Chapter 1: What does Marcus Aurelius say about changing our lives?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world.
this is the day to change your life we have a new day in front of us a new sun has risen we can be anyone we can be anything we can do it a new way we don't have to do it the way we've always done it it's a tragedy marcus really says to cling to being the person you've always been he says we're like those gladiators at the games
torn to pieces begging to be held over till tomorrow to do it the same way it hasn't been working so let's do it differently and that's what we're going to talk about in today's episode how to have a great day how to be a great person how to be a new person and what the stoics can tell us about doing precisely that Nobody likes getting up early, not even Marcus Aurelius.
In meditations, he talks about trying to get up early and he has this fantastic conversation with himself.
Chapter 2: Why is waking up early important according to the Stoics?
He goes, but it's warmer under the covers. And he says, is that what you were put here to do? To huddle under the blankets and be warm? He says, but it's nicer here. He says, is that what you were meant for?
Chapter 3: How can doing hard things benefit personal growth?
To feel nice? He says, no, you have a nature, you have a job, you have obligations. He says, we're all put here for a purpose. We have a nature, we have a duty and we have to go and we have to do that. And the morning is the best time to do stuff, to get stuff done.
Chapter 4: What is the significance of small daily improvements?
So that's why the Stokes tried to get up early. I say tried because they didn't always do it and it wasn't always easy and they didn't always like it. They tried to do it anyway. Doing hard things is good for you. Cold plunges, long hikes, long runs, challenging yourself, pushing your limits.
Chapter 5: How can we take control of our habits and addictions?
Seneca says we treat the body rigorously so that it's not disobedient to the mind. Doing the things you don't want to do, but that you're glad you did after. That's the skill that life demands more than any other
skill, the ability to push yourself a little bit further, to hold on a little bit longer, to go a little bit further than you thought, to put up with a little bit more than you thought, that's what it's about. And so we find practices, we find places, we find experiences that allow us to practice that.
Chapter 6: What does it mean to say no and prioritize our commitments?
They're also beautiful and enjoyable, but they allow us to build that muscle, the muscle that says, hey, I'm in charge. Hey, I push myself. Hey, I'm comfortable being uncomfortable. I'm comfortable being challenged. In fact, I like those challenges.
Chapter 7: How can we find meaning in adversity according to Stoicism?
I seek them out. I do hard things. Not just that I can do hard things, but I do hard things on a regular, consistent basis. That's what it's about. The purpose of philosophy is not about getting to some magical place of enlightenment.
Chapter 8: What is the ultimate lesson about how to spend our lives?
It's not about these epiphanies, these life-changing transformative moments. That's not how it works. Seneca, writing to his friend Lucilius, talks about how, look, if you can just acquire one thing a day, he says something that makes you a little stronger, makes you a little wiser, less focused on things that are outside your control.
As long as you can inch your way towards truth, he says, that's what it's about. So today, let's think about what have we acquired? What's something we've learned? What's something we've added to our quiver or our toolkit? That's what the path to wisdom is. It's step by step. In fact, Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, says exactly that.
He says, well-being is realized by small steps, but it is no small thing. The Stoics say you have to stop being a slave today. There's a story I tell in Discipline is Destiny about Richard Feynman. One day, it's like 10 o'clock in the morning, he's out for a walk, and he feels this pull. He wants to have a drink.
He never saw himself as an alcoholic, never had this problem with alcoholism, but he was deeply uncomfortable with this drive, this pull to do something that was coming from a part of him that he didn't control. And the Stoics say that's something you have to be really suspicious of. Seneca says slavery isn't just this legal status. He says everyone's a slave.
He says someone's a slave to their mistress, somebody's a slave to money, someone's a slave to power and attention. And he said those people might be literally free, they might be powerful, they might be important, but they're not in control. In Discipline of Sesame, I also tell the story of Eisenhower.
He was told by his doctor that his smoking habit, he'd smoke like four packs a day for 40 years, it was substantially hurting his health. He says, okay, and I love this, he says, I gave myself an order to stop smoking. And he stopped smoking cold turkey like that. It's going to be harder for some people, easier for some people, but the point is you've got to give yourself that order.
You have to say, who's in charge? This habit, this addiction, this vice that I have, this thing that I want, or am Is I in charge? I the boss or is it the boss? And that's what Feynman was reacting to. That's what Seneca was reacting to. That's what Eisenhower is reacting to. And ultimately, that's what Epictetus is reacting to in the same court as Seneca.
He looks around and he goes, I'm a slave, but I'm freer than these people because I'm in control of my habits. I decide what I do and what I don't do. And we have to give ourselves that power. The best piece of advice that Lou Gehrig ever got came when he was a young minor league player. He was struggling. He was in the middle of a slump. He was losing his confidence.
He was losing his passion in the game. The Yankees dispatched an old seasoned manager, a coach up to see him in Connecticut. And they said, look, the most important thing a baseball player can understand, Lou, is that you can't be good every day, right? What matters is that you show up. What matters is that you try your best, but you're not always going to be at your best.
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