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5 min readYou Must Read To Lead | 10 Stoic Strategies To Deal With Anxiety
Ryan Holiday opens this episode of The Daily Stoic with a confession: during the pandemic, when all the specific things he used to get anxious about—flights, meetings, public speaking—disappeared, he realized he was still anxious. The anxiety was in him. And that realization, he argues, is the starting point for actually dealing with it. The Stoics, despite their reputation for invulnerability, struggled with anxiety too. Marcus Aurelius wrote so many reminders to himself about managing it precisely because he needed them. Holiday walks through ten strategies drawn from Stoic philosophy that he uses in his own life, strategies that treat anxiety not as something to suppress but as something to process, examine, and ultimately diminish.
The Present Moment as the Only Arena
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Reading as a Leadership Practice** - Ryan Holiday introduces the episode's theme: the connection between deep reading and effective leadership, using examples from Stoic figures.
- 2 (03:33) **Ad Break** - Ironwall executive security service and Whatnot live shopping app.
- 3 (06:01) **Introduction to Stoic Strategies for Anxiety** - Holiday shifts to the main topic, sharing his personal struggle with anxiety and framing the Stoics as people who also grappled with it.
- 4 (07:31) **Strategy 1: Focus on the Immediate Task** - The first strategy is to break down overwhelming goals into small, present-moment actions.
- 5 (08:22) **Strategy 2: Practice Present-Moment Gratitude** - The second strategy involves appreciating the gift of being alive right now, even in difficult times.
- 6 (09:14) **Strategy 3: You Don't Have to Have an Opinion** - A key Stoic technique is to observe events without immediately judging them as good or bad.
- 7 (09:49) **Strategy 4: Stop Caring What Others Think** - The path to tranquility, according to Marcus Aurelius, is to stop caring about the opinions and actions of other people.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Not all the Stoics were leaders, but all of them were readers.
Turn the words into works 👉 Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge | Over five weeks, Ryan Holiday walks you through not only the system he's used for writing his bestselling books, but also the reading practice he uses in his life every day—to help him be a better professional, a better parent, and a better person: https://challenge.dailystoic.com/readtolead
🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here | https://www.dailystoiclive.com/
🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/
✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
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This experience may not be representative of other Wealthfront clients, and there is no guarantee of future performance or success. Experiences will vary. Ryan Holiday, who’s a client of Wealthfront, receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage for paid testimonials in his podcast, creating a conflict of interest. More details available via the referral link. The Direct Deposit Plus Investing Program from Wealthfront Advisers LLC and Wealthfront Brokerage LLC provides eligible clients a 0.25% APY increase above the base APY on eligible Cash Account balances (up to an overall boosted rate of 4.30% for a limited time when including the three month 0.75% APY
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