Turn Down These Voices Inside Your Head | Always Ask Yourself This Question

0:00It's time for Cyber Monday, Dell Technologies biggest sale of the year. That's right, you'll find the lowest prices of the year on select Dell PCs like the Dell 16 Plus with Intel Core Ultra processors. And with built-in advanced AI features, it's the PC that helps you do more faster. From smarter multitasking to extended battery life, these PCs get the busy work done so you can focus on what matters most to you. Plus, you can earn Dell rewards and join many other benefits like free shipping, expert support, price match guarantee, and flexible financing options. They also have the biggest deals on accessories that pair perfectly with your Dell PC, improving the way you work, play, and connect.

0:38Whether you just got started holiday shopping or you're finishing up, these PCs and accessories make perfect gifts for everyone on your list. Shop now at Dell.com slash deals and don't miss out on the best prices of the year. That's Dell.com slash deals.

0:54You know, you don't have to let big wireless and your overpriced phone bill suck the joy out of the holidays this year. because right now all of Mint Mobile's unlimited plans are 50 % off. You can get three, six, and 12 months of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month. It's their best deal of the year, and it makes it really easy for you to give your expensive wireless bill the Scrooge treatment. All Mint plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text at the nation's largest 5G network. Plus, you can bring your current phone and number over to Mint. Actually, we just signed up for a Mint Mobile plan to use the social media phone here at the office.

1:29And we didn't notice any kind of change in the quality of service or network or any of that. Just a whole bunch of savings. Turn your expensive wireless present into a huge wireless savings feature by switching to Mint. Shop Mint Unlimited plans at mintmobile.com slash six. That's mintmobile.com slash six. Limited time offer upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12 months. Plans required$12 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 35 gigabytes may slow when network is busy, capable device required, availability, speed, and coverage very easy at MintMobile.com.

2:02Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast. Each day we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, illustrated with stories from history, current events, and literature to help you be better at what you do. And at the beginning of the week, we try to do a deeper dive, setting a kind of Stoic intention for the week, something to meditate on, something to think on, something to leave you with to journal about whatever it is you happen to be doing. So let's get into it.

2:42Turn down these voices inside your head. It is not enough, of course, to simply tune out the noise around you. One can turn off social media. One can cultivate the quiet country life as the Stoics did on occasion. One can ignore what is inessential, pay no attention to what makes no difference. And there is still noise. Because the calls are coming from inside the house, so to speak. We have the voices of doubt and anxiety, of envy and ambition, of fear and frustration. We have that ceaseless running monologue that worries about this, resents that, wonders about this, obsesses over that. To get to ataraxia or a place of stillness and peace, the Stoics knew that controlling for externals was not enough.

3:25We had to develop an inner calm too, an ability to recognize our own destructive thought patterns and stop them. And this is what Marcus Aurelius was really doing in meditations. He was trying to turn down the voices inside his head, the ones that made him afraid, the ones that made him angry, the ones that annoyed him or indulged his anxieties. Just as you learn from actual meditation, the process of journaling is a way to discover that you do not have to identify with your own thoughts. You can simply observe them, let them float by without disturbing them. You can hear them without listening to them.

3:59The path to peace is not found through the escape to exotic locales or the elimination of external impositions. It's an inner journey. It's a battle against the voice in our heads, not the noise out in the world. Because of that, it is well within our control.

4:32Always ask yourself this question. Much of what we do and say during the course of a week is completely unnecessary. Meetings, material possessions, confrontations, pursuits, pointless distractions and problems. They take us away from tranquility and purpose. And a stoic cuts through these temptations and obligations by asking a simple question, a question that should lead you in your journaling and thinking this week. It is this, before speaking and acting or buying something, just ask, is this a necessary thing? today's quotes. We have one long quote from Marcus Aurelius and one short one from Seneca.

5:14Marcus Aurelius says, it is said that if you want to have peace of mind, busy yourself with little, but wouldn't a better saying be do what you must and as required of a rational being created for public life? For this brings not only the peace of mind of doing few things, but the greater peace of doing them well. Since the vast majority of our words and actions are unnecessary, corralling them will create an abundance of leisure and tranquility. As a result, we shouldn't forget at each moment to ask, is this one of the unnecessary things? But we must corral not only unnecessary actions, but unnecessary thoughts too, so needless acts don't tag along after them.

5:54That's our translation from the Daily Stoic and the Daily Stoic Journal. Let me give you let me give you Gregory Hayes, which I also really like. He says, if you seek tranquility, do less or more accurately do what is essential, what the logos of a social being requires and in the requisite way, which brings a double satisfaction to do less better. Because most of what we do and say, and it's not essential. If you can eliminate this, you'll have more time and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary? But we need to eliminate unnecessary assumptions as well to eliminate the unnecessary actions that follow.

6:36And then our second quote from Seneca is, I was shipwrecked before I even boarded. The journey showed me this, but how much of what we have is unnecessary and how easily we can decide to rid ourselves of these things whenever it's necessary and thus never suffering the loss. That's moral letters 87.1. So you really need to stop and ask yourself this question. Is what I'm doing necessary? Why am I doing? Is it just the way people have always done it? Again, most of what we do and say and think is not necessary. It's not even particularly effective or well thought out. And so to question this is really important.

7:14And it's not just like, oh, you're privileged. You don't, you don't, you have a choice. That's why you're not doing it. It's actually not about privilege at all. In fact, it's the privileged people who can afford to do more unnecessary things, more pointless things, right? It's actually at this point in my career, I had the luxury of, you know, taking a lot of time off to, let's say, do press for a book. It was actually earlier in my career that the costs of agreeing to this pointless stuff were much higher, but I wasn't aware of it. I wasn't fully understanding of the opportunity costs, how much this was taking me away from writing, how much this was taking me away from relationships, how much this was just taking me away from recovering and refreshing so I could go back to my work from a fresher point of view.

7:59And this is what I wanted to leave you with today. Take a minute, stop, ask yourself, is what I'm doing necessary? How much of what I'm doing is unnecessary? And how can I eliminate some of that stuff so I can do the essential things better, right? I'm doing less, but I'm doing all my stuff better now. And that's part of the new normal that I'm trying to protect. And I hope that's true for you as well.

8:42My family owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner, 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 and New Mexico, loaded it 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.

9:12From 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.

9:49That'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.

10:32And you can also get early access to episodes before they're available to the public. And we're going to have a bunch of exclusive bonus content and extended interviews in there just for Daily Stoic Premium members as well. If you want to remove distractions, go deeper into Stoicism and support the work we do here. Well, it takes less than a minute to sign up for Daily Stoic Premium, and we are offering a limited time discount of 20 % off your first year. Just go to dailystoic.com slash premium to sign up right now or click the link in the show descriptions to make those ads go away.