The Daily Stoic

Don’t wish for things to be a certain way, Epictetus says, but wish for them to be as they are. 

Cato defying Caesar. Rutilius Rufus going into exile. Marcus Aurelius on the battlefield.These were great and daring deeds of course. Lesser known of course, are the deeds of the Stoic women.

We have to be willing to question. We have to be willing to try new things…or we’ll never get better.Since we received such great feedback from the launch of 2025's New Year New You Challenge, we decided to RE-OPEN the challenge for February. Head over to dailystoic.com/challenge today to sign up.

In this letter, Seneca is arguing against the treatment of slaves and uses slavery as a metaphor to illustrate how we allow things to control us and the importance of freeing ourselves.Today’s episode is an excerpt from The Tao Of Seneca produced by Tim Ferriss’ Audio. Get the free PDF at tim.blog/seneca

Diseases have defined eras, from the Antonine Plague during Marcus Aurelius’ reign to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci, a public health leader and advisor to seven Presidents, talks with Ryan about the importance of social responsibility, his influential contributions during the HIV/AIDS crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, and the growing politicization of public health.Dr. Anthony Fauci is a physician-scientist and immunologist, former NIAID Director, chief medical advisor to the president from 2021 to 2022, and author of On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service. 

Too many of us are total strangers to ourselves. The one that is whispering to us so many important lessons.

It doesn’t matter how badly we’ve messed up, how much we’ve fallen off course, it’s still there. It’s not exactly waiting for us, but it continues on, ready for us whenever we choose to rejoin.Since we received such great feedback from the launch of 2025's New Year New You Challenge, we decided to RE-OPEN the challenge for February. Head over to dailystoic.com/challenge today to sign up.

Changing our work patterns can feel daunting. We’re held back by the comfort of familiar routines and overwhelmed by the constant demands of urgent tasks and workplace conflicts, leaving us with little energy to explore new approaches. But what if there were a blueprint for getting unstuck? In his new book, Reset: How To Change What’s Not Working, Dan Heath shares a proven framework for driving meaningful change.Today, Dan and Ryan discuss trusting your instincts in creative decision-making, knowing when to reset versus rebuild, and applying upstream thinking to prevent downstream consequences.Dan Heath is the #1 New York Times bestselling author/coauthor of six books including Made to Stick, Switch, Upstream, and The Power of Moments. Dan also hosts the award-winning podcast What It’s Like to Be… which explores what it’s like to walk in the shoes of people from different professions. Reset: How To Change What’s Not Working by Dan Heath is out now! Grab a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Pick up a copy

We all make promises to ourselves—set goals, set standards, make plans. We don’t all keep them.

People want to be successful. They look at what successful people have done throughout history and they look for strategies, they look for models.Check out Ryan Holiday's MasterClass course Using Ancient Wisdom to Solve Modern Problems at dailystoic.com/masterclass

Millions of people have been cut off from the truth. We can be sympathetic to this without assenting to it.

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, here is a lesson on courage we could all hear today.

In his speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, Ryan shares the timeless Stoic lessons we can learn from Jimmy Carter’s life and his remarkable example of leadership, resilience, and moral clarity.

Bob Bowman is the coach behind 23-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps and Paris Olympics swimming superstar Léon Marchand. Today, Bob joins Ryan in The Daily Stoic Podcast studio to discuss the pressures of success, the role of mastery, and the importance of maintaining passion and balance in highly driven athletes. He also shares his coaching philosophies and the leadership lessons he has learned while coaching some of the world’s greatest swimmers.Bob Bowman is the Director of Swimming and Diving at University of Texas and the author of The Golden Rules.

While we can't stop the fires or undo the damage, we can do what the Stoics taught us. Offer the kind of help we hope to receive should we ever need it. Donate to the LA Regional Food Bank here: https://www.lafoodbank.org/

Philosophy isn’t about allegiance to a school—it’s about a commitment to growth, resilience, and truth wherever we find it.

How can practicing Stoicism help us balance career success with personal fulfillment? Tune in to hear Ryan Holiday on The Jordan Harbinger Show as he shares his insights on balancing professional ambition with parenting responsibilities, the illusion of success, and how to apply Stoicism in everyday decision-making.

What’s up to us is that we do our best, what’s up to us is that we are the best we’re capable of being.✉️ Sign up for the Daily Dad email: DailyDad.com

Epictetus said that by writing, reading, and speaking our philosophical journal, we keep the teachings top of mind and are better able to follow them. But only if you start. Just start.

The world does not give anyone what they deserve. Still, we have to figure it out. We have to decide how we’re going to respond. We have to make the best of it.