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So what do we own? Just our lives--and not for long.
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Ryan Holiday |
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The Discipline of Perception (how we see and perceive the world around us) The Discipline of Action (the decisions and actions we take--and to what end) The Discipline of Will (how we deal with the things we cannot change, attain clear and convincing judgment, and come to a true understanding of our place in the world)
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Ryan Holiday |
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Choice--to do and think right Refusal--of temptation Yearning--to be better Repulsion--of negativity, of bad influences, of what isn't true Preparation--for what lies ahead or whatever may happen Purpose--our guiding principle and highest priority Assent--to be free of deception about what's inside and outside our control (and be ready to accept the latter)
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Ryan Holiday |
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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. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own . . ." E PICTETUS, D ISCOURSES , 2.5.4-5"
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Ryan Holiday |
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T he single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can't.
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Ryan Holiday |
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What matters is that you learn how to manage yourself and others, before your industry eats you alive. Micromanagers are egotists who can't manage others and they quickly get overloaded. So do the charismatic visionaries who lose interest when it's time to execute. Worse yet are those who surround themselves with yes-men or sycophants who clean up their messes and create a bubble in which they can't even see how disconnected from reality th..
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Ryan Holiday |
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Feel unprotected against the elements or forces or surroundings. Remind yourself how pointless it is to rage and fight and try to one-up those around you. Go and put yourself in touch with the infinite, and end your conscious separation from the world. Reconcile yourself a bit better with the realities of life. Realize how much came before you, and how only wisps of it remain.
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Ryan Holiday |
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The next time you are afraid of some supposedly disastrous outcome, remember that if you don't control your impulses, if you lose your self-control, you may be the very source of the disaster you so fear. It has happened to smarter and more powerful and more successful people. It can happen to us too.
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Ryan Holiday |
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There's an old line about how if you want to live happy, live hidden.
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Ryan Holiday |
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To borrow from Aristotle again, what's difficult is to apply the right amount of pressure, at the right time, in the right way, for the right period of time, in the right car, going in the right direction.
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Ryan Holiday |
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When you have a goal, obstacles are actually teaching you how to get where you want to go--carving you a path." Excerpt From: Ryan Holiday. "The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph." iBooks."
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Ryan Holiday |
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virtue begins with understanding and is fulfilled by courage.
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Ryan Holiday |
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You could say that failure always arrives uninvited, but through our ego, far too many of us allow it to stick around.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Remember that today when you try to extend your reach outward--that it's much better and more appropriately directed inward.
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Ryan Holiday |
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In life, there will be times when we do everything right, perhaps even perfectly. Yet the results will somehow be negative: failure, disrespect, jealousy, or even a resounding yawn from the world. Depending on what motivates us, this response can be crushing. If ego holds sway, we'll accept nothing less than full appreciation. A dangerous attitude because when someone works on a project--whether it's a book or a business or otherwise--at a ..
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Ryan Holiday |
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We have only minimal control over the rewards for our work and effort--other people's validation, recognition, rewards. So what are we going to do? Not be kind, not work hard, not produce, because there is a chance it wouldn't be reciprocated? C'mon.
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Ryan Holiday |
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When you let your attention slide for a bit, don't think you will get back a grip on it whenever you wish--instead, bear in mind that because of today's mistake everything that follows will be necessarily worse. . . . Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person always stretching to avoid error. For we must be content to at least escape a few mistakes by never letting our attention slide." --EPIC..
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Ryan Holiday |
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Aaron] had previously believed that if you came up with a great idea people would use it. But he realized now that you couldn't expect people to come to you; you had to pull them in.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. --SHAKESPEARE P
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Ryan Holiday |
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Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around! Why are you troubled? What's new here? What's so confounding? The one responsible? Take a good look. Or just the matter itself? Then look at that. There's nothing else to look at. And as far as the gods go, by now you could try being more straightforward and kind. It's the same, whether you've examined these things for a hundred years, or only three." --MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATI..
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Ryan Holiday |
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Always prepared for disruption, always working that disruption into our plans. Fitted, as they say, for defeat or victory.
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Ryan Holiday |
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The areas of great interest to the Stoics all make an appearance here: virtue, mortality, emotions, self-awareness, fortitude, right action, problem solving, acceptance, mental clarity, pragmatism, unbiased thought, and duty. The Stoics were pioneers of the morning and nightly rituals: preparation in the morning, reflection in the evening.
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Ryan Holiday |
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John Glen, the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, spent nearly a day in space still keeping his heart rate under a hundred beats per minute. That's a man not simply sitting at the controls but in control of his emotions. A man who had properly cultivated, what Tom Wolfe later called, "the Right Stuff." But you...confront a client or a stranger on the streets and your heart is liable to burst out of your chest; or you are called on..
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Ryan Holiday |
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Of course, when pushed, the natural instinct is always to push back. But martial arts teach us that we have to ignore this impulse. We can't push back, we have to pull until opponents lose their balance. Then we make our move.
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Ryan Holiday |
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What humans require in our ascent is purpose and realism. Purpose, you could say, is like passion with boundaries. Realism is detachment and perspective.
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Ryan Holiday |
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So why on earth do you need thanks or recognition for having done the right thing? It's your job.
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Ryan Holiday |
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It feels good, but it's so very wrong.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Tranquility can't be grasped except by those who have reached an unwavering and firm power of judgment--the rest constantly fall and rise in their decisions, wavering in a state of alternately rejecting and accepting things. What is the cause of this back and forth? It's because nothing is clear and they rely on the most uncertain guide--common opinion." --SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 95.57b-58a"
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Ryan Holiday |
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Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on--it isn't manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn't give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance--unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.
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Ryan Holiday |
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In the end, the only way you can appreciate your progress is to stand on the edge of the hole you dug for yourself, look down inside it, and smile fondly at the bloody claw prints that marked your journey up the walls.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Work is finding yourself alone at the track when the weather kept everyone else indoors. Work is pushing through the pain and crappy first drafts and prototypes. It is ignoring whatever plaudits others are getting, and more importantly, ignoring whatever plaudits you may be getting.
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Ryan Holiday |
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The question we must ask for ourselves is: Are we going to be miserable just because other people are?
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Ryan Holiday |
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This obsession with the past, with something that someone did or how things should have been, as much as it hurts, is ego embodied. Everyone else has moved on, but you can't, because you can't see anything but your own way. You can't conceive of accepting that someone could hurt you, deliberately or otherwise. So you hate.
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Ryan Holiday |
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A MORNING RITUAL "Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning: * What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion? * What for tranquility? * What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things. * What, then? A rational being. * What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions. * How did I steer away from serenity? * What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring? * What did I fail to do in ..
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Ryan Holiday |
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As Deng Xiaoping once said, "I don't care if the cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice." The Stoics had their own reminder: "Don't go expecting Plato's Republic."
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Ryan Holiday |
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Would you have a great empire? Rule over yourself. --PUBLIUS SYRUS W
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Ryan Holiday |
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I have the power within me to keep that out. I can see the truth.
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Ryan Holiday |
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An important place to begin in philosophy is this: a clear perception of one's own ruling principle.
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discourses
epictetus-stoicism
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Ryan Holiday |
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Greatness comes from humble beginnings; it comes from grunt work. It means you're the least important person in the room--until you change that with results." Ryan Holliday, Ego is the Enemy, pg 56"
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Ryan Holiday |
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The first principle is that you must not fool yourself--and you are the easiest person to fool. --RICHARD FEYNMAN M
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Ryan Holiday |
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Give yourself clarity, not sympathy.
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Ryan Holiday |
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Greatness comes from humble beginnings; it comes from grunt work. It means you're the least important person in the room--until you change that with results." Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy, pg 56"
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Ryan Holiday |
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One might say that the ability to evaluate one's own ability is the most important skill of all. Without it, improvement is impossible." Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy, pg 21"
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Ryan Holiday |
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The person is free who lives as they wish, neither compelled, nor hindered, nor limited--whose choices aren't hampered, whose desires succeed, and who don't fall into what repels them. Who wishes to live in deception--tripped up, mistaken, undisciplined, complaining, in a rut? No one. These are base people who don't live as they wish; and so, no base person is free." --EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.1.1-3a"
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Ryan Holiday |