The Daily Stoic - Stress Is a Fact Of Life, Being Stressed Is Not

Episode Date: May 27, 2020

"You think the Stoics didn’t experience stress? Of course they did... Seneca had health problems, was exiled, and then had to show up to work for years in Nero’s court—walking on eggshells around an unstable man with a penchant for bloodlust. Epictetus survived thirty years of exile. Marcus Aurelius’s reign included a plague, health problems, wars, flooding, bankruptcy, and family issues... That’s the definition of stress."Learn the Stoic solution to stress in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.Sign up for Daily Stoic's Slay Your Stress course now: https://dailystoic.com/stress***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/ryanholidayInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanholiday/Facebook: http://facebook.com/ryanholidayYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee 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 Stood Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wondery'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. music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic. For each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy

that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowic.com. Stress is a fact of life. Being stressed is not. You think that the Stowics didn't experience stress? Of course they did. Xeno, bossed everything in the shipwreck.

Client these arrived in Athens with empty pockets. Panateus was the right-hand man of CPO, one of the most powerful and busy leaders in ancient Rome. Senka had health problems, was exile. Then had to show up every day to work for years in Nero's court, walking on egg shells around a man who was not stable. Epictetus survived 30 years of slavery.

Marcus Aurelius's reign included a plague, health problems, wars, flooding, bankruptcy, and family issues. That's the definition of stress, the friction of conflicting obligations, hardship, uncertainty, pain, failure, other people. These were all inevitable parts of life according to the Stoics.

But suffering because of it, actually being stressed because there was stress? No, those are not the same things. One does not have to follow the other. When Marcus really has said that he could choose not to feel harmed and then he wouldn't be, that's what he meant. When he talked about discarding his anxiety, that's what he meant. Stress was a fact of life. Being

stressed, feeling stressed, that was a choice. It is up to us. Indeed, you might argue that all of the Stokes teachings revolve around the idea of combating and avoiding the unnecessary pain and stress and anxiety and worried frustration of life. The philosophy demanded the active life. It demanded that we participate in politics, be social, contribute to the common good, fight for what's right. And so it was critical that stoicism also teach us to resist the temptation to succumb to the stresses that follow that activity. That's where the pages of Marcus Aurelius's journal are filled with notes to himself

on how to escape anxiety and not be controlled by his temper. That's why Epic Titus talked to his students over and over again about focusing on what was in their control and nothing else. Sennaka's letters are constant reminders not to suffer before it is necessary, not just reminders, but practical actionable steps to overcoming both.

Inspired by that, we have assembled the best stoic wisdom into an actionable new course, and we're calling it Daily Stoics, Slay Your Stress, a 13-day challenge designed to reclaim your life from the negative effects of stress and anxiety. How much more enjoyable would your days be without the constant dread of stress looming over you? How much more enjoyable would your days be without the constant dread of stress looming over you? How much more productive would you be without spending hours a day in urgent, imagined troubles? How much better would your relationships be? Stoets have been trying to domesticate feelings of anxiety and stress from millennia. We designed this course to help you reclaim your life from those two

forces and in this 13-day challenge we will lay out the most actionable ways to help you manage your stress, your anxiety, and the difficulties of life, backed by thousands of years of research and practice. You'll learn to name and slay your stress, putting it in a frightful place, how to seize what is in your control and ignore the rest? How to be easier on yourself to get more done? How to make your to-do list more manageable? Stop sweating the smallest of, get historical perspective much much more. How many hours do we lose to stress and anxiety? That's what the Stokes wanted us to ask. Now, let's multiply that by 365. Now,

multiply it by your lifetime. Isn't it time that we do something about it? You can check out daily stokes slayer stress daily stoke.com slash stress. 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. Ah, the Bahamas. What if you could live in a penthouse above the crystal clear ocean working during the day and partying at night with your best friends and have it be 100% paid for.

FTX Founder's Sam Bankman Freed lived that dream life, but it was all funded with other people's money, but he allegedly stole. Many thought Sam Bankman Freed was changing the game as he graced the pages of Forbes and Vanity Fair. Some involved in crypto saw him as a breath of fresh air from the usual Wall Street buffs with his casual dress and ability to play League of Legends during boardroom meetings. But in less than a year, his exchange would collapse. An SPF would find himself in a jail cell, with tens of thousands of investors blaming

him for their crypto losses. From Bloomberg and Wondery, comes Spellcaster, a new six-part docuseries about the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of FTX and its founder, Sam Beckman-Freed. Follow Spellcaster wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to episodes Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today.