The Daily Stoic - Can You Be a Glow Worm? | Say No to the Need to Impress

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

Ryan talks about how nothing will last forever, and reads this week’s meditation from The Daily Stoic Journal.For a limited time, UCAN is offering you 30% off on your first order when you use code STOIC at checkout Just go to UCAN.CO/STOICSign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic podcasts early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast. Each day we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoic's illustrated with stories from history, current events, and literature to help you be better at what you do. And at the beginning of the week, we try to do a deeper dive, setting a kind of stoke, intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave you with, to journal about whatever it is you happen to be doing. So let's get into it. Can you be a glow worm? Marcus Aurelius does not always talk about life in the most glowing terms. He knew that human beings were dishonest and disagreeable. He knew that everyone was born to die. We are just rotting meat in a bag he once observed. We'll all be forgotten eventually.

But by that does he mean that everything was pointless, that life was meaningless? Absolutely not, and the life that he lived made that clear. Perhaps it's similar to the wonderful little quip from Winston Churchill. We are all worms, Churchill said, but I believe I am a glow worm. It's true that we're all worms. We are just rotting meat in a bag. We are a plague upon the earth. We will be forgotten. Such is the truth about our species. But within that, maybe there is some room to be special, to be

not as bad, to find some joy or color, to glow. None of this will last forever, but it's good while it lasts. Whether we're remembered as long as Marcus and Relius are reaccomplished as much as Churchill are just 1% of that. We can be a glow worm, we're a philosopher king, and create a meaningful life in the small world that is our own. Say no to the need to impress. And this is from this week's entry in the Daily Steuert Journal, 366 days of writing and reflection on the art of Living by yours truly and my co-writer and translator, Steve Enhancelman.

I actually do this journal every single day. There's a question in the morning, a question in the afternoon, and there's these sort of weekly meditations. As Epictetus says, every day and night, we keep thoughts like this in hand, write them, read them aloud, and talk to yourself, and others about them. You can check out the Daily Stalk Journal, anywhere books are sold, you can also get a signed personalized copy from me

in the Daily Stalk store, at store.dailystalk.com. If the desire to impress and be liked by others is innate to humans as a species than every generation born before social media got lucky. Today we face an unending stream of status updates demanding to be filled with all the impressive things we are doing, the trials we are overcoming, announcements of our dangers averted and triumphs realized. It's exhausting.

Centuries ago, Epic Titus saw this pride and narcissism even in his own computerless students and reminded them that it wasn't so innocent. In fact, he told them that it would destroy their life's purpose. It would distract and fatigue them. Santa Couture saw the seeking of approval of spectators as one of life's discracers. Watch those impulses today. Notice how much you seem to need your phone and status updates and ask, is this the person I want to be? is this what a philosopher would do? And this is from this week's entry in the Daily Stoke Journal, which you can check out. I do the journal every morning. I sit down and spend some time with the blank pages. We've got two epictetus

quotes and one sentence to quote to round it out. If you should ever turn your will to things outside your control in order to impress someone, be sure that you have wrecked your whole purpose in life, be content then to be a philosopher and all that you do. If you wish also to be seen as one, show yourself first that you are and you will succeed. That's epicotidious in chirodian 23. In public, avoid talking often and excessively about your own accomplishments and dangers. For however much you enjoy recounting your dangers, it is not pleasant for others to hear

about your affairs. Epicetus is in Caribbean 3314. How disgraceful is the lawyer who's dying breath passes well at court at an advanced age pleading for unknown litigants and still seeking the approval of ignorant spectators. Santa Capp on the brevity of life, 20. You know, I think about this. I have a little rule for me. When I'm working on a book, I don't talk about it.

I don't tell people that I've finished. I don't tell people that I just finished chapter two. I don't tell people that I just signed a deal. In fact, on my last book deal, I didn't even announce it. I could't I don't tell people that I just signed a deal. In fact, on on my last uh book deal, I didn't even announce it. I could have gotten a little press and early in my life, I kind of wanted that validation. Hey, I did it. Maybe the media, maybe it's good for my brand. Now I see all that stuff as distraction. Even social media, if you if you follow me, I'm at Ryan Holiday on Twitter and Facebook and yeah, on Instagram and at the least still also, but you'll notice there's almost no real time

updates for me. I never really got the habit but when I feel it peeking up, I break it immediately. These are not platforms for me to fish for validation. I don't want to say, hey look what I'm doing and then people go, oh you're so great, oh you're so awesome. I'm not saying they do that because I'm like well known, I'm saying like, your friends do this. We want to congratulate each other. We want to encourage each other. And I get that.

But that's not why I want to be a writer. That's not why I want to do things. As I say in the boy who would begin, all the things Marcus are really, it's did made him very popular. That's not why he did it. He did it because they're the right thing. So I try not to let social media, I try not to let the chase for validation or approval. I try, I just, it's not a need.

I really ever try to say it. I don't feed it because I feel like the more you feed it, the more it wants from you. So I try to focus on just not, I try to let my work do the talking about my work. That's not to say I don't believe in marketing not I try to let my work do the talking about my work That's not to say I don't believe in marketing. I do brand is important. I mean I have the social media I just try to have a healthy relationship with it a healthy balance with it So I'm using it it is not using me and look Twitter and Facebook and Clubhouse and all these apps You're the product that's being sold. They're exploiting your need for validation and attention, right? They know that you want to tell people what you're doing and then you want to hear what people say about what you're doing and then you want to respond

to the people who aren't liking it enough and then you want to check back and see how many comments that got or likes that got or whatever. There's a reason Instagram, Instagram did people a public service when they turned off, you know, some of the not everyone can see how many likes or, you know, views they're post God. I think that's great. As a public figure, they leave these tools and they are tempting. And so I don't even have it on my phone. I don't want to touch it. Every time I, I never go to one of these sites and I feel better about myself as a person, I just feel that that insatiable need has been encouraged a little bit. So let's say no to trying to impress other people,

let's not care what other people think. As Marcus really said, it's another quote we could have included in the entry. He says, you know, we care about ourselves more than other people, you have for some reason, we care about their opinions way too much. No, focus on what you have to do,

focus on you, focus on what you think, what you know is right. Do things for that reason. If you get validation for it afterwards, wonderful, but that can't be why you do it. And if it is why you do it, it's gonna break your heart, I promise you. So say no to the desire to impress other people. Plus other people, man, they don't know.

They're wrong, 99% of the time anyway, focus on what you know. Just do the right thing. The rest doesn't matter. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoke Podcast. If you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. Check it out at dailystoke.com slash email. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Early and Add Free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Hey there listeners, while we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another in Apple podcasts. Founders of Founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduke Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Codopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool

homes, or even figuring out how to make drinking water from air and sunlight. Together, they discussed their entire journey from day one, and all the skills they had to learn along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So, if you want to get inspired and learn how to think like an entrepreneur, check out how I built this, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wonder yet. on the Amazon or Wonder yet.