How To Stay Calm When The World Feels Out Of Control
Ryan Holiday shares Stoic strategies for staying calm, decent and hopeful during political dysfunction, arguing that chaotic times are the historical norm and that we control only our own response.
The gist
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Holiday says the hardest task now is not letting cruel or cynical people make you like them, citing Marcus Aurelius that the best revenge is not being like them.
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Following Epictetus, Holiday separates what isn't up to him, like inflation, tariffs and weather, from what is: his attitude, focus and response.
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Holiday urges small, local acts of kindness over cynicism, using the starfish story and General Mattis's line that cynicism is cowardice.
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Holiday recommends having fewer opinions about trivial things like celebrity scandals, saving energy for things that matter, since Epictetus said our opinions upset us.
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Holiday keeps a daily journal, as Marcus Aurelius did in writing Meditations, to cut through noise, gain perspective and hold himself accountable.
Ryan Holiday recommends it
"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 d..."
▶ Play at 13:5812 creators recommend it, including Andrew Huberman, Kier Gaines, and Mark Dowdle.
See all on the Journaling pageWhat they recommend · 1 pick
"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 ..."
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