The Daily Stoic - The Way, The Enemy and The Key

Episode Date: April 2, 2020

We should always be looking for mantras and epigrams. Ideas that are true and applicable in every situation, to every generation, across all time. The Stoics had more than a few they liked:��Character is fate,” which came to them from Heraclitus. “Life is only perception,” which Marcus got from Democritus. “You become what you give your attention to,” which Epictetus wrote. Even memento mori and amor fati are short little reminders of concepts we should never forget. Lincoln was fond of the expression, “And this too shall pass,” which undoubtedly helped him through the depths of all the crises he faced. Here are three others worth keeping at hand: The obstacle is the way—there is nothing so bad that we can’t make some good out of it. We can treat every problem as an opportunity to practice virtue.Ego is the enemy—no problem is ever solved by introducing ego. Pride makes us complacent and intolerable and ignorant; for we cannot learn that which we think we already know.Stillness is the key—you can speed up by slowing down. People can only focus, be happy, and see clearly when they get rid of franticness and passions and get to that state of ataraxia that the Stoics talked about. What’s in the way is the way. Improve yourself by thinking of yourself less. Slow down to speed up. Remember, this philosophy is about taking ideas and applying them to our lives until they turn into muscle memory. Repeating it enough times to yourself that it becomes part of who you are. That’s what a mantra is—something to come back to, something to lean on in times of trouble and stress. It’s a tool for focus. A way of living. The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Key (all bestsellers that have reached millions of people around the world) are now available in a box set from Portfolio. You can check it out at Amazon right now. “Ryan’s trilogy of The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and Stillness Is the Key are for sure must reads.”—Manu Ginobili, NBA Champion and Olympic Gold MedalistSee 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 dailystowoc.com. The Way, the Enemy, and the Key. What we should always be looking for are mantras and epigrams, ideas that are true and applicable in every situation. The Stoics had a few they liked. For instance, character is fate, which came to them from Heraclitus. Even those ideas of Momento Mori and Amor Fati are just little reminders of concepts we should always keep in mind.

Lincoln himself was fond of the expression and this too shall pass, and it's obvious how that would have helped him through the depths of the crises that he faced. Well, here are three others worth keeping at hand. The obstacle is the way, meaning that there is nothing so bad that we can't make some good out of it, that we can treat every problem as an opportunity to practice virtue. Ego is the enemy, meaning that no problem is ever solved by introducing ego, that pride makes us complacent and intolerable, that we can't learn that, which we think we already know.

Stillness is the key, meaning that you can speed up by slowing down, that people can only focus, be happy and see clearly when they get rid of franticness and the passions and get to that state of adoraxia that the Stoics talked about. What's in the way is the way, improve yourself by thinking of yourself less, slow down to speed up. These are always true statements. Remember that what this philosophy is about

is about taking ideas and turning them into muscle memory, repeating it enough times to yourself that it becomes part of who you are. That's what a mantra is, something to come back to, something to lean on in times of trouble and stress. It's a tool for focus, a way of living. The obstacles the way you go is the enemy and stillness is the key my three bestselling books are now available in a box set from my publisher portfolio.

You can check that out at Amazon or pretty much anywhere books are sold. Thank you for checking them out. Ego is the enemy, stillness is the key. The obstacle is the way we're calling that, the way the enemy and the key. I hope you like the box set and thank you for the support. 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

podcast that I think you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduke Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Kodopaxi, 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 discuss 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 Wondery app.