#118 All About The Daily Stoic

The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.  He’s also the author of many other books such as Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way.

What Is It?

The Daily Stoic is designed to be read one page per day.  Each page contains a passage from ancient stoic philosophy.  Below the passage is a distilled explanation from the author to help translate and gain a deeper understanding.  What does it mean?  How does it relate to modern life?  How can you apply stoic principles to your own life?

Momento Mori

Danny has this concept tattooed onto his right bicep.  Momento mori means “Remember you will die.”  It features a tulip (life), a skull (death), and an hourglass (time).  It’s not meant to be a depressing concept, rather it’s meant as a reminder of your mortality.  It helps you cut through the clutter of life to focus on what’s truly important because we don’t know when our time is up.

One Page Per Day

Control what you can control.  Get rid of the excess.  The Daily Stoic is structured for the entire year.  Don’t want to get the physical book?  Get on their email list.  Monday through Friday they send out an email to their list, structured the same exact way.

Life Changing Material

To get something tattooed is significant.  It took Danny two plus years to decide on the tattoo.  Reflecting on the concept of momento mori became a key component of his daily habits to the point of getting this tattoo.

Tattoos

Being able to see my tattoos is important to me.  People would always ask me why I went with my forearms, or in a spot where you could see it.  My forearms played a huge part in my coal mining job.  To me, my forearms represent work.  Being able to see these tattoos every day serve as a source of motivation and inspiration, as well as a tool to check myself.  It’s a fact.

Who’s It For?

Are you a naturally anxious person?  Are you constantly worrying about this or that?  Grab the book and get to work.  Reflect on the readings each day.  See how the principles relate to your own life.  How can you use them as tools for improvement? 

We all have strengths and weaknesses, just like the ancient stoics.  We’re exceptional at this thing, but struggle is this other area.  In the end, we’re all human.