The Daily Stoic - Your Job is to Get The Best Out of People

Episode Date: April 14, 2020

One of the trickiest parts of holding yourself to a high standard in life is that it’s only natural to start to expect others to do the same. You’re not taking the easy road, why should they be able to? You’re putting in the work, why aren’t they? You don’t lie, cheat, or steal, is it so crazy to assume others shouldn’t either? Look at your results—where are theirs?Marcus Aurelius must have struggled with this too. He hadn’t wanted to be emperor, but he was pressed into duty. Still, with all this power, he was trying to be good and do good. What was everyone else’s excuse? It’s something that lots of brilliant leaders and talented people have wrestled with through the centuries, whether it’s Kobe Bryant trying to figure out why his teammates aren’t as dedicated as he is, or an A student wondering why the other people in their group aren’t striving for the grade they areWhat we know is that Marcus Aurelius found a way through. We’re told of it by the historian Cassius Dio, and it’s a worthy example for us to think about today:“So long as a person did anything good, he would praise him and use him for the service in which he excelled, but to his other conduct he paid no attention; for he declared that it is impossible for one to create such men as one desires to have, and so it is fitting to employ those who are already in existence for whatever service each of them may be able to render to the State.”We only control our behavior. We can only fully uphold our standards for ourselves. As leaders, we have to work to meet everyone else where they are—get as much as we can from them and of them—but we can’t make ourselves miserable expecting them to be like us. Because they aren’t. What they do is in their control. What we do is in ours. Remember what Seneca learned with Nero: You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Never forget that. Get the best you can from yourself and hope—but don’t expect—for the best from everyone else. That’s all you can do.See 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 Wundery'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 dailystowach.com. Your job is to get the best out of people. One of the trickiest parts of holding yourself to a high standard in life is that it's only natural to start to expect that others do the same. You're not taking the easy road. Why should they be able to?

You're putting in the work. Why aren't they? You don't lie, cheat, or steal. Is it so crazy to assume that others shouldn't either? Look at your results. Where are theirs? Marcus really has must have struggled with this too. He hadn't wanted to be emperor, but he was pressed into duty. Still, with all this power, he was trying to do good and be good. What was everyone else's

excuse? It's something that lots of brilliant leaders and talented people have wrestled through through the centuries, whether it's a Kobe Bryant trying to figure out why his teammates weren't as dedicated as he is or an A student wondering why other people in the group aren't striving for the same grade that they are. What we know is that Marcus are really astound away through. We're told by the historian Cassius Dio and it's a worthy example to think about today. So long as a person did anything good, Dio rights, Marcus would praise him and use him for the service in which he excelled, but to his other conduct, he paid no attention.

For he declared that it is impossible for one to create such men as one desires to have, and so does fitting to employ those who are already in existence for whatever service each of them may be able to render to the state. We only control our behavior. We can only fully uphold our standards for ourselves. As leaders, we have to work to meet everyone else where they are, get as much as we can from them and of them, but we can't make ourselves miserable, expecting them to be like us.

Because they aren't what they do is in their control. What we do is in ours. Remember what Senna could learn from Nero that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Never forget that. Get the best you can from yourself and hope. Don't expect for the best from everyone else. That's all you can do. Hey everyone, if you're stuck inside during this pandemic, there's no better way to spend your time than getting caught up on all that reading you've been meaning to do. And if you want to change the way you read so that you get as much out of the books that you do read as possible, check out our daily Stoic Read to Lead Challenge. It's 13 days of amazing challenges designed to

rekindle your connection with books to help you rebuild your library and even more. You can check it out today. Just go to dailystoic.com slash reading. 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. Celebrity feuds are high stakes. You never know if you're just going to end up on Page Six or Du Moir or in court. I'm Matt Bellasai.

And I'm Sydney Battle, and we're the host of Wundery'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 feud say about us? The first season is packed with some pretty messy pop culture drama, but none is drawn out in personal as Brittany and Jamie Lynn Spears. When Brittany's fans formed the free Brittany movement dedicated to fraying

her from the infamous conservatorship, Jamie Lin'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 Brittany. Follow Dissentel wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music or the Wondery app.