When The World Got Still | Ask DS

6 snips

Feb 22, 2024

The discussion dives into the unexpected stillness experienced during the pandemic, emphasizing the need for Stoicism to manage anxiety and focus on what can be controlled. Personal anecdotes highlight the balance between work and family while underscoring discipline as a path to growth. An insightful interview features Ed Milet, linking modern health to Stoic principles. The importance of community impact and personal fulfillment over external validation is also explored, making a strong case for integrating Stoicism into everyday life.

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ADVICE

Daily Stoic Practice

Practice Stoicism daily, not just during crises.
Focus on what you can control, accept what you can't, and remember your mortality (memento mori).

ANECDOTE

Stillness is the Key

Ryan Holiday reflects on the stillness of the world during the lockdown.
He connects this to his book, Stillness is the Key, which was released shortly before the pandemic.

ANECDOTE

The Stillness Key

Ryan Holiday shares a story about a stillness-themed key he uses daily.
The key, inspired by Marcus Aurelius, reminds him of the Stoic ideal of ataraxia (freedom from disturbance).

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It was anxiety inducing and scary, but there was also a stillness in it. Because you were forced, against your will, to truly practice Stoicism. Not just in the sense that you had to persist and act despite that fear—because people and things were counting on you—but also because it was so clear what was in your control and what wasn’t. You came face to face with undeniable reality, overwhelming events and all you could do is focus on your response. You had to practice what Epictetus called ‘the art of acquiescence’—ditching all those plans, accepting all the costs, the hits to your portfolio, the lost time, the inescapable human frailty and mortality we all wish to deny.

And within this, you also had to do and be good, for yourself, for your family, for your community, because your individual decisions had clear and unavoidable consequences for other people.

It was a moment made for Stoicism, a moment when stillness was the key, as it is for all crises. And right now, the ebook for Stillness is the Key is on sale for $1.99! Grab it today, for you or someone else, if you haven’t already.

The good news is you survived the moment, obviously, or you wouldn’t be reading this, but now the world has ‘gone back to normal,’ whatever that means. Things are busy and noisy again. Life is moving fast again. How much of that stillness, how much of that Stoicism, has drifted away as well? That’s the real question.

Because Stoicism is not just for the crises, but also for the every day life. It’s for right now, too. It’s today that you need to be focused on what’s in your control, it’s today that you need to practice acceptance, practice memento mori. It’s today that you need to think about your community. It’s today that you need to find the stillness even as the world is spinning faster than ever.

Good luck!

Grab a Stillness Key for 50% off by using code STILLNESSISTHEKEY at check out.

*A note on the audio for this episode: an issue with Chad's live mic resulted in the discrepancy in audio quality that you hear. We apologize for the inconvenience.

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