The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday is a book that helps readers overcome life’s struggles, worry, and anxiety. Featuring meditations and insights from ancient Stoic philosophy, this book provides practical advice and exercises to help bring out the best in people. Readers will learn how to use Stoicism as a tool to become more confident and resilient without compromising their values or integrity.
Key Learnings:
• The importance of understanding and embracing resilience, confidence and learning fromour mistakes
• How to implement Stoicism into everyday life to help build better habits and strengthen core values
• Utilize ancient Stoic principles to benefit from successful routines, battles and adversity
Why UX Designers Should Read: UX designers can utilize The Daily Stoic to help gain control of their environment and create solutions to problems by cultivating composure and reducing distractions. Additionally, understanding how to develop mental strength, exercising self-control, and adapting to change are essential mindsets to maintain within this profession.
Books to Check Out: Mastery by Robert Greene and The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman.
✏️ Highlights
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control
philosopher, on the other hand, knows that their default state should be one of reflection and inner awareness.
They know that a few minutes of contemplation are worth more than any meeting or report. They also know how little time we’re actually given in life—and how quickly our stores can be depleted. Seneca reminds us that while we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries.
Time is our most irreplaceable asset—we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control and what parts are not, we will not only be happier, we will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle.
We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.”
Remember that imperative on the days you start to feel distracted, when watching television or having a snack seems like a better use of your time than reading or studying philosophy. Knowledge—self-knowledge in particular—is freedom.
Education—reading and meditating on the wisdom of great minds—is not to be done for its own sake. It has a purpose.
“Let’s pass over to the really rich—how often the occasions they look just like the poor! When they travel abroad they must restrict their baggage, and when haste is necessary, they dismiss their entourage. And those who are in the army, how few of their possessions they get to keep
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” A few years after this story was published, his friend Ernest Hemingway teased Fitzgerald by writing, “Yes, they have more money.”
It doesn’t solve the problems that people without it seem to think it will. In fact, no material possession will. External things can’t fix internal issues.
Each day presents the chance to overthink things. What should I wear? Do they like me? Am I eating well enough? What’s next for me in life? Is my boss happy with my work?
“Do your job.” Like a Roman, like a good soldier, like a master of our craft. We don’t need to get lost in a thousand other distractions or in other people’s business.
February 6th DON’T SEEK OUT STRIFE “I don’t agree with those who plunge headlong into the middle of the flood and who, accepting a turbulent life, struggle daily in great spirit with difficult circumstances. The wise person will endure that, but won’t choose it—choosing to be at peace, rather than at war.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 28.7
We’re afraid of being still, so we seek out strife and action as a distraction. We choose to be at war—in some cases, literally—when peace is in fact the more honorable and fitting choice.
February 7th FEAR IS A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY “Many are harmed by fear itself, and many may have come to their fate while dreading fate.” —SENECA,
As the Stoics have said many times, getting
February 10th ANGER IS BAD FUEL
As the Stoics have said many times, getting angry almost never solves anything.
February 11th HERO OR NERO?
“Our soul is sometimes a king, and sometimes a tyrant. A king, by attending to what is honorable, protects the good health of the body in its care, and gives it no base or sordid command. But an uncontrolled, desire-fueled, over-indulged soul is turned from a king into that most feared and detested thing—a tyrant.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 114.24
Many of Rome’s emperors were tyrants. Yet, not many years later, Epictetus would become a close friend of another emperor, Hadrian, who would help Marcus Aurelius to the throne, one of the truest examples of a wise philosopher king.
it’s not so clear that power always corrupts. In fact, it looks like it comes down, in many ways, to the inner strength and self-awareness of individuals—what they value, what desires they keep in check, whether their understanding of fairness and justice can counteract the temptations of unlimited wealth and deference.
February 12th PROTECT YOUR PEACE OF MIND “Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES,
Shouldn’t you preserve them for life-and-death situations? So yes, use Stoicism to manage these difficulties. But don’t forget to ask: Is this really the life I want?
February 13th PLEASURE CAN BECOME PUNISHMENT “Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away by it, let it await your action,
how much better the consciousness of conquering it.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION,
the truth: each cheat day you eat yourself sick and hate yourself afterward. Soon enough, you’re willingly abstaining from cheating at all.
It’s important to connect the so-called temptation with its actual effects. Once you understand that indulging might actually be worse than resisting, the urge begins to lose its appeal.
February 14th THINK BEFORE YOU ACT “For to be wise is only one thing—to fix our attention on our intelligence, which guides all things everywhere.” —HERACLITUS, QUOTED IN DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS,
Why did I do that? you’ve probably asked yourself. We all have. How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking? You weren’t. That’s the problem.
making sure that your mind is in charge, not your emotions, not your immediate physical sensations, not your surging hormones. Fix your attention on your intelligence. Let it do its thing.
But let’s think about the role of the weather in modern times. Today, we have forecasters and experts who can fairly accurately predict storm patterns. Today, we’re defenseless against a hurricane only if we refuse to prepare or heed the warnings. If we don’t have a plan, if we never learned how to put up the storm windows, we will be at the mercy of these external—and internal—elements. We’re still puny human beings compared with one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds, but we have the advantage of being able to
many addicts struggle most with step 2: acknowledging a higher power. Addicts often fight this one.
We] came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
attuning to the universe and discarding the toxic idea that we’re at the center of it.
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control
philosopher, on the other hand, knows that their default state should be one of reflection and inner awareness.
They know that a few minutes of contemplation are worth more than any meeting or report. They also know how little time we’re actually given in life—and how quickly our stores can be depleted. Seneca reminds us that while we might be good at protecting our physical property, we are far too lax at enforcing our mental boundaries.
Time is our most irreplaceable asset—we cannot buy more of it. We can only strive to waste as little as possible.
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
If we can focus on making clear what parts of our day are within our control and what parts are not, we will not only be happier, we will have a distinct advantage over other people who fail to realize they are fighting an unwinnable battle.
We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free.”
Remember that imperative on the days you start to feel distracted, when watching television or having a snack seems like a better use of your time than reading or studying philosophy. Knowledge—self-knowledge in particular—is freedom.
Education—reading and meditating on the wisdom of great minds—is not to be done for its own sake. It has a purpose.
“Let’s pass over to the really rich—how often the occasions they look just like the poor! When they travel abroad they must restrict their baggage, and when haste is necessary, they dismiss their entourage. And those who are in the army, how few of their possessions they get to keep
“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” A few years after this story was published, his friend Ernest Hemingway teased Fitzgerald by writing, “Yes, they have more money.”
It doesn’t solve the problems that people without it seem to think it will. In fact, no material possession will. External things can’t fix internal issues.
Each day presents the chance to overthink things. What should I wear? Do they like me? Am I eating well enough? What’s next for me in life? Is my boss happy with my work?
“Do your job.” Like a Roman, like a good soldier, like a master of our craft. We don’t need to get lost in a thousand other distractions or in other people’s business.
February 6th DON’T SEEK OUT STRIFE “I don’t agree with those who plunge headlong into the middle of the flood and who, accepting a turbulent life, struggle daily in great spirit with difficult circumstances. The wise person will endure that, but won’t choose it—choosing to be at peace, rather than at war.” —SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 28.7
We’re afraid of being still, so we seek out strife and action as a distraction. We choose to be at war—in some cases, literally—when peace is in fact the more honorable and fitting choice.
February 7th FEAR IS A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY “Many are harmed by fear itself, and many may have come to their fate while dreading fate.” —SENECA,
As the Stoics have said many times, getting
February 10th ANGER IS BAD FUEL
As the Stoics have said many times, getting angry almost never solves anything.
February 11th HERO OR NERO?
“Our soul is sometimes a king, and sometimes a tyrant. A king, by attending to what is honorable, protects the good health of the body in its care, and gives it no base or sordid command. But an uncontrolled, desire-fueled, over-indulged soul is turned from a king into that most feared and detested thing—a tyrant.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 114.24
Many of Rome’s emperors were tyrants. Yet, not many years later, Epictetus would become a close friend of another emperor, Hadrian, who would help Marcus Aurelius to the throne, one of the truest examples of a wise philosopher king.
it’s not so clear that power always corrupts. In fact, it looks like it comes down, in many ways, to the inner strength and self-awareness of individuals—what they value, what desires they keep in check, whether their understanding of fairness and justice can counteract the temptations of unlimited wealth and deference.
February 12th PROTECT YOUR PEACE OF MIND “Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” —EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES,
Shouldn’t you preserve them for life-and-death situations? So yes, use Stoicism to manage these difficulties. But don’t forget to ask: Is this really the life I want?
February 13th PLEASURE CAN BECOME PUNISHMENT “Whenever you get an impression of some pleasure, as with any impression, guard yourself from being carried away by it, let it await your action,
how much better the consciousness of conquering it.” —EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION,
the truth: each cheat day you eat yourself sick and hate yourself afterward. Soon enough, you’re willingly abstaining from cheating at all.
It’s important to connect the so-called temptation with its actual effects. Once you understand that indulging might actually be worse than resisting, the urge begins to lose its appeal.
February 14th THINK BEFORE YOU ACT “For to be wise is only one thing—to fix our attention on our intelligence, which guides all things everywhere.” —HERACLITUS, QUOTED IN DIOGENES LAERTIUS, LIVES OF THE EMINENT PHILOSOPHERS,
Why did I do that? you’ve probably asked yourself. We all have. How could I have been so stupid? What was I thinking? You weren’t. That’s the problem.
making sure that your mind is in charge, not your emotions, not your immediate physical sensations, not your surging hormones. Fix your attention on your intelligence. Let it do its thing.
But let’s think about the role of the weather in modern times. Today, we have forecasters and experts who can fairly accurately predict storm patterns. Today, we’re defenseless against a hurricane only if we refuse to prepare or heed the warnings. If we don’t have a plan, if we never learned how to put up the storm windows, we will be at the mercy of these external—and internal—elements. We’re still puny human beings compared with one-hundred-mile-per-hour winds, but we have the advantage of being able to
many addicts struggle most with step 2: acknowledging a higher power. Addicts often fight this one.
We] came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
attuning to the universe and discarding the toxic idea that we’re at the center of it.
“You know what wine and liqueur tastes like. It makes no difference whether a hundred or a thousand bottles pass through your bladder—you are nothing more than a filter.”
His point will probably rattle anyone for whom success and adulthood has turned them into a wine snob (though the logic can be applied just as easily to foodies, techies, audiophiles, and the like).
You don’t get a prize at the end of your life for having consumed more, worked more, spent more, collected more, or learned more about the various vintages than everyone else. You are just a conduit, a vessel that temporarily held or interacted with these fancy items.
“Tranquility can’t be grasped except by those who have reached an unwavering and firm power of judgment—
nothing is clear and they rely on the most uncertain guide—common opinion.”
“believing in yourself and trusting that you are on the right path, and not being in doubt by following the myriad footpaths of those wandering in every direction.”
tranquility and peace are found in identifying our path and in sticking to it: staying the course—making adjustments here and there, naturally—but ignoring the distracting sirens who beckon us to turn toward the rocks.
majority of other things, we address circumstances not in accordance with the right assumptions, but mostly by following wretched habit.
the person in training must seek to rise above, so as to stop seeking out pleasure and steering away from pain;
stop valuing receiving over giving.”
stop valuing receiving over giving.” —MUSONIUS RUFUS, LECTURES, 6.25.5–11
Find what you do out of rote memory or routine. Ask yourself: Is this really the best way to do it? Know why you do what you do—do it for the right reasons.
am your teacher and you are learning in my school. My aim is to bring you to completion, unhindered, free from compulsive behavior,
Today, when you find yourself getting anxious, ask yourself: Why are my insides twisted into knots? Am I in control here or is my anxiety? And most important: Is my anxiety doing me any good?
Greed was what led people to create complex markets that no one understood in the hope of making a quick buck. Greed caused other people to make trades on strange pools of debt. Greed prevented anyone from calling out this situation for what it was—a house of cards just waiting for the slightest breeze to knock it all down.
It’s better to look at how greed and vices might be having a similar effect in your own life.
degree on a wall means you’re educated as much as shoes on your feet mean you’re walking.
Otherwise, how could so many “educated” people make unreasonable decisions?
focus only on that which lies within their power to control. A surviving fragment from the philosopher Heraclitus expresses that reality: “Many who have learned from Hesiod the countless names of gods and monsters never understand that night and day are one.”
Be aware of that today when you’re going to work, going on a date, deciding whom to vote for, calling your parents in the evening, waving to your neighbor as you walk to your door, tipping the delivery man, saying goodnight to someone you love. All of that is philosophy. All of it is experience that brings meaning to the words.
