The Decades Disappear Like Sinking Ships | Impulse Control

0:00Ryan Holiday: Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom, into the real world.

0:14Ryan Holiday: The decades disappear like sinking ships. You swear you were just in your 20s, and now here you are looking at an invite to your 20-year reunion. You remember those early months of the pandemic like it was yesterday. Except it wasn't just yesterday. It was six years ago. The 2020s are more than halfway done. The century is more than 25 % of the way done. Your babies aren't babies anymore. You are not young. Albums and movies you remember coming out are now celebrating anniversaries. Athletes you remember being drafted are retiring after long careers. The Roman poet Virgil said, Tempus fugit, time flies.

1:02Ryan Holiday: Whole blocks of your life go by like that, and you barely notice as it's happening. Presidential administrations, winter Olympics to summer Olympics, births, graduations, weddings, funerals. This is happening, and it's happening in one direction. You have to pay attention. Seneca reminds us that time will cause no commotion to remind you of its swiftness, but will glide on quietly. It will not lengthen itself for a king's command or a people's favor. Don't waste it. Don't miss it. Don't miss your opportunity to make the most of the moments that turn into months, that turn into years, that turn into decades, and disappear as soon as they pass.

1:56Ryan Holiday: It all comes down to hiring. You got to find the right people for your team and you got to bring them on board and you got to onboard them quickly. You know, just throwing up a job posting and hoping you get lucky. I've just found, well, you don't get lucky enough. If you want to find quality hires, well, you should check out Indeed right now. People are finding quality hires on Indeed right now. In just the 30 or so seconds we've already been talking, people have made dozens of hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide. Their sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than a non-sponsored job.

2:36Ryan Holiday: So join more than 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less time, less stress, more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed-sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash stoic. That's Indeed.com slash stoic right now. And support the show by saying you heard about it on this podcast, Indeed.com slash stoic.

3:11Ryan Holiday: Terms and conditions apply. If you're selling online or out of a storefront, it's a full-time gig for you or a side hustle. You know the challenge. It's not easy. It's a lot of work. You're hoping that people find your listing. You're waiting for them to walk in. Well, WhatNot flips that. On WhatNot, you go live and sell directly to people in real time. They see what you got, they ask questions, and they buy. And they keep coming back. WhatNot is the largest dedicated live shopping platform. Beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury, fashion, even cookies. Sellers can build real, thriving businesses.

3:49Ryan Holiday: Whatnot buyers spend more than an hour a day in the app, and they're not just browsing. They're bidding. They're buying. They're coming back. And you can go live and show off your products to those people and turn what you love into real income. People selling on Whatnot sell 10 times more than other major marketplaces because you're not just listing products. You're building real connections with your buyers. And for a limited time, Whatnot will match your first$150 in the first month. Visit whatnot.com slash sell to start selling. W-H-A-T-N-O-T dot com slash sell. whatnot.com slash sell.

4:23Ryan Holiday: If something is making you upset, write it down and look at it. What happened? Who caused it? Now think about your reaction. What did you say? What did you feel? Did this make it better or worse? Marcus Aurelius's emperor clearly had many people and causes to be upset. He also had real power and authority. Even so, we find that he would tell himself, you have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength. So too with what has happened to you. You did not control what happened, but you do control which impulses you will follow in the wake of it. And this is this week's meditation in the Daily Stoic Journal titled Impulse Control.

5:09Ryan Holiday: I do hope you check out the journal. It's a little journal I do every morning. We have three quotes here that go along with it. Epictetus says we must discover the missing art of ascent and pay special attention to the sphere of our impulses, that they are subject to reservations to the common good, and that they are in proportion to actual worth. It's Marcus Aurelius' Meditations 1137. I just love that you have Marcus Aurelius quoting Epictetus. You say good fortune used to meet you at every corner, but the fortunate person is the one who gives themselves a good fortune, and good fortunes are a well-tuned soul, good impulses and good actions.

5:48Ryan Holiday: That's Marcus Aurelius' Meditations 536. Frame your thoughts like this. You're an old person. You won't let yourself be enslaved by this any longer, no longer pulled like a puppet by every impulse, and you'll stop complaining about your present fortune or dreading the future. To me, journaling is just such a great way to do this exercise of impulse control. I usually do it in the morning, but you could do journaling at any time. But I think, what are you upset about? Why are you angry? What are you holding on to? What's that thing inside you that you really want to say to that person? Say it on the page first.

6:30Ryan Holiday: Anne Frank talks about how paper is more patient than people. Sometimes I find that the thing that I was writing down, I hadn't quite worked it out yet. And if I had said it the way I was thinking on the paper, it would not go well. Or I find that having said it once, I'm done. I don't need to mention this to anyone. It's probably better that I keep it to myself. So to me, journaling is really a way to work out some of those urges. Just because you think something doesn't mean you need to say it. You need to develop this emotional impulse control. But that doesn't mean you just stuff it down and you don't deal with it.

7:07Ryan Holiday: You got to deal with it on the pages in the journal. That's the idea. You let it out. it's a place to do some spiritual combat, but it's also a place for your ideas, your competing impulses, your competing opinions to battle themselves out, to fight for that limited space. So spend some time with your generalized therapy. That's what it's there for. And if you're not taking advantage of it, chances are you are just taking those feelings out on other people or you're taking them out on yourself. And that's not a good way to go through life. So use the journal as an instrument of impulse control.

7:45Ryan Holiday: It's gotten me out of trouble time and time again. I can think of a moment when one of my books was coming out and I got sort of royally screwed over by a journalist. I wouldn't even say screwed over anymore. Let's just say someone did something to me that was quite unethical and quite petty and annoying. And actually the prompts in the Daily Stoic Journal, it caught me. It was like three prompts in a row. I didn't rush into saying something I was going to wait a few days. And at the end of the three days, at the end of the journaling, kept it to myself. And even now, I don't need to tell you the specifics.

8:16Ryan Holiday: I've moved on and it saved me some headache, probably saved me creating an enemy for no reason. And then I can move on. And I hope you can do the same.

8:29Ryan Holiday: Hey, it's Ryan. Thank you for listening to the Daily Stoic podcast. I just wanted to say, We so appreciate it. We love serving you. It's amazing to us that over 30 million people have downloaded these episodes in the couple years we've been doing it. It's an honor. Please spread the word, tell people about it. And this isn't to sell anything. I just wanted to say thank you.

9:07Save big money on all of your outdoor projects at Menards. Create stunning patios and walkways with our huge in-stock selection of durable concrete blocks. Ready to take home today. Plus, get free estimates fast with our easy-to-use design program in-store or on Menards.com. Save big money on our 16-inch brick base, cobblestone or legstone patio blocks. On sale now. Plus, check out our flyer on Menards.com for more great deals happening this week.

9:34Ryan Holiday: Save big money at Bernard's.