Marcus realis may have been very powerful in fact he was extremely powerful but he wasn't perfect he struggled like you and I he drifted from the person that he wanted to be the person that he knew that he could be so it's an interesting passage in meditations he says like you're a beast you're a monkey he's lamenting how low he has fallen but he says in a week you can be a God if you ReDiscover your beliefs if you recommit to the logos to philosophy and I think he was commenting on something that maybe we
all feel towards the end of the year which is we kind of run out of gas we're coasting a little bit we've drifted far from who we want to be what we're capable of being but the good news is we can start fresh we can come back to that the logos philosophy wisdom virtue that potential we have it's still there we just have to pick it back up we just have to come back to it Marcus R would talk about how no one can do this for you he says Be Your Own savior while you
can and to me there's no better time to do that than a new year senica tried to kick off each new year with the kind of metaphorical cleansing but then also an inspiring challenge he would throw himself in the Tyber river right the freezing cold river that ran through Rome on the first of the year here we are January is upon us one of the things I do to kick off each new year is a series of stoic inspired challenges at Daily stoic we call it new year new you and it's 21 days of stoic
inspired challenges and in today's episode I want to give you some some stoic practices some stoic ideas to kick off the new year right to become a new you to become the god that you're capable of being this year so let's get after it you have to treat the body rigorously maybe it doesn't feel like philosophy has a lot to teach us but it does the stoics were active they hunted and wrestled and lifted weights and ran these were active people mensano andc right a strong mind and a strong body so look a lot of
people set resolutions to work out in the new year they want to be healthier they want to feel better and no one needs to tell you why you should eat healthy and work out you you got that right look when you picture a philosopher you probably think of some ancient figure in a toga or a college professor and a tweed jacket you're not thinking like an active person but in the ancient world philosophers were warriors and athletes and hunters and boxers and wrestlers and distance Runners they did hard things they pushed their physical limitations Socrates
was a soldier he was admired for his ability to endure cold weather Marcus relius wrestled and hunted cleanthes was a boxer epicus lifted weights senica started each year with a cold plune he threw himself in the freezing Tyber River but the stoic didn't just do this cuz they wanted to have big muscles and show off it wasn't vanity for the stoics at all senica said we treat the body rigorously so that it is not disobedient to the mind for the sto's physical practice was a metaphor it was a path to mental toughness one of the
best ways you increase your mental capacities is by doing things that are physically challenging the stoics wanted to push themselves day byday build the have build the muscle that says I can do hard things the thing that says I'm in charge so as you're thinking about your resolutions for the year picking something and starting with something that says hey I do what I say I keep these promises to myself I push myself I don't listen to that voice that says oh it's cold I'm tired I don't want to what you learn in a physical practice
is who you are and what you're capable of what you really learn is that you're capable of more than you think you are this morning I got up I dropped my kid at school and I went swimming in Barton Springs and it was cold and it was a long swim it was hard I would have liked to stop earlier but I didn't I forc myself to do something I push myself further than I wanted to then I carry that energy back back towards the rest of my day towards any other challenges that I'm going to
experience and when you push yourself physically this way when you build a physical practice in your life you are helping yourself be healthier and stronger and all of that but you're also getting mentally stronger You're Building Your Capacity to deal with challenges to endure and you are becoming a more well-rounded strong and resilient figure you got to get help whenever I speak to military groups I like to tell them one of my favorite quotes in meditations because Mark serus was a soldier he fought in Wars he led the Roman army and one of the few
quotes he has where he directly references this experience he says like a soldier storming a wall you have a mission to accomplish and if you've been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up so what I like so what like so what does a lot of heavy lifting there he's saying it with a shrug that there's nothing shameful about it it's not a big deal it's it's to be expected it's perfunctory whether we're talking about going to therapy asking for advice bringing on someone to your team asking a question about something you're not
sure about right this is the secret when when other people ask us for help we're not like oh that guy we're like oh I'm glad you asked and then we help them we we're honored when our friends come to us and need things from us give us a chance to help them and then for some reason we we don't afford ourselves that same privilege people would bead glad to help us people are waiting for us to ask there's a a quote in this book I like the boy the fox the horse and the mole and
he says asking for help isn't giving up it says asking for help is refusing to give up like things are not going to work you're going to run into trouble you're not going to know how to do things you're going to have questions you're going to struggle are you going to sit with that are you just going to stay the same or are you going to ask for guidance and help and insight from someone who's been there who knows better but look you're going to have to be brave enough to do that if you're resolving
to be better this year you're probably not going to just get there on your own find out someone who's been there before find out someone who's further ahead find someone who knows how to solve this problem we're in this Mission together we're comrades get help a lot of people resolve to to read more I want to read more this year I want to read one book 10 books 50 books 100 books you know what epicus would say to that resolution to just like increase the raw amount your reading he says I'm not impressed knowing that
you read he says I'm not even impressed if they read all night long he says I need to know what the focus of this energy is he says I need to know what you're reading it's not how much you read even that you read it's what you are reading of course look spending hours and days in front of books is better than watching stupid internet videos or you know just listening to podcasts that blather on but it can still be a waste of time senica said that too many good brains have been afflicted by the
pointless enthusiasm for useless knowledge senica thought it was super important to read but he said we got to linger on the works of the master thinker so as you're thinking about reading this year as you're thinking about getting better don't just resolve to just consume a lot of raw information think about what books you need to reread think about really big important books that you're going to actually struggle with and stay with that you're going to get something out of right it's not just about impressing people on how much you put on your good reads
it's about actually getting better it's filtering what gets in your brain it's asking yourself can I use this how am I going to use this what am I learning from it now everyone's going to have different personalities different interests different obstacles different areas they're trying to improve in look I I own a whole bookstore I got lots of books for you to recommend I have a million other videos on what books you should read the point is don't just think about reading as a numbers game but it's really finding stuff that works that makes you
better spending that time and directing that energy intentionally think about how many books you're going to quit in 2025 because they're not good enough because they're not delivering on what they're supposed to I want you to be intentional as a reader this year then and only then will you improve I just spent a couple of weeks on the road I stayed in some really nice hotels but mostly I just wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed specifically on my e sleep I love the alarm feature it it vibrates you to wake in
the morning like softly and soothingly instead of your phone going I have the Pod 4 ultra which is like the best of the eight sleeps it even raises up uh when you want to sit and read if you want to make it cooler hotter you just like tap it on the side I I just love this thing I don't sleep as well without it I'm worried about adjusting to the time difference but I know I'm going to have a great night's sleep on my e sleep if you want to take your sleep and your recovery
to the next level which is to me a really important part of your your practice not just pushing yourself hard physically but also rest and recovery check out the eight sleep pod for Ultra go to 8sleep.com daily Stoke and use code daily Stoke to get 600 bucks off and the offer ends soon so don't miss out trust me your body will thank you and uh I'm exhausted so I'm going to go sleep on my mattress now I'm going to give you a magical Habit to start this year a habit that solves child problems and spouse
problems and work problems and health problems and so many problems and it's just to get outside and go for a walk we should take wandering outdoor walks senica advised so that the Mind might be nourished and refreshed by the open air and deep breathing the Buddhist they they talked of walking meditations that meditation wasn't just a thing you did while you were sitting but walking through a beautiful Forest walking along the ocean walking in a parking lot it doesn't really matter but you got to get moving I'm not saying going for a walk will solve
all your problems I'm saying there are very few problems in life that are not improved by taking a walk kirkgard wrote a letter to his depressed sister-in-law he says above all do not lose your desire to walk he said every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and I walk away from illness he says I have walked myself into my best thoughts he says I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it there were schools of philosophy that that all they did was take walks the philosophical teacher would
walk the students would walk alongside and they would talk the point is the stoics got outside they got active they got moving take a walk it matters it is a foundational habit that will make you better this year you got to be able to concentrate if if there was one skill you could cultivate this year things that that would help you across whatever you're struggling with whatever you're dealing with this year something that is increasing inly rare in today's world to me it would be the ability to concentrate the ability to focus Mark really struggled
with this as we all do it's it's too busy for all of us even in the ancient world he said you got to concentrate every minute like a Roman he says on doing what's in front of you he says with precise and genuine seriousness you got to be able to do this tenderly willingly with Justice you got to be able to concentrate Cal Newport my my friend who I've had on the podcast many times we talk about this idea of deep work deep work is the Rarity today to lock in to do the thing in
front of you to be present instead we're distracted cuz we got all these things on our plate we got our phones we got emails to respond to our mind wanders what about this what about that right so we're not doing the thing in front of us and the ability to look to focus to lock in it's where Peak Performance and insights and breakthroughs all come from I open Stillness is the key with this famous story about senica he's in his apartment apartment in Rome it's in a noisy building he can hear the things on the
street going below his life's falling apart there is literal and metaphorical noise around him but he he writes to a friend that what he did was he toughened his nerves against these things he says I force my mind to concentrate and I keep it from straying to things outside itself says all Outdoors may be bedum provided there is no disturbance within this isn't something you just magically get it's cultivated through a meditation practice through a journaling practice through dis discipline we have to be able to tune out our surroundings we have to access our capacities
on demand despite the difficulty despite the distraction you may be sure that you are at peace with yourself Sonica wrote when no noise reaches you when no word shakes you out of yourself whether it's flattery or a thread or empty sound buzzing about you no one's going to be perfect at that you're not probably ever going to get at that State I am not but senica got to a place where even a deranged Emperor even Fame even emotions even random construction noise from outside his window none of it could interrupt him and thus Every Beat
of the present moment was his for the living and and that's what we're trying to do we got to winnow our thoughts Mark cus says narrow our gaze to what matters and commit to it there's anything worth cultivating this year it's that ability to concentrate to focus to be where we are while we are there show me a man who isn't a a slave senica once said pointing out that even slave owners were chained to the responsibility of maintaining their enormous slave Estates he said look this one's a slave to sex another to money to
ambition he says we're all slaves to Hope and fear what sism is it its court is freeing yourself from this form of mental slavery pull yourself out of the ignorance of your addiction become aware of the power that this thing has over you the cup of coffee the cigarettes the checking your email incessantly the phone whatever it is you do not want things to have power over you if you do not have the freedom to not do a thing then that thing is more powerful than you and in some ways the Habit itself is less
important than the fact that it is making us dependent on us that that thirst that craving that's the thing to be worried about look some things are addictions you got to totally steer clear of then maybe some things you got to take a break from and you can come back to recreationally but it's the need you want to be suspicious of the need the lack of freedom to abstain that is the source of your suffering and you cannot be great you cannot have a great year if you are in the throws of an addiction whatever
the bad habit is whatever is ruling your life socially acceptable or not you must quit being a slave this year and you must start now you got to stop trying to be perfect perfect is the enemy of good enough this year in the winter of 1931 the great choreographer Martha Graham she was hopelessly bogged down in this dance series she was working on she'd been working on it for months and months and months she was a notorious perfectionist and she despaired of of being able to finish she was worried that she'd wasted her Guggenheim Fellowship
she was convinced it wasn't going to be good enough for her reputation the critics the vision in her head the winter is lost she said as she whimpered in self-pity the whole Winter's work is lost I destroyed my year the work's no good she she just wanted to throw it all out and this is despite the fact that the dancers thought it was good her friends thought it was good all she could see was what was wrong with it all she could see was the ways that it wasn't perfect and this trapped her in this
kind of creative prison that ultimately was preventing her from putting the thing out and this is a tragic fate of so many talented people because we become great because of our incredibly high standards standards that are often much higher than anyone else but inside this virtue is also a terrible Vice prevents us not only from enjoying it but impossible to ship the thing and then start the next thing because it's not good enough because there's always more they can do because it doesn't measure up it was Churchill who said that perfectionism is better spelled paralysis
we get stuck it's actually a form of the resistance it's a a deep commitment to the work but it's actually a profound fear an aversion to doing the work and finishing the work is part of the work work it's not humility it's not Obsession there's nothing positive about this perfectionism there's something narcissistic about it something insane about it something inherently self-absorbed about it so we have to cultivate this year the self-discipline to ship to finish to move forward to focus on progress and not Perfection the stoics remind us we we don't abandon a Pursuit because
we despair of perfecting it no we just try to get better every day we try to improve a little bit by a little bit and then actually this perfectionism this idealism is kind of a cowardice it protects us from having to do the hardest part which is finishing just because the stoics didn't believe in perfectionism didn't believe in settling either epicas said is it possible to be free from Air is no but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid air that's what stoicism is that's the mantra for the year trying to be
better trying to grow trying to improve that means finishing that means moving forward that means accepting that you're not perfect that it's never going to reach the ideal but you can still strive and grow and change and have the courage to ship and finish and put yourself out there pick a word to live by in 2025 if a man knows not which Port he sails senica said no wind is favorable that's a little stoic practice for the year let's choose a word to live by in 2025 a a port to aim towards a North star
a clarifying bit of language that helps us color our thoughts and decisions for the year in yoga practitioners set an intention before each session in meditation practitioners can use a mantra to focus their mind for the stoics they tried to come up with what they called epithets for the self single words that could be touchstones for character some of Marcus aurelius's were upright and modest straightforward sane Cooperative every year what I I try to do is come up with a word that I want to shoot for aim for hold up as my North Star for
the year I've picked Stillness as a word I've picked systems as a word I wanted to get better at organizing and structuring things less was a really important word for me I wanted to do less because by doing less I could do more in times of chaos and dysfunction and disorder when we have so many choices and so many directions we can go a word for the year can help give us clarity and purpose and priority some some words that might be good for you in 2025 maybe you're someone who needs to slow down and
Trust the process how about patient maybe you need to get better at standing strong how about steadfast how about kindness how about bravy or courage what about generosity you want to cultivate a a more generous spirit this year maybe the year is going to be challenging maybe just came off a challenging year how about resilient maybe you want to build better habits how about discipline there's a million words you could choose for me in 2023 we picked less cuz I was exhausted at the end of the year I was doing too much I was overcommitted
then I felt like my health and my family and my quality of life couldn't face another year of the same so our goal was less less commitments less drama less busyness less screen time just less and by less I I think we ultimately ended up getting more more Stillness more presence more connection more fun more focus and I think we did a pretty good job last year my my word was systems how can I set up systems how can I bring people on to operate those systems CU I didn't want to wing it so much
I didn't want to be caught off guard I didn't want to be making the same problems or doing the same thing from scratch each time I have a word for 2025 I think I'm I'm still working on it I'm probably going to share it in the new year new year challenge because this is one of the things we build into the challenge like how do you find your word for the year and I would love to have you join me and thousands of other stoics in this awesome challenge you can sign up now at daily
stoic.com challenge the idea though is once you pick that year write it on an index card put it on the wall I don't know get it tattooed get it framed make it your phone screen wallpaper set it as your computer password put it on a Post-It note on your desk Journal about it every day the point is to come to it over and over and over again so kind of becomes yeah a Northstar a touchstone and we're not just picking like some nice sounding word it's about choosing a principle a concept of something clarifying that
can guide your Behavior throughout the year so that when you're tired when you're stressed when you're afraid when you're confused when you got lots of options the word brings you back to your best self it tells you what to do you got to stop putting things off epic titus's question was how much longer are you going to wait to demand the best of yourself in meditations Markus talks about how look we know we could be good now but instead we choose tomorrow we tell ourselves this lie I'll do it later I'll do it tomorrow I'll
do it when things calm down I'll do it when things go back to normal I'll do it when the weather gets better no do it now procrastination is this habit that senica says all fools have in common always getting ready they're putting it off don't do it later do it now that's what a stoic does that's what a strong person does they do it now they muster The Willpower the strength the discipline to do it now and not later because look the best time to have started this stuff was 10 years ago was last year
was last week okay but the second best time is now so do it now I've come to see that all the success in my life is a lagging indicator of good choices or good actions I took a while ago so one of the things that keeps me up at night one of the things I try to remind myself is if I want to have good results next week next year the next phase of my life I got to be doing good stuff now I got to be paying in to the system that I want to
take out from later what are the deposits you're making and procrastination is the opposite of making a deposit right it's saying I'll make the deposit later don't do it later do it now it's a foundational habit for the year before you go just remember what senica said he said the one thing all fools have in common is are always getting ready to start right we tell ourselves it's Li I'll do it later I'll come back to this later but will you and wouldn't you be better off just doing it now
