Either Way, This Is Not The Answer | Ask DS

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2:30welcome to the daily stoic podcast where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you in your everyday life well on thursdays we not only read the daily meditation but we answer some questions from listeners and fellow stoics we're trying to apply this philosophy just as you are some of these come from my talks some of these come from zoom sessions that we do with daily Stoic Life members or as part of the challenges. Some of them are from interactions I have on the street when there happened to be someone there recording. But thank you for listening, and we hope this is of use to you.

3:16Either way, this is not the answer. All the bad things in the world are not created equal. For instance, stuff happens that was a mistake. Stuff happens that was an accidental byproduct. Stuff happens because people are ignorant of who and how it affected others. And then, of course, there's the stuff that happens that really doesn't do any damage at all, that we sweat or get upset about only because we're valuing the wrong things or focusing on what we don't control. Is there evil in the world? Sadly, yes, there is malevolent, terrible evil. But as Marcus Aurelius wrote, if the community isn't injured by it, neither am I.

3:51And if it is, anger is not the answer. His point was that a lot of the stuff we get mad about isn't worth getting mad about. Somebody cuts you off in traffic. Somebody says something insensitive to you. A storm floods the garden you worked hard on. What does anger do about any of this? Who does it punish but you? And then there is the stuff that does harm the community. A corrupt politician who tries to overthrow the rule of law. Discrimination, violence, pollution. This stuff happens and it's the definition of injustice. But again, anger is not the right response, not because these things aren't upsetting, but because they are bad remedies to the problem.

4:28When the community is at risk, when justice is at stake, we need our wits about us. It's here that we need to be most controlled, most in command of all our faculties. We can be angered at what is happening, but we cannot afford to respond in anger. We need to be rational and strategic and patient and courageous and creative, as well as forgiving and empathetic and nurturing in the way that so many of our recent emails have highlighted the brilliance of the civil rights activists. We need to bring our best to fight the worst. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another Thursday episode of the Daily Stoke Podcast.

5:04If you listen to my Sunday episode back in the fall, I had this crazy couple of days where I flew down to LA. I interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger. I drove up to Ojai, California. I had dinner with a former podcast guest and friend, the comedian Pete Holmes. Then I did a talk for this amazing group called Mastermind Talks. Jason Gaynard and his wife, Candice, I have known them since they started Mastermind Talks. I went before my book, Growth Hacker Marketing, came out for the first time. I went the second time when Obstacle is coming out. I've been many times over the years. He's been awesome to me.

5:39So I did a long Q &A there, which is what I'm going to bring you a chunk of today. Then I went back down, did an event with Robert Greene, flew home for the night, then flew to Seattle to do another event with Robert Greene. So I told that whole story about how you sort of stay stoic and calm amidst a crazy, overwhelming travel schedule. So that was me talking about it. If you want to hear me in the middle of that craziness, that's where I am in today's episode. I did about an hour, hour and a half Q &A with a bunch of these interesting entrepreneurs from all over the world. Some are authors, some are in e-commerce, some are influencers, some are fitness people, some run call centers.

6:22They're just all sorts of interesting entrepreneurs, really nice folks. and if you haven't been to Mastermind Talks, you should. I think they're taking a break this year, but I'm sure you can get on the wait list for next year if you're thinking about coming. Thanks to Jason for sending over the audio of this and thanks to everyone in the audience who asked some very interesting questions. I'll be bringing pieces of that over the next couple months, but I'll give you a chunk of some stoic-themed questions right now.

6:51You hear that? That's not just a Toyota truck. That's the sound of no crowds No alerts No distractions And no telling what you'll find next You know, like a detour So why would you ever take a tour When you could take a detour Toyota Trucks

7:25How long does it take you to write a chapter once you are writing this chapter today? It depends, right? Some chapters are short, some chapters are long, some chapters I've written about this thing a thousand times, and then some chapters are I'm breaking new ground. So I don't think there's a hard and fast rule, but sort of say as I did in the talk, sort of it takes what it takes. There's not a, this is how many words per day you should do. It's like, it takes until it's good enough. You know, it's as good as it can be, right? I mean, one rule is like, how much more could you cut? Right? And so I'm always thinking about that.

7:58And when I show it to people, I'm like, tell me what you think I should cut. And I'm trying to always get tighter with it. So a lot of the rewriting is, okay, I did this in three paragraphs, but if I only had two, what would that look like? And now what would it look like with one? Or, you know, if I had to make this whole book 10 % shorter, what would that look like? And just that forces you to, there's a Stephen King thing about killing your darlings. you kill the parts that you're the most indulgent about because that's where the fat tends to be. Thanks, Ryan. I love the talk today. Oh, thank you.

8:29It was so good. Thank you so much. And Christy just reminded me that our son is obsessed with you. So we may need a bit of a selfie before the day's over, if that's all right. My question has to do, you've obviously cornered the market on modern stoicism and you're very prolific. But my question is, as an artist, do you ever one day wake up and go, fuck, today? Like you probably have interests that are all over the map, I would expect. Do you ever wake up and go, fuck, I really want to write a book on, I don't know, Spain or whatever it might be. And if so, how do you put that aside while you're working and doing everything you do?

9:03Yeah. When I sort of set out to write about this stuff, there's the topic that I was interested in. But then there's also the way that I write about the topic, which is I take stories and I illustrate the ideas. so although I am writing about this overarching topic I get to bring in all the other things that I'm interested in so I read very widely and I bring them back to the thing that I talk about so there's not a ton that I feel like hey I have like lots of good material over here that I can't use but I have done other projects that are very different I mean this parenting one that was a big part of my life so I do daily dad every day which is advice but you know about a very specific part of my life.

9:41I have the podcast. I get to talk to people about different things. And then I've done a couple books in like sort of different genres. But I think when you find something that like really lights you up, chances are you don't have like 10 things that light you up to an equal degree. So when I was talking about you have to be able to say no, there's some things that I'm saying no to, but mostly I'm saying no to things. So I can say yes to this one thing that I'm the most excited about. Going back to tactics, when you were talking about content, I actually really love your videos because you're so yourself like this and this, and I love how passionate they are and how real they are.

10:19How do you shoot them? Do you use your iPhone? Do you use your computer? Like what are the tactics for them? How do you do lighting? Like who helps you? All those questions. So I have like a video team that does, you know, that does a bunch of stuff that I don't understand and know about. But a lot of what I shoot, I have a GoPro 9 over there, which shoots in 4K, which is pretty much as good as you can shoot stuff in. It has an external mic. There's a case of the mic. That does like most of it. And it literally has a button on the top and it turns it on and records at the same time. And so it has a screen in the front.

10:52I try to set up systems where there's going to be the least, the fewest points of failure. and it's going to set up the other people who are good at the parts that I'm not good at to do what they do. So I tend to shoot more than we can use. So I shoot a lot and then I go, your job is to send these out to get edited. And then like I, if we're using everything I'm shooting, then you're not being strict enough. And then also one of the things I found, and Gary Vaynerchuk told me this also, which is like when something works, just do it a lot of times. So like if, I think Gary said this once, he was like, I talk about seven things.

11:35I forget what the seven things are, but he's like, all my things are about these seven things. And so I tend to find stuff that works and then I find different ways of saying that or I'm trying to tighten it. So a lot of what I'm doing is sometimes the same thing, but when you get over the idea that you have this enormous wrapped audience that's consuming everything you do, you realize the vast majority of people have no idea who you are and have never seen anything you do. Even on YouTube. So Daily Stoic has, I don't know, like a million and a half YouTube subscribers, I'd say. The average Daily Stoic YouTube video from the last time someone walked me through the stats is seen by like 20 to 30%.

12:1420 to 30 % of the people that watch it are subscribers. So the vast majority of people that are watching it have just been recommended this thing or, you know, they saw. So realizing like, hey, most of the people are not, hey, I've already seen this before, but they're saying, what is this, you know? And so I just, I try to talk about things that get me excited and I try to find new ways to say it so it's not boring to me, but I'm not going like, I have to make, you know, 250 totally unique, brand new things. Like, what are the main themes? And when you find something that works, you know, how do you do it in lots of new ways?

12:52So even if it worked as a video, what's like a Twitter thread version that works? And what's an article version that works? And what's an Instagram carousel version that works? What's an email version of it that works? So I'm trying to take the stuff that's worked and then break it down and translate it into different ways. Just as in publishing, if you have a book that works in English, then they sell it to a Spanish publisher. And they sell it to a Chinese publisher. And you know you're in these different languages. But you had nothing to do with it.

13:25Thanks so much for listening. If you could rate this podcast and leave a review on iTunes, that would mean so much to us and it would really help the show. We appreciate it. And I'll see you next episode.

13:50my family owns a 2023 toyota forerunner and honestly it's my favorite vehicle that i've ever owned around town it's smooth and reliable but where it really shines is on our trips into the backcountry we've taken it on backpacking adventures to colorado new mexico loaded up with gear and never had to think twice about whether it could handle the terrain. That's what Toyota trucks are built for. Off-road confidence, rugged durability, and the freedom to explore. Toyota has a long history with the outdoor community and they're committed to helping more people get out there and experience what nature has to offer.

14:20From remote trails to scenic byways, Toyota Trucks empowers you to take the detour, roam freely, and discover places that still feel wild and untouched. And they're not just making great trucks, they're working to expand access to adventure so more people can connect with the outdoors and pass that passion on to the next generation. Discover your uncharted territory. Learn more at toyota.com slash trucks slash adventure dash detours. That's toyota.com slash trucks slash adventure dash detours. Look, ads are annoying. They are to be avoided if at all possible. I understand as a content creator why they need to exist.

14:57That's why I don't begrudge them when they appear on the shows that I listen to. But again, as a person who has to pay a podcast producer and has to pay for equipment and for the studio and the building that the studio is in, it's a lot to keep something like the Daily Stoic going. So if you want to support a show but not listen to ads, well, we have partnered with Supercast to bring you a ad-free version of Daily Stoic. We're calling it Daily Stoic Premium. And with Premium, you can listen to every episode of the Daily Stoic podcast completely ad-free, no interruptions, just the ideas, just the messages, just the conversations you came here for.

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