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On the path to successful action, we will fail--possibly many times. And that's okay. It can be a good thing, even. Action and failure are two sides of the same coin. One doesn't come without the other. What breaks this critical connection down is when people stop acting--because they've taken failure the wrong way.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Perspective has two definitions. Context: a sense of the larger picture of the world, not just what is immediately in front of us Framing: an individual's unique way of looking at the world, a way that interprets its events
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Ryan Holiday |
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Discipline in perception lets you clearly see the advantage and the proper course of action in every situation--without the pestilence of panic or fear.
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Ryan Holiday |
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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." --"
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Ryan Holiday |
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But thinking about and being aware of our mortality creates real perspective and urgency. It doesn't need to be depressing. Because it's invigorating.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Our perceptions are the thing that we're in complete control of.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Imagine if for every person you met, you thought of some way to help them, something you could do for them? And you looked at it in a way that entirely benefited them and not you. The cumulative effect this would have over time would be profound: You'd learn a great deal by solving diverse problems. You'd develop a reputation for being indispensable. You'd have countless new relationships. You'd have an enormous bank of favors to call upon ..
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Ryan Holiday |
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The struggle against an obstacle inevitably propels the fighter to a new level of functioning. The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth. The obstacle is an advantage, not adversity. The enemy is any perception that prevents us from seeing this.
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Ryan Holiday |
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We must all either wear out or rust out, every one of us. My choice is to wear out. --THEODORE ROOSEVELT
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Ryan Holiday |
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The work I do is not exactly respectable. But I want to explain how it works without any of the negatives associated with my infamous clients. I'll show how I manipulated the media for a good cause. A friend of mine recently used some of my advice on trading up the chain for the benefit of the charity he runs. This friend needed to raise money to cover the costs of a community art project, and chose to do it through Kickstarter, the crowdso..
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Ryan Holiday |
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In life, it doesn't matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you've been given. And the only way you'll do something spectacular is by using it all to your advantage.
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Ryan Holiday |
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My friend the philosopher and martial artist Daniele Bolelli once gave me a helpful metaphor. He explained that training was like sweeping the floor. Just because we've done it once, doesn't mean the floor is clean forever. Every day the dust comes back. Every day we must sweep.
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Ryan Holiday |
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I will keep constant watch over myself and--most usefully--will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil--that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past." --SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.2"
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Ryan Holiday |
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If ego is the voice that tells us we're better than we really are, we can say ego inhibits true success by preventing a direct and honest connection to the world around us. One
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Ryan Holiday |
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A poet's function . . . is not to experience the poetic state: that is a private affair. His function is to create it in others.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Persist and resist". Persist in your efforts. Resist giving into distraction, discouragement, and disorder. - Epictetus"
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Ryan Holiday |
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See things for what they are. Do what we can. Endure and bear what we must. What blocked the path now is a path. What once impeded action advances action. The Obstacle is the Way.
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Ryan Holiday |
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All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.
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marcus-aurelius
meditations
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Ryan Holiday |
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Seize this moment to deploy the plan that has long sat dormant in your head.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Certain things in life will cut you open like a knife. When that happens--at that exposing moment--the world gets a glimpse of what's truly inside you. So what will be revealed when you're sliced open by tension and pressure? Iron? Or air? Or bullshit?
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Ryan Holiday |
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What we desire makes us vulnerable.
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Ryan Holiday |
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An entrepreneur is someone with faith in their ability to make something where there was nothing before. To them, the idea that no one has ever done this or that is a good thing.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Where one person sees a crisis, another can see opportunity. Where one is blinded by success, another sees reality with ruthless objectivity. Where one loses control of emotions, another can remain calm. Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessness--these reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Our perceptions determine, to an incredibly large degree, what we are and are not capable of. In many ways, they determine reality itself. When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph?
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Ryan Holiday |
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People turn shit into sugar all the time--shit that's a lot worse than whatever we're dealing with. I'm talking physical disabilities, racial discrimination, battles against overwhelmingly superior armies. But those people didn't quit. They didn't feel sorry for themselves. They didn't delude themselves with fantasies about easy solutions. They focused on the one thing that mattered: applying themselves with gusto and creativity.
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Ryan Holiday |
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You will come across obstacles in life--fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Does what happened keep you from acting with justice, generosity, self-control, sanity, prudence, honesty, humility, straightforwardness?
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Ryan Holiday |
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Vires acquirit eundo (We gather strength as we go).
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Ryan Holiday |
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Desperation, despair, fear, powerlessness -- these reactions are functions of our perceptions. You must realize: Nothing makes us feel this way; we choose to give in to such feelings. Or, like Rockefeller, choose not to.
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Ryan Holiday |
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When we aim high, pressure and stress obligingly come along for the ride. Stuff is going to happen that catches us off guard, threatens or scares us. Surprises (unpleasant ones, mostly) are almost guaranteed. The risk of being overwhelmed is always there. In these situations, talent is not the most sought-after characteristic. Grace and poise are, because these two attributes precede the opportunity to deploy any other skill. We must posses..
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Ryan Holiday |
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The Greeks had a word for this: apatheia. It's the kind of calm equanimity that comes with the absence of irrational or extreme emotions. Not the loss of feeling altogether, just the loss of the harmful, unhelpful kind. Don't let the negativity in, don't let those emotions even get started. Just say: No, thank you. I can't afford to panic.
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Ryan Holiday |
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As we first succeed, we will find ourselves in new situations, facing new problems.
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Ryan Holiday |
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If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity." Just"
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Ryan Holiday |
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In Workaholics Anonymous, one the exercises involves a simple reminder. We must, they say, "catch ourselves before we relapse into ego and self-will." That is: Rest before you get tired. Check your impulses before they take over. Avoid the idiot lights--stop before there is a problem."
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Ryan Holiday |
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Living clearly and presently takes courage. Don't live in the haze of the abstract, live with the tangible and real, even if--especially if--it's uncomfortable. Be part of what's going on around you. Feast on it, adjust for it. There's
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Ryan Holiday |
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Someone recently published a book called Working On My Novel, filled with social media posts from writers who are clearly not working on their novels. Writing,
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Ryan Holiday |
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self-confidence becomes arrogance, assertiveness becomes obstinacy, and self-assurance becomes reckless abandon." This"
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Ryan Holiday |
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Research shows that while goal visualization is important, after a certain point our mind begins to confuse it with actual progress. The same goes for verbalization. Even
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Ryan Holiday |
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We can't take or receive feedback if we are incapable of or uninterested in hearing from outside sources. We can't recognize opportunities--or create them--if instead of seeing what is in front of us, we live inside our own fantasy.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty and sadness and remains far behind yours. Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words. --RAINER MARIA RILKE
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Ryan Holiday |
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Death doesn't make life pointless, but rather purposeful.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Whether what you're going through is your fault or your problem doesn't matter, because it's yours to deal with right now.
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Ryan Holiday |
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If you can't swallow your pride, you can't lead." He"
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Ryan Holiday |
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The investor and serial entrepreneur Ben Horowitz put it more bluntly: "The hard thing isn't setting a big, hairy, audacious goal. The hard thing is laying people off when you miss the big goal.... The hard thing isn't dreaming big. The hard thing is waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat when the dream turns into a nightmare."
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Ryan Holiday |