Ryan Holiday is a superstar. He barely turned 30 and already has a slew of best sellers and career successes, as well as failures, behind him.
Aside from being brilliant, he will probably attribute his extraordinary life, both personal and professional, to Stoicism. This age-old philosophy includes oft ignore wisdom that is unconventional, unintuitive and uncomfortable. And yet, it might be the most practical and helpful piece of philosophy in all of history. The figures who followed it — the ancient Stoics — might be the only “real philosophers” (Cicero). They didn’t philosophize unduly, they lived their words and made their lives meaningful.
In The Daily Stoic, Holiday brings the teachings of the Stoics to our modern and daily lives. It’s the bridge we desperately need between this forgotten way of life and modernity.
I start every day with reading a few chapters (byte-size quotes and interpretations). Mornings are my most gloomy and grey part of the day, and tuning into Stoicism, through Holiday’s lens, lift me to glee and glory of mind.
It truly saves each day, injecting it with clarity and purpose.
If you want to put this incredibly valuable book into action, as is our mission at Stepp, you would do well to follow The Daily Stoic Journal, which does exactly that. It’s a fantastic and actionable guide to becoming stoic, and such guides are what we are all about. We hope to Steppify it soon, so watch this space for updates.
If, after these two books, you are thirsty for more, check out the Daily Stoic blog.
Note: This might be the first of a series of book recommendations, from our library of essential reading, all about change, goals and living better.
