All Success Comes From This | 9 Stoic Tips For Beating Resistance (With Steven Pressfield)

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1:58Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you in your everyday life. On Tuesdays, we take a closer look at these Stoic ideas, how we can apply them in our actual lives. Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy.

2:25All success comes from this. It's a pretty simple philosophy. Some Stoics tried to make it more complicated. They chopped logic. They got distracted by big ephemeral questions, but not Epictetus. He came to Stoicism from slavery. He didn't have years of expensive tutors. Philosophy was not something he discussed over long, fancy dinners at his estate. No, to him, philosophy was something one needed in the dirty day-to-day reality that was Rome. He left the academic debates to those who had the luxury of indulging such things. As Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who led one of the first black regiments in the American Civil War, would write in his translation of his 1865 edition of Epictetus, which is good, I prefer the Penguin edition or the Waterfield translation, but he said that Epictetus limited himself strictly to giving a code of practical ethics.

3:16His essential principles are very simple. All things he holds receive their character from our judgment concerning them. all events, all objects, are merely semblances or phenomena to be interpreted according to the laws which nature gives us. An obvious classification at once occurs. All things are either controllable by will or uncontrollable. If controllable, we may properly exert towards them our desire or our aversion, though always guardedly and moderately. If uncontrollable, they are nothing to us, and we are merely to acquiesce, not with resignation alone, but joyously, knowing that an all-wise father rules the whole.

3:54All success comes, according to Epictetus, from obedience to this rule. All failure proceeds from putting a false estimate on the phenomena of existence, from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power. Two rules should always be at the ready, Epictetus said. There is nothing good or evil save in the will, and that we are not to lead events, but to follow them. This is the stoicism that we should follow today. Stoic physics? Who cares? But stoicism as practical ethics, that we can use. Stoicism that helps us understand what's outside our control, how to direct our power towards what's in our control, that is a timeless battle that pertains as much to a slave in Rome as it does to a salesman in Ohio or a soccer mom in Los Angeles.

4:40Success in all things, in whatever we do, still comes from that same acquiescence, from the joyous acceptance of what is in front of us, even suffering and difficulty. And look, if you want to learn more about Epictetus and how he actually applied this Stoic philosophy, I think we have this awesome course. This is the Stoicism 101 course, Ancient Philosophy for Your Actual Life. It's a 14-day guided journey through the best of Stoicism. There's a bunch of Q &As with me where I answer all your Stoic questions. I point you which texts to read, what you need to know before you read them, what the big important lessons are.

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5:39You can't wish yourself there. You can't use the law of attraction. There's only one way, and that's the work. That's what discipline is all about. So the thing that every writer, every creative, I think every person trying to do something hard is up against is themselves, right? There's the part of you that doesn't want to do it because you have to get vulnerable, because it's hard work, because it requires focus, because you have imposter syndrome, right? You have all the things. Steven Pressfield calls them the resistance. I read this book 15 plus years ago. I read it before I start any creative project, but it's about winning the inner battle against the self, which is a timeless, timeless thing.

6:29We are all up against this resistance, capital R, resistance. In meditations, Mark Schreler says, you could be good today, instead you choose tomorrow. That's something Pressfield talks about. You know, he says, I'm never going to write the symphony. You say, I'm going to do it tomorrow, right? So procrastination is a part of that. Imposter syndrome is a part of that. Not giving our best is a part. There's a whole bunch of things that go into this resistance. At the core of it is that we're stuck. We're not able to get over that hump to do and be what we're capable of being. I'm Ryan Holiday. I've written about stoic philosophy now for almost 15 years.

7:02Talked about it everywhere from the NBA to the NFL, special forces, sitting senators. And in today's episode, I want to talk about some stoic strategies for beating the resistance, breaking through, winning those inner creative battles, and not just being your best self, but doing the work that only you are capable of doing.

7:25Resistance is that force, like I always say, if I'm sitting at the keyboard trying to write, I feel a negative force radiating off that keyboard to try to stop me from doing my work, to try to stop me from moving to the next level. So resistance is the force that when you buy a treadmill and take it home and you never use it, that's resistance. Yeah, that's the voice of procrastination and rationalization. If we were to say to ourselves, I'm never going to write that book, I'm never going to shoot that, we'd feel terrible, right? But so we said, we say, well, I'm not going to write it today, but I'll write it tomorrow.

7:59Rationalization as a means of resistance, as a form of resistance.

8:06Just talking with Ryan while we're here, this new book is called Discipline is Destiny. So we were talking about what is discipline. I think a lot of times people think, oh, discipline just makes life hell on earth. Why can't we just relax or whatever? I'm definitely a believer in a higher level of reality, inspirational level of the noblest part of yourself, where the gods dwell, where the muses dwell. And we're down on this lower level. And we're trying to get to this top. Like if you're an artist, you're trying to produce a work that comes from that level. But in between these two levels is this terrible force, this negative force that I call resistance with a capital R that is trying to stop you from getting to that higher level.

8:46So where does discipline come in? It's what gets you through resistance. And there's no other way. You can't wish yourself there. You can't use the law of attraction. There's only one way, and that's the work. That's what discipline is all about. And any great culture in the world has valued that because they understood.

9:08I have found that starting a book or starting a project is scary and intimidating. Finishing or being finished with a project is a bit bittersweet or empty or even disorienting. Being in the depths of the project, like where you're not sure it's coming together, that's hard. But there is this middle period where you're well past having started. You have no idea where you're going to finish, but you're just lost in the day-to-day-ness of it. And you're operating under the momentum of every day stacking on top of itself. That's the most wonderful feeling in the whole world. Like being in the middle of a book or in the middle of doing something exciting.

9:53You know, when the people who start Google think of the early days, It's probably not literally the first day and it's not a year ago. It's like a couple years in where you're starting to sense that this could be something and you're just lost in it. And, you know, the success hasn't come yet. The problems that come with success, you haven't even gotten any outside feedback at all. You're just lost. That's the most wonderful feeling in the world. if it's very fleeting, but that I think that's what sustains you. And there is something maybe holy about it. I definitely think there is. It's also very scary, you know, for me, one day to the next, you know, I really feel like I've got something going.

10:38Maybe I've hit that point. And each day we're talking about resistance. Each day is like, you know, well, maybe I should take off today because we've got, you know, and then having to force yourself to get over that hump and then doing it, you know, and having that momentum, you're right. And the great part about that is that nobody knows about it but you, right? Yes. It's like you're in space. You're on one, in a capsule all by yourself. And you're just thinking, it's just as good as I hope it's going to be. And, you know, that's, that is a great feeling. Or you're not even, you're not even thinking about what anyone else would think at all.

11:14The ideal state is, it's really lighting you up. you're really excited to get this thing down, to express this, to make this happen. And you're not close enough to the end to be going, are people going to like it? How's it going to do? How many copies is it going to sell? And that's the work without attachment phase. And that's probably the purest expression of any of it. And the longer you can be in that, you know, the better. And you should protect it. and appreciate it while you're in it. Yeah. The thing about resistance is it's always there. Even if you love what you do, even if it's a practice you've been doing every day for years, there's work involved, there's willpower required for me to put on my shoes, lace them up, and go.

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12:40It's lightweight and responsive. It's got the Hoka cushion that if you've ever put Hoka shoes on, you know what I'm talking about. And the ones I'm wearing right now have this upgraded midsole from ProFly+. Join Hoka on the journey. Embrace limitless possibilities. Run like race day every day. I have a couple other very important resistance things here on the wall. So one, this is actually a copy. This is the early manuscript draft of Gates of Fire, Pressfield's amazing book about the Spartans, which has all sorts of Stoke themes in it. He sent this to me. this is the signed last page of the manuscript which if you read the book is this heartbreaking super beautiful ending and this is that last page and he signed it so I have that but then I have this thing which is one of my favorite quotes from Hemingway that we sort of messed around with I think we even have a shirt for it in the painted porch but Hemingway's favorite famous line is the first draft of anything is shit which itself is a perfect line but almost certainly the premise of the print is that you get there iteratively.

13:42You don't just even write that awesome sentence, perfect, the first time. And so one of the ways the resistance gets us is this perfectionism, right? To me, what I take from this, I see this, is that even Gates of Fire, the seemingly perfect book, was a rough draft. It was a typewritten manuscript at some point. My books start as note cards. They start as ideas. I'm working on my next book right now, and I'm trying to remind myself, I can't compare where I am in this manuscript, the earliest phases with where it's going to end up. In fact, there's a great writing rule about a couple crappy pages a day, which is a great way to beat the resistance.

14:17You lower the expectations, you lower the standards, so you're just doing the thing. You don't get paralyzed by perfectionism. You don't think too far ahead of yourself. You're not comparing yourself against other finished products. You're just saying, am I doing what I can do right now? Am I making progress? Am I taking positive steps towards where I want to ultimately end up as opposed to am I there right now? So the resistance gets in our heads and goes, oh, this is shit because it's not perfect, right? And in fact, great pros are comfortable doing shit. They're comfortable with it being okay.

14:52They're comfortable just doing the workout, following the rules, starting the process because they know eventually it ends up there. I remember when I was at American Apparel, the founder of American Apparel said to me one time, every run rate starts at zero because I was looking at a store that wasn't doing well. But he'd seen it enough times, he could extrapolate out where it would end up. And the resistance tries to get in the way of that. It prevents you from doing that. It makes you get in your own head and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't do it because you think it's not gonna make a difference.

15:24But the little things, they do make a difference. Zeno said, you know, well-being is realized by small steps, but it's no small thing. That's what the resistance prevents you from doing. And so what the Stoics want you to do to beat the resistance is just do that small thing, do the next right thing, do the little thing, get the sentence down, edit it later, and you'll be happy with where you end up. Another thing I've been thinking about lately is the difference between hour one and hour three, when you're working on something. because lately I haven't been able to do like a four-hour day or something like that.

15:59And when you get into that fourth hour, when you really are getting deep into something, you've been into it so far in your head, stuff appears in the fourth hour that doesn't appear in hour one. I haven't been in that fourth hour in a while. So I'll do like two or three hours. Like that's like a good day for me in the morning. I'll do that. And then it'll be like I'll be on a bike ride or a run in the afternoon, like several hours later. Something will click. I'll write it down on a note card or whatever. And that will be the thing that goes in there. and I just think about how much of my books are those sentences.

16:29Like, ah, this is the perfect way to tie these two things together. If I don't do the surface level three hours in the morning, I'm not setting myself up for the eureka moment in the bath later. And really, it's the eureka moment in the bath that's everything, but you can't have one without the other. there is a section in Pressfield's book the daily press bill that I really like he actually dedicated this book to me which is pretty awesome and he has a he has a whole section of the book called you can't be a pro if you can't say no like it's only an hour and ask too far I don't take a piss without getting paid no more Mr.

17:09Nice Guy clueless asks he says I turn down all clueless asks how do I define that term anyone who sends me their manuscript unsolicited it. Anyone who asks me to meet them for lunch. Anyone who sends me an email headed hi or hello there. Anyone who asks me how to get an agent. Anyone who asks me to introduce them to my agent. These are not malicious asks. The writers who send them are not bad people. They're just clueless. He says, don't ask a writer how to get an agent. Find out yourself. Do your due diligence. Learn good manners. The point is, part of being a pro is figuring stuff out for yourself.

17:40It's not imposing on others. And conversely, being a pro, staying a pro is having good boundaries. Pressfield's point is that the resistance is happy to indulge all the things that could distract you. The resistance wants to say yes to everything. It wants to be a people pleaser because then it means it doesn't have to do the hard thing, right? My main thing, which is sitting here doing my work, writing the daily stoic emails, taking care of my family. The resistance wants to suck you away from your main thing and it does it by getting you sucked into doing a bunch of things that are not your main thing.

18:17I'm actually reading a book right now called Essentialism. Greg McKeown, he says, when we say yes to all opportunities and things that are put before us, we're saying no to the essential stuff that we were put here to do. I'm really struggling with this myself right now. We're here for one reason only, you know? Each one of us has a calling and once we find that calling, which for me took like 35 years, it really is important to focus on that work and do that work first and not let other things pull you away from that. I'm worth struggling with this myself, the essentials.

18:54I'm going through my note cards. That's how I write my books. And it's not going well. I'm sort of despairing on the whole process. And I find a note card that I wrote to myself that just said, trust the process, keep doing your cards. If you don't quit, eventually the book will emerge, which is what happened. I showed up every day. I went through the cards. It was really, really hot in Texas, and the air conditioning is not good in a 140-year-old building, I can tell you. Step by step by step, eventually discovered the book. This is what the process does. If you don't quit, if you stay at it, eventually the thing emerges.

19:24We build up our life. We build up our business. We build up relationships, action by action. No one can stop you from doing that immediate thing in front of you. And if you just focus on that, eventually you start to make progress. As we think about fear, we want to think about it as something that holds us back from being what we're capable of being, doing what we are capable of doing, and seizing the opportunities that are there for us to seize. And what makes Marcus great is his willingness to push past that fear, to not be ruled by that fear. And so it will go for us, is fear going to be something that holds you back?

20:01Is fear going to be something that allows you to see the path that you need to go to move forward. It's the biggest lie in the world. You may have said it to yourself today. You may have heard it today. And it's this. I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it when I wake up. I'll do it after I finish this. I'll do it when I retire. I'll do it when things are easier. I'll do it when things go back to normal. Seneca said the one thing all fools have in common is that they're always delaying to start. They're always getting ready to start. Marcus Reo says, you could be good today. Instead, you choose tomorrow.

20:35We choose tomorrow because we know it's not a real choice. We're not actually going to do it. It's just kicking the can down the road. It's a lie we tell ourselves. It's the biggest lie in the world. We don't say we're never going to do it. We say we're going to do it later, but we're not. I hope you like this video. I hope you subscribe. But what I really want you to subscribe to is our daily stoic email. One bit of stoic wisdom, totally for free to the largest community of Stoics ever in existence. You can sign up at dailystoic.com slash email. There's no spam. You can unsubscribe at any time.

21:07I love sending it. I've sent it every day for the last six years and hope to see you there at dailystoic.com slash email.