Ryan Holiday

Ryan's top picks

What Ryan uses or recommends most, ranked by how often and how strongly. Paid ads are left out.

What Ryan warns against

Things Ryan says to avoid or be careful with. Other experts don't always agree.

All 78 of Ryan's picks

• Meditations Uses and recommends it 17 episodes "The Obstacle Is the Way came because I wrote down this passage in Meditations and I thought, oh, there's something here, and then many years later that became that book. Something in us recognizes something even if we can't put our finger on it." +5 others
• Memento Mori Uses and recommends it 4 episodes "Meditating on your mortality, it doesn't just give you urgency, it gives you the present moment... So on the one hand, memento mori can help you speed things up, give you urgency. But on the other hand, it can help you slow things down. Savor this second. Savor this moment." Only Ryan
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Uses and recommends it 5 episodes "Have you read The Boy, the Fox, the Horse, and the Mole? There's this great page. I think about it all the time. We actually have it framed on my wall of the house." +1 other
• Airbnb Uses and recommends it 2 episodes "I actually started my writing career — first house my wife and I bought, we would host it on Airbnb when we would travel. And it kind of is what helped me transition from being a corporate person to a writer. We bought this house and then listed it while we were gone, and then I'd work there during the week and we'd rent it out on the weekends. That was like how we paid for it. And that's what helped me take the risk, the jump to do The Obstacle Is the Way." +3 others
• Journaling Recommends it 2 episodes "I'm keeping a journal as I always have because in keeping a journal, it keeps me... If you're not using a journal to gain self-awareness, to cut through all that noise, how are you going to see what's in front of you? ... A journal is something you've got to be doing in this day and age." +11 others
• Keeping your phone out of reach at night Uses and recommends it "My phone is the other side of the bedroom cuz it is my alarm. But I can't touch it, and I have built a practice that I don't check texts or emails until I'm well through the morning. I would find when it was next to the bed, I might get up and go to the bathroom and it's like, oh, someone sent me a text from a different time zone and my day is ruined before it's even started." Only Ryan
• Note Card System Uses and recommends it "This is the note card system that I learned from my teacher, Robert Greene. So, I read books, I'm an active reader, I'm taking notes, I'm folding pages, and then what I'm doing, I'm transferring the information from this book to my note cards. These note cards are how I organize my own writing, the books that I'm writing. But I also have one of these just for life advice. I have one for parenting." Only Ryan
• Walking Recommends it 2 episodes "Look, what I am saying is that you should go for a walk. It'll make everything better. It always does. Relaxes you, it calms you down, it gets you outside, it gets you moving. It both slows the mind down and gets it moving." +1 other
• Morning journal Uses and recommends it "Every morning I spend a few minutes with a journal writing down my thoughts, working out what I'm stressed about. Then I do the same thing in the evening where I review how the day went, what I could do better." Only Ryan
• Range Recommends it 2 episodes "There's a book behind you I was just thinking about when I think of you, one of my favorite books, Range. Have you read Range? So the subtitle is How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World." +3 others
• The Hunters Uses and recommends it "I loved The Hunters... when I was rereading The Hunters, these guys are just desperate to make their mark. They all want to make ace... he just captures that sort of timeless human drive." Only Ryan
• Cold plunge Recommends it 2 episodes "This is why I think cold plunges are great. Not because they have any magical health benefits — maybe they do, maybe they don't. But it's good to do things that are hard while you're doing them but you feel good about it after. You want to build that meta muscle that says I do hard things." +10 others
• No phone rule Uses and recommends it "Don't do the phone first thing. My rule is like don't touch the phone for first hour you're awake" Only Ryan
• Stoicism Recommends it 2 episodes "You accept things as they are. You make the most of it. This is what the idea of amor fati is. Be happy that things are the way that they are, that you were given what you've been given, and then get to work using it. That's what Stoicism is about." +4 others
• Man's Search for Meaning Recommends it 2 episodes "And then that connected me to, of course, Man's Search for Meaning. This is a copy my aunt gave me in June 2005... I've read this book many, many times. I love this book. I wrote an article this year for The Economist about an idea in this book from Viktor Frankl." +6 others
• The Hidden-Hand Presidency Recommends it "One of my favorite books, it's very underrated. It's called The Hidden-Hand Presidency and it's all about how Eisenhower dealt with McCarthy without ever specifically talking about McCarthy... It's an interesting look at the sort of behind-the-scenes machinations of Eisenhower, who we don't think of as a sort of savvy political operator." Only Ryan
• A Farewell to Arms Uses it "I bought a copy of that book in an airport in Norway... they included all the different endings. It's got like 30 endings, and you realize just how many directions he tried." Only Ryan
• The Fish That Ate the Whale Uses it "I read The Fish That Ate the Whale when it came out, in hardcover. And then I reread it a couple years ago, and it was fascinating to me to see how I marked several of the same passages." +2 others
• The Best and the Brightest Uses it "This is my copy of The Best and the Brightest, which I just read for this book that I'm working on. And I — you can see I marked up literally almost every page. But this is actually the second time I tried to read this book." Only Ryan
• The Power Broker Recommends it "One of the series I'm proudest of reading — not just Robert Caro's The Power Broker, but the series on Lyndon Johnson. This is a year's worth of reading for most people. It took me months to get through these books." +4 others
• The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Robert Caro series) Recommends it "One of the series I'm proudest of reading — not just Robert Caro's The Power Broker, but the series on Lyndon Johnson. This is a year's worth of reading for most people. It took me months to get through these books. And it's not even all the way through Lyndon Johnson's life yet." Only Ryan
• Robert Greene's new book on the sublime Recommends it "I was just reading an early copy of Robert Greene's new book, which is all about sublime experiences. When you read it, you're like, I see the seven years. The writing is better — not that he's not an amazing writer — but it's just at another level. It's all very similar to what we're talking about here." Only Ryan
• Memento Mori practice Recommends it "The most important practice I always try to leave people with from the Stoics is this idea of memento mori — remember that you are mortal. We're dying every minute, we're dying every day. So the reason we have to say no, the reason we have to design our lives, the reason we have to be conscious of where we're going and what we're doing is we don't know how long we have. The Stoics say we have to balance the books of life each day to make sure we're spending this time wisely." Only Ryan
• Memento Mori ring Uses it "I carry a ring with me. I'm wearing it right now. It says memento mori and on the inside has a quote from Marcus. He says, 'Let that determine what you do and say and think. You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.'" Only Ryan
• How to Hide an Empire Recommends it "Have you read How to Hide an Empire? It's a history of the greater United States — all the territories, provinces. You'll love this book. I'll give it to you next door." Only Ryan
• The Warmth of Other Suns Recommends it "Have you read The Warmth of Other Suns about the Great Migration? This is like 10 books in one." Only Ryan
• Ithaca (poem by C.P. Cavafy) Recommends it "One of my favorite poems is a poem about the Odyssey called Ithaca by C.P. Cavafy. And there's this part at the end where it says, 'Keep Ithaca always in your mind because arriving there is what you're destined for, but don't hurry the journey. Better if it lasts for years.'" Only Ryan
• Kit Uses it "We use this company called Kit to send out the Daily Stoic emails. Well, you can test five ideas." Only Ryan
• The Odyssey (Homer) Recommends it "The Odyssey is something you should read and watch and read and watch again, but you should read multiple translations and then you have to read the other myths and then you have to read the poetry about it and the stories about it and the interpretations of it. What you start to get each time is just a slightly different understanding of it." +1 other
• Commitment Device Recommends it "He does what psychologists today call a commitment device. The world is filled with temptations and distractions and forces tugging us towards the rock — we need things that keep us constrained, that prevent us from doing what our weaker self is inclined to do. I'll give you one: I don't have social media on my phone. It's on my wife's phone, which makes it harder for me to get to." Only Ryan
• ChatGPT Uses it "I load it into ChatGPT and I go tell me all the plants that are appearing in this video so I don't have to call a plant expert and verify each one. It gives me the list and then I cross-reference that list against another list of plants indigenous to San Diego." +156 others
• Early morning creative work Uses it "Ideally by a very early time I am sitting at my desk doing the creative task for the day" Only Ryan
• Morning walk routine Uses it "If things are going my way, weather permitting, I take my kids and I go for a walk" Only Ryan
• How the Word Is Passed Recommends it "This was one of the absolute best books that I read this year... This is How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. This is an amazing book. Seriously, read this book. Put your political predispositions aside... This book hit me very hard. It has changed how I think about a lot of things, and I think it will for you." Only Ryan
• Indian Givers Recommends it "I just seriously found this book utterly fascinating. It's very rare that I read a book and almost nothing in it had I heard before... and that's what I felt was happening on page after page of this book." Only Ryan
• Meditations: The Annotated Edition Recommends it "There was a new translation of Marcus Aurelius that came out this year. This is an annotated edition by Robin Waterfield... It's a good translation, but then he goes through and he explains each entry, he connects them together, he talks about what they mean, really connects each one to the virtue. Reading this annotated edition, it gave me a whole other understanding not just of this edition but Marcus in general." Only Ryan
• The Choice Recommends it "Dr. Edith Eger is a complete hero of mine... It's an incredible book... We choose how we respond to them, we choose who we're going to be inside of them... and that's what the book is about... That's really what the choice is. I loved this book, it's so good, you should read it." Only Ryan
• The Harder They Fall Recommends it "One of my favorite boxing books, this book The Harder They Fall by Budd Schulberg. Now I've read this book at least two other times. I remembered this book as being a deeply influential, life-changing book for me... I'm so glad I reread this book." Only Ryan
• 48 Laws of Power Recommends it "Everyone who's trying to do anything that depends on other people, anyone whose job depends on the crowd, anyone whose job depends on the approval of a boss or banks or the media, you have to understand this book. And if you don't understand it, you are constantly going to be defeated, demoralized, outsmarted by people who intuitively or explicitly are following the principles of this book." +1 other
• What Makes Sammy Run? Recommends it "My favorite novel, What Makes Sammy Run? by Budd Schulberg... This is a novel I've read three or four times now. I read it when I was 19, my mentor said, 'Hey, you've got to read this book.' To me this is a book that pairs well with The 48 Laws of Power, because 48 Laws of Power is about ambition and the novel What Makes Sammy Run? is a cautionary tale about ambition." Only Ryan
• Evening review Recommends it "You must put every day up for review. How are you going to get better tomorrow if you're not reviewing how you did today? ... The evening review, did you live up to your intention? Were you the person you were trying to be?" Only Ryan
• Turning Obstacles Upside Down Recommends it "You have the power to use the Stoic exercise of turning obstacles upside down... Someone hurts you, it's a chance to practice forgiveness. Something is hard, it's a chance to get stronger. Try this line of thinking." Only Ryan
• Burning the Days Recommends it "I loved Burning the Days, which I think is an incredible memoir." Only Ryan
• 100 Pages Minus Your Age Rule Recommends it "Great readers know when to quit a book. My favorite rule is 100 pages minus your age." Only Ryan
• Alexander Hamilton (Chernow) Recommends it "What I love to dive into is a big biography. There's Chernow's Grant, Hamilton, and Mark Twain book." Only Ryan
• America in the King Years (Taylor Branch series) Recommends it "This series on the Civil Rights Movement by Taylor Branch is epic." Only Ryan
• Commonplace Book Recommends it "Keep a commonplace book. Collect the thoughts, the wisdom, the ideas that strike you so you can access them easily. Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in a way is his commonplace book." Only Ryan
• Discourses Recommends it "It's easier to start with the Enchiridion, which is sort of a summary of his teachings, but then you've got to go to the Discourses. And the Discourses are tough." Only Ryan
• Enchiridion Recommends it "Like Epictetus, it's easier to start with the Enchiridion, which is sort of a summary of his teachings, but then you've got to go to the Discourses." Only Ryan
• Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Recommends it "You can read Diogenes — it's a book, The Lives of Eminent Philosophers, which has biographies of the different Stoics." Only Ryan
• Early morning running Recommends it "If you want to feel amazing, if you want to feel like a king, if you want to feel like you own a city, get up early. Get up early and go for a run. Streets are empty, there's no one out, it's just you. You're pushing yourself, you're challenging yourself. You might not rule over the city, but you are ruling over yourself." Only Ryan
• Discourses and Enchiridion Recommends it "We're going to be reading Discourses and Enchiridion, studying his life, studying his influences, studying the people who he influenced, and how they put Epictetus' teachings into practice." Only Ryan
• Ghost Rider Recommends it "Ghost Rider — I think it's the best road trip book ever written." Only Ryan
• Spying on the South Recommends it "Tony Horwitz wrote another book where he recreates the journey. It's his last book and it's called Spying on the South. Also amazing." Only Ryan
• Your Fellow Americans Recommends it "I loved your book because it's an introduction to your fellow Americans. We live in such radically different universes, different countries." Only Ryan
• The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation) Recommends it "It wasn't until I read Emily Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey, and I read it a few years ago, I made it all the way to the end, right? Which you sort of don't do as a kid." Only Ryan
• Oresteia Recommends it "If I could give another recommendation to people, Aeschylus's trilogy the Oresteia is a side plot of the Iliad and the Odyssey that you briefly see in the Odyssey. For people who don't know... it's just incredible. You're reading this play that's basically 2,500 years old and then you're recognizing, 'Oh, wait. This is where that comes from.'" Only Ryan
• Papyrus Recommends it "The other one I would give you is Papyrus by Irene Vallejo, which is basically about the notebook. This book starts in the 1400s about the Renaissance." Only Ryan
• President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman Recommends it "A companion book I would give you is President Lincoln by William Lee Miller, which is a political biography of Lincoln as a politician." Only Ryan
• The Lion and the Fox Recommends it "This is The Lion and the Fox, the first political biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We tend to think of presidents as these great men of history, but we often underplay their political acumen. This book is 1956 — it's nearer to him. I think there's something about being nearer to these figures." Only Ryan
• Daily Stoic Habits for Success, Habits for Happiness Course Recommends it "That's what the Daily Stoic Habits for Success, Habits for Happiness course is all about. It is a 6-week challenge built around the best Stoic practices to help you build better habits one day at a time. I have become better from doing it over the years. You can join us at dailystoic.com/habits." Only Ryan
• Memoirs of Hadrian Recommends it "You haven't read Memoirs of Hadrian? This is a beautiful novel. This is the one I told Oprah about." Only Ryan
• On the Shortness of Life Recommends it "Here we have a 2,000-year-old manual to managing your time, which is in the end your life better. And it's a lovely book, you can finish it in an evening." Only Ryan
• Amor Fati Recommends it "This is what the idea of amor fati is. Be happy that things are the way that they are, that you were given what you've been given, and then get to work using it." Only Ryan
• Daily Review Recommends it "Put the day up for review. Every day, take a few minutes, review your day, think about what did I do better, what do I need to do better, where did I fall short" Only Ryan
• Essential vs Non-Essential Prioritization Recommends it "Ask yourself what's essential. If it's not essential, don't do it. Most of what people want you to do is not essential, not necessary." Only Ryan
• Negative visualization Recommends it "Don't just do positive visualization, do negative visualization. Seneca says, 'The blow you anticipate lands the least heavy.'" +1 other
• Daily review practice Recommends it "putting your day up for review. At the end of the day stop and think what could I have done better, what can I improve, what difference did I make" Only Ryan
• To Hell and Back Recommends it "If you haven't read his memoir To Hell and Back, it's absolutely incredible." Only Ryan
• Marcus Aurelius - Meditations (Hayes translation, Modern Library) Recommends it "My favorite translation is the Hayes translation which he did for the modern library." Only Ryan
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Recommends it "I'm of course talking about Marcus Aurelius's meditations, one of the most unique books ever published in the history of literature. It is a journal and that journaling process is essentially inseparable from stoic philosophy." +1 other
• Premeditatio Malorum Recommends it "This is a famous exercise from Seneca. It's called premeditatio malorum. It's about thinking about what might happen. One of the ways we make change not so scary, not so overwhelming is by thinking about it." Only Ryan
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World Recommends it "Many years ago I loved Jack Weatherford's book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. Highly recommend it, carry it here in the bookstore." +1 other
• Victory Over Myself Recommends it "Victory Over Myself, this is the autobiography of Floyd Patterson... First off, I just love the title of this book. Victory over myself, to me that's the essence of what Stoicism is... Great book, I really love this." Only Ryan
• Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything Recommends it "Mind-blowingly, there was a new Viktor Frankl book this year. They discovered a collection of old lectures and essays that he'd written, and they gave it this incredible title that hit me so hard. It's Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything." Only Ryan
• How to Think Like a Roman Emperor Recommends it "I don't have my copy, but Donald Robertson's book How to Think Like a Roman Emperor came out recently. Very good. He's a great thinker about Stoicism, very thoughtful guy." Only Ryan
• Philosophy as a Way of Life Recommends it "There's another book, let me get it: Philosophy as a Way of Life by Pierre Hadot. Also very good. Influenced sort of about Stoicism, but not just about Stoicism." Only Ryan
• The Inner Citadel Recommends it "I happen to have this book in front of me because I was talking about it in an earlier question. This is Pierre Hadot, he's a French philosopher. He wrote a fantastic book about Marcus Aurelius called The Inner Citadel: The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius." Only Ryan
• Speed Reading Warns against "You could take some speed reading course, which is usually a scam." No one recommends it
• Nothing matches.