Ordinary Faces

As a new week dawns, we present the following from the team at the Daily Stoic and the Chicken Soul For the Soul:

PASSAGE OF THE WEEK:

“Give yourself a gift,” Marcus Aurelius wrote, “the present moment.”

Yet too many of us reject that gift. We continue to think of long ago. We dream of or fear a distant future. We are distracted or preoccupied and miss what is happening around us. It’s the quiet evenings at home with family that we should be present for. It’s the ordinary present that we should cherish.

— Give Yourself This Gift (Listen)

YOUTUBE TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

In one of the most watched videos on the Daily Stoic YouTube Channel this week, Ryan Holiday talked to top performing athletes and coaches about the keys to their success. The NFL Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez, for instance, said

“In the greats, you see a certain level of calmness…To me, being present is being extremely calm. When you stay calm and you have a nice routine, you don’t have to go find success. Success will come find you. It will land right on top of you. In acting, they call it ‘trying to catch a feather.’ If you go chase, it’ll fly away from you. But if you just sit there still, it’ll come to you.”

Watch the full video: 9 Stoic Tips From Top Performing Athletes and Coaches

PODCAST TAKEAWAY OF THE WEEK:

On a recent episode of the Daily Stoic podcast, Ryan talks to economist and author Tyler Cowen about his new book Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners Around the World, quake books, how to identify and cultivate talent, and why Tyler prioritizes character traits of skills in the hiring process:

“I’m an extreme optimist when it comes to people’s abilities to improve. I’m an extreme pessimist when it comes to their ability to be something they’re not.”

Listen to the full episode: Tyler Cowen on Identifying Talent and Self-Improvement

WHAT RYAN HOLIDAY IS READING:

Elizabeth II addressed the Joint Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall…Her words were personal, and they reflected the essential message of her jubilee year. “Change has become a constant,” she said. “Managing it has become an expanding discipline. The way we embrace it defines our future.” She emphasized the importance of Britain’s enduring values of moderation and pragmatism, inventiveness and creativity, and fairness and tolerance, as well as its tradition of service.

— Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith

Like so many people around the world, we were sad to hear of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday.

The Sally Bedell Smith biography is one of the many books Ryan read to write part 2—The Inner Domain (The Temperament)—of Discipline is Destiny. You can watch Ryan almost exactly a year ago making his notecards from the thousands of pages he read on the Queen. In Discipline is Destiny, Ryan details how the Queen perfectly illustrates the path of temperance. Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II.

YOUR STOIC WEEKEND REMINDER:

The best revenge is to not be like that.

If someone treats you rudely and you respond with rudeness, you have not done anything but prove to them that they were justified in their actions. If you meet other people’s dishonesty with dishonesty of your own, guess what? You’re proving them right—now everyone is a liar.

Instead, seek to better than the things that disappoint or hurt us. As Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.”

(For more on this idea, watch this video!)

THIS WEEK'S BEST SOCIAL MEDIA POST: