The Daily Stoic - How The Stoics Dealt With Anxiety (10 Strategies)

Episode Date: June 12, 2022

How much more enjoyable would your days be without the constant dread of stress looming over you? Anxiety was one of the main emotions Stoicism was built to handle. In this video best-selling author Ryan Holiday explores 10 of the best time-tested ways that the Stoics dealt with anxiety.⚔️ Overwhelmed? You’re not alone. Check out the Daily Stoic Slay Your Stress Course: A 13-day challenge designed to reclaim your life from the negative effects of stress and anxiety. Go to https://dailystoic.com/stress to sign up.The pages of Marcus Aurelius’s private journal are filled with notes to himself on how to ‘escape anxiety’. Epictetus says the ‘most important task in life’ was determining what we could control and what we couldn’t, in an effort to ease daily anxieties. Seneca’s letters are constant reminders to not suffer before it is necessary. And not just reminders, but practical, actionable steps to overcoming both.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://dailystoic.com/dailyemailCheck out the Daily Stoic Store for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, 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 Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoke. Each weekday we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stokes. Something to help you live up to those four Stoke virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. And then here on the weekend, we take a deeper dive into those same topics. We interview stoic philosophers. We explore at length how these stoic ideas can be applied to our actual lives and the challenging issues of our time. Here on the weekend, when you have a little bit more

space when things have slowed down, be sure to take some time to think, to go for a walk, to sit with your journal, and most importantly to prepare for what the week ahead may bring. Remember what the Stokes say, that the whole world is a temple of the gods. I mean look at that sunset, I believe it's beach. Look at this life. It hit me at some point during the craziness of the pandemic that I was an anxious person. I mean I knew I used to get anxious about specific things, a flight, an important meeting, getting up on stage in front of people. But when all that went away, like everyone else, you know, you're stuck in your house, and you realize you're still anxious.

And of course, you're anxious about what's happening in the world, but you're just generally anxious. The anxiety is in you. You might not think of the Stokes as anxious people, partly because the reputation of the Stokes is that they're invulnerable, that they're invincible, that they have no emotions. But we know that Marcus really has struggled with anxiety. Because if he didn't, he wouldn't have written so many reminders to himself about how to deal with it. I'm Ryan Holiday.

I've written out 12 books about Stoic Philosophy, which has sold more than 5 million copies of 30 languages I've spoken to everyone from the NBA to the NFL, sitting senators and special forces operators. And I myself deal with anxiety, like any normal person. So in today's episode, I want to talk about a bunch of tried and tested strategies for reducing, addressing, alleviating, hopefully eliminating anxiety in your life. I know they've worked for me. It's definitely an ongoing battle as it was for Marx to Really as it was for Seneca, but these strategies work. And so here in today's episode are some stillic strategies for reducing anxiety. I hope you like them. Celebrity feuds are high stakes. You never know if you're just gonna end up on Page Six or Du Moir or in court.

I'm Matt Bellesai. And I'm Sydney Battle, and we're the host of Wondery's new podcast, Dis and Tell, where each episode we unpack a different iconic celebrity feud from the buildup, why it happened, and the repercussions. What does our obsession with these feuds say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama, but none is drawn out in personal as Britney and Jamie Lynn Spears. When Britney's fans form the free Britney movement dedicated to fring her from the infamous

conservatorship, Jamie Lynn's lack of public support, it angered some fans, a lot of them. It's a story of two young women who had their choices taken away from them by their controlling parents, but took their anger out on each other. And it's about a movement to save a superstar, which set its sights upon anyone who failed to fight for Britney. Follow Dissentel wherever you get your podcast. You can listen ad free on Amazon Music or the Wonder App. Little things are not small. George Washington's favorite expression was many mickals make a muckle. I think Xenos said it better. He said, well, being is realized by small steps, but it's no small thing. Mark's really says, we assemble our life action by action step by step. No one can stop you from that. So today, as you get discouraged,

as you look at this goal, it's way, way off in the distance. Don't focus on that. Focus on the immediate task in front of you. Concentrate like a Roman as Mark has really says. Do this thing in front of you as if it's the only thing that matters is if it's the last thing that you're doing in your life. And that adds up, it's no small thing. Many mickles make a muckle as Washington said,

stuff adds up. That's how you get there. One step at a time, one day at a time, one day at a time, one action at a time, one insight at a time, just go now. Mark's really says just remember you're lucky to be alive, to be alive in this moment, even if things are crazy and insane and awful in the world, they're also wonderful because you're getting to experience them and to take that for granted, to be bitter or jaded or cynical about that, it's to waste this gift you've been

given and there's a reason they call it the present, it is a gift and look, even if this is not the most wonderful time to be alive, it's the only time in which you are alive. So we focus on what we control, which is our perceptions, our opinion about things, without we control, not when and where we are. We try to make the most of it. We try to accept it. We try to be grateful for it. And that's how we find happiness now in this present moment, no matter what's happening in the world. One of my favorite quotes from Marcus really says, you know, you don't have to have an opinion about that.

And I just think about that all the time. I don't have to have an opinion about this. I can just let it be, I can ignore it, I can realize it doesn't pertain to me, or I can just see it as it is. I don't need to say that it's good or bad, fair or unfair. It just is, I'm gonna look at it as an objective piece of information.

It doesn't need me projecting my thoughts or beliefs or perceptions on it. It is, you don't have to have an opinion about this. The key to tranquility in peace, Marcus Aurelius says, is when you stop caring, what other you stop caring what other people say, what other people think, what other people are doing, he says the tranquility that comes, when you care about only what you do and say,

the tranquility that comes when you stop caring, what they say, or think or do, only what you do. or do only what you do. A stoic is not someone who stuffs their emotions down. That's not it at all. The stoics process their emotions. This is why they journaled. Socrates went around asking these questions. This is why Sennaka would write these letters to his friend Lucilius.

We even have some of Marcus Aurelius' letters that survive. The stokes were not stuffing their emotions down pretending they don't have them. They were exploring them that the stokes talked about taking an emotion when it hits you and putting it up to the test observing it, meditating on it, processing it, getting to the bottom of it. You know, if you just ignore your emotions, if you just conquer them, to me it's like putting it on a credit card. Sure, you're not having to pay for it now, but eventually it's gonna come do

and the interest is gonna make it even more expensive. So don't shut your emotions down. Deal with them, process them, explore them, get through them, don't be ruled by them. In ignoring them, you are guaranteeing that later, it's gonna be an even bigger deal and you're gonna be even more powerless over that emotion.

So work on your emotions, do not fall into this trap that the stoics suppress their emotions. They domesticate them as Naseem Tullet says, but first that requires facing them and exploring them and coming to terms with them. Sennaka points out that we suffer more in imagination than in reality, meaning that all the things were anxious about, the things we worry about, the things we spend a lot of time hoping

won't happen. Most of them never do happen. There's that great twain quote where he talks about how he's suffered through many things in life and how many of them have never actually happened, because that's what he means. In our mind, we're torturing ourselves. We're worried that this could happen and that could happen. We're worried about this possibility

or that possibility. But the reality is, now is now. You don't control whether that will happen or not. What you do control is now. You of course control how prepared you are for the adversity of the future, the uncertainty of the future. But what you mainly control is the present moment.

Take advantage of the present moment. Don't give up the present moment because you're really worried and off thinking about what could and almost certainly will not happen in the future. No one can harm you, at least according to the Stoics. They can hurt you, they can say cruel things, they can attack you, they can cut you, they can make you bleed. But to the still ex harm was a choice. You decide to see yourself as harmed by it. Remember Eleanor Roosevelt, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. We choose to feel harmed.

You are hurt. The moment you believe yourself to be epiphyticet. Marks really says, don't want to be harmed. Don't choose to feel harmediphyticet. Mark really says, don't wanna be harmed, don't choose to feel harmed. We control our emotions, we control our opinions, we control the story we tell ourselves about what happened. And that's why the Stokes said, you are complicit when you feel harmed.

You choose to see it that way. I do this one thing every single day, and you can see I'm a little sweaty right now. I just went on a long walk with my kids. This is the property there. We just went on this long walk around our property. He talked, we threw sticks, we told stories, we were just outside. There's this great expression from Nietzsche.

He says, only ideas had when walking have any worth. And I think that's right. Even Seneca talks about how the mind must be given over to wander and walks. He says fields that are not allowed to rest will not bear plants. And he even says that, you know, the mind will break like an anvil if not rested. And so this is really important.

For me, walking is physical activity. Is it, it is exercised. But it's really about letting my mind rest. I leave my phone at home. I leave my thoughts at home. I leave my work at home, and I just go outside and I walk. And I don't even consider it exercise.

It's exercise for my mind. It's time I spend with my family, it's time I spend on my property, it's time I spend outdoors, it's time I spend practicing gratitude and appreciation. This is a thing I do every day without fail, whether it's in a parking lot or on a beautiful beach somewhere,

I go outside and take a walk and so should you. People ask, what is the best way to start journaling? And the best way to start journaling is to start journaling. Look, there's a bunch of different ones you can do. I like the one line of day journal. This is just like a Mosquina. This is a gratitude journal that I like. This is the Daily still of journal, but it doesn't really matter. Journal on your phone, journal on a scrap of paper, on the back of your to-do list, it doesn't matter.

But the idea is that you journal every single day, just do it, right? Just get started. The best time to have started journaling is a long time ago. The second best time is right now. So if you want to start journaling, start journaling. Epic Titus tells us that every situation has two handles. He says there's the handle that will bear weight and the handle that won't. He says, you could look at it as your brother has wronged you, he screwed you over, he's hurt you, or you could say, I only have one

brother. This is my brother. I'm going to forgive this person. I'm going to be patient'm gonna be patient I'm gonna be better we're gonna be better for having gone through this so this idea that every situation you can choose to see it as the way that disempowers you that makes you the victim or you can choose to see it as the opportunity for growth as the thing that will make you better as the thing that will make you stronger for having to wrestle with so I just love this idea and it comes from a person who's not speaking about this idly like, you and I are so privileged compared to Epictetus who's born a slave in Rome, he's been 30 years in slavery. But he doesn't see this as a huge disadvantage,

he sees it as a learning experience, as a fate that he's struggling with that's making him stronger, he says, you've been paired with a tough opponent and this is what's making you Olympic class material. That's epictetus seeing the right handle in his own situation. So whatever you experience today, think about this. This has two handles.

Which one am I going to pick? The one that bear weight, that will make me better, or the one that won't bear weight, that will make me worse. If you're struggling with anxiety, if you want to do a deep dive into this, like I did, I highly recommend the Daily Stoic Slay Your Stress Challenge. It's our most in-depth collection of Stoic strategies, lessons, challenges that will help you reduce stress, anxiety, worry, all those toxic, roiling emotions that we all deal with. It's one of the best things we did here at Daily Stoic.

You can sign up at dailystoke.com slash stress. And of course, if you're a DailyStoke life member, you get this challenge and all the other ones for free. I'd love to have you at dailystoke.com slash stress. Thanks so much for listening to the DailyStoke podcast. If you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. Check it out dailystoke.com slash email. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and add free on Amazon music.

Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondry Plus in Apple Podcasts. Raising kids can be one of the greatest rewards of a parent's life. But come on, someday, parenting is unbearable. I love my kid, but is a new parenting podcast from Wondry that shares a refreshingly honest and insightful take on parenting. Hosted by myself, Megan Galey, Chris Garcia, and Kurt Brownleur, we will be your resident not-so-expert-expert.

Each week we'll share a parenting story that'll have you laughing, nodding, and thinking. Oh yeah, I have absolutely been there. We'll talk about what went right and wrong. What would we do differently? And the next time you step on yet another stray Lego in the middle of the night, you'll feel less alone. So if you like to laugh with us as we talk about the hardest job in the world, listen to,

I love my kid, but wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. but wherever you get your podcasts, you can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.