The Daily Stoic - Important Things Are Simple | A Week Without Complaining

Episode Date: August 2, 2021

“It’s hard to be an academic who specializes in Stoicism. Because the philosophy is so complex? On the contrary. Stoicism is a difficult choice for tenure because it’s so simple. The Stoics say what they mean and they say it clearly.”Ryan discusses the beauty of simplicity, and reads this week’s meditation from The Daily Stoic Journal, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow 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 Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music download the app today Welcome to the Daily Stoke podcast each day. We bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stokes 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 stoic intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave you with, to journal about, whatever it is you're happy to be doing. So let's get into it. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wunderree's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target, the new discounter that's both savvy

and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. Important things are simple. It's hard to be an academic who specializes in stoicism because the philosophy is so complex. On the contrary, stoicism is a difficult choice for tenure because it's so simple. The stoics say what they mean, and they say it clearly. Sometimes they say it so succinctly it can fit on an index card, or a single line on an index card. Epic Titus, it's not things that upset us, it's our judgment about things. Marcus really is the fruit of this life as good character and acts for the common good.

Seneca, it's not that life is short, it's that we waste a lot of it. You can, as we have summarized the entire philosophy in one sentence, Asteroic believes they don't control the world around them only how they respond. They must always respond with courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice. This is a good thing, though maybe not so good if you want to make a name for yourself as a genius expert. Epic Titus once joked to some of his students who were proudly talking about having digested the works of the least straightforward Stoic Cresipus. You know if Cresipus had been a better writer, he said, you'd have nothing to brag about.

The Stoics are simple because they got to the truth of things, and the core truths of life are simple. They said what they meant. They didn't beat around the bush. They didn't care about impressing people. And in this, they taught us one final lesson. A Week Without Complaining Epic Tito spoke often to his students about the need

to give up blaming and complaining. In fact, he spoke often to his students about the need to give up blaming and complaining. In fact, he saw it as one of the primary measuring sticks of progress in the art of living. How much of life has wasted pointed fingers, his complaining ever solved a single problem. Marcus Aurelius would say, blame yourself or no one. This week, try constructive feedback over complaining and responsibility over blame. And if something goes wrong, spend some time reflecting on what the true causes were. Don't waste a minute with complaints in your journal or out loud. This is from this week's entry in the Daily Stoic Journal, 366 days of writing on reflection in the art of living by me, Ryan Holiday, and my co-author,

Stephen Hanselman, you can get this anywhere, books are sold, although we also have signed copies in the Daily Stoke Store, and of course, at my bookstore, The Painted Port, Sharon Basharb, Texas. But we have three quotes from Epic Titus today about complaints. He says, you must stop blaming God and not blame any person. You must completely control your desire and shift your avoidance to what lies within your reasoned choice. You must no longer feel anger, resentment, envy, or regret. That's the discourse is 322. For nothing outside my reasoned choice, he says, can hinder or harm it.

My reasoned choice alone can do this to itself. If we would lean this way whenever we fail and would blame only ourselves and remember that nothing but opinion is the cause of a troubled mind and uneasiness, then by God I swear we would be making progress. That's discourse is 319. Then he also says in chrydian 13, but if you deem as your own only what is yours? and what belongs to others is truly not yours, then no one will ever be able to coerce or stop you and you will find no one to blame or accuse. You will do nothing against your will and you will have no enemy and no one will harm you

because no harm can affect you. It's funny, just as I was sitting here, I was thinking to myself, man, it's so hot. It's hot in my office. I have to turn off the AC when I record. But one of my favorite quotes from Marcus Reelis about complaining, which I actually also have in sort of fictionalized in the boy who would be King, he says, don't be heard complaining at court, not even to yourself. Right, there are so many parts of Marcus Reelis' job that we get the sense that he didn't

really like. It's kind of an introverted person. He's a good person. He wants to do what's right. He's not an ambitious person in the sense he doesn't want to dominate or win or everything. And so it must have been so frustrating to be around these obnoxious, annoying, you know, dishonest people, these professional politicians basically. But he catches himself. He's like, it's not even enough not to complain publicly. And of course, everyone would have indulged his complaints, he's emperor.

But he says, don't even complain in your own mind. And that is some higher level shit right there, isn't it? Right? To not only be able to stop yourself from complaining, I think it was Will Bowen, he had the no complaint challenge. Every time you say a complaint, you have to move the bracelet from one wrist to the other and the idea is, can you leave it on one wrist for 30 days? Can you get it in one spot for 30 days? No complaints. But imagine how most of us would fail if even thinking about a complaint,

not even verbalizing it, disqualified us. But that's the challenge of the Stokes. And I think Epic Titus, though, is more honest when he talks about just progress. The less blame, the less complaining, the more responsibility you're taking, the more constructive you are, that's what matters. Are you making a little bit of progress every day? Are you moving forward? Are you complaining less? Right?

I think that's a fair way to think about it. So I thought the complaint, but I didn't say it, that's progress. But maybe next time I can just go, the temperature is what the temperature is. If I want to do this thing, that's what I have to put up with. So you know, so that's what it is. It doesn't, thinking about it doesn't help me. It doesn't make me any cooler, right? It just makes me frustrated.

And that's why we try not to complain. So don't be heard complaining today, not even to yourself. That's the standard we're describing to. But could we just make some progress? We just blame only ourselves where ideally no one. That's progress. Let's do it. Let's work for it. Let's make ourselves a little bit stronger as a result. Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoke Podcast.

Again, if you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. You just go to dailystoke.com slash email. So check it out at dailystoke.com slash email. Hey prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.