday runs up the treacherous 8-mile road to the Cerro Gordo Ghost Town in California. Along the run, Ryan shares many Stoic lessons learned in the face of a big challenge. He talks about building mental discipline, the confidence earned from doing hard things, why John Wooden taught the top players in the country how to put their socks on, and what to remind yourself when you think your halfway:

“I tried to catch myself at what felt like halfway—I tried to go, ‘don’t think of this as halfway.’ As a writer, this happens all the time: you go, ‘I’m at the halfway point, I’m about to submit it.’ There’s all these false finishes or false check marks. You think you’re further than you actually are and then when you realize how much further there is left to go, this is when it crushes you. This is when it kills you. You have to have the discipline to reign in that preemptive celebration. The halfway point usually isn’t even close to halfway done…You know what they say? They say halfway is 90% left.”

Watch the full video: How Stoicism Helps You Deal With Big Challenges​

PODCAST TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

In one of the most listened to episodes of the Daily Stoic podcast this week, Ryan Holiday speaks to one of the world’s most influential philosophers, Peter Singer, about his book The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty, whether or not Ryan should donate one of his kidneys, the similarities between Stoicism and Effective Altruism, and why Peter donated all of the $1 million he received when he was awarded the esteemed Berggruen Prize:

“It did cost me money, but it didn’t cost me happiness. And that’s surely more important than money. Money is an instrumental good for what you can do with it. In terms of increasing your happiness, there is a very high level of diminishing marginal utility.”

Listen to the full episode: Peter Singer on Practicing Effective Altruism Daily​

WHAT RYAN HOLIDAY IS READING:

“Stay engaged with the beauty of nature, the fear that it can inspire, the damage that it can bring, and everything in between…No matter where you are, nature abounds. I promise you. You don’t need to be in the wilderness of Alaska or on an Iowa farm. Your yard is perfect. A friend’s yard is perfect. A neighbor’s woodlot will work. The local park is great…The point is to remind yourself that nature surrounds you at all times. You are living amid nature. You are in it. You are part of it. When you’re exploring your place in nature, remember that your attitude is more important than your acreage…Try this for a minute: Instead of reading this book and judging your own performance as a parent, just think about a dense forest with a grassy floor, sunlight streaming through the treetops. You feel that, right? Something happens to your brain when it goes to nature.”

— Outdoor Kids in an Inside World by Steven Rinella

YOUR STOIC WEEKEND REMINDER:

Discipline now, freedom later.

The famous line from Musonius Rufus was that labor passes quickly but the fruit of labor endures.

You stay late at the office a few days in a row and later, when you’re on vacation, you’re happy you did. You say no to happy hour drinks and later, when you wake up fresh and clear-headed to get a jump on the day, you’re happy we did. You pass on the dessert menu and later, when you achieve your fitness goals sooner than you expected, you’re happy we did.

The vigilance of discipline is temporary, but the fruit of that discipline can be enjoyed long after the sacrifice has been forgotten.

(For a little more on this topic, watch this video! For a lot more on this topic, pick up a copy of Ryan Holiday’s latest book, Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control.)

THIS WEEK’S BEST SOCIAL MEDIA POST:

EMAIL OF THE WEEK:

​Where Are They Now? (Listen)

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