You Can Handle More Than You Can Handle

0:00I'm recording this on a Monday, and Monday is our grocery store day in our family. I usually pick my kids up from school and we go over to Whole Foods, get all our groceries for the week. Although here very shortly, we're going to go over there to get our Thanksgiving turkey because they've got a bunch of great options. Turkeys start at$149 a pound if you have Prime with organic birds at$299 a pound. And they only carry no antibiotic ever turkeys that will bring quality to your table at a great price. Whole Foods has great everyday prices on all your Thanksgiving essentials, whether you celebrate with a massive family or just a few close friends.

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1:19Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2 ,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com.

1:46So why do they do it? Why do thousands of people all over the world sign up for the Daily Stoic New Year New You Challenge? Maybe it seems crazy to you. Maybe it doesn't make any sense. It's like, oh, I could do without it. I could do it by myself. Well, I thought maybe I'd just let you hear it in their own words. Here are some folks that signed up for the Daily Stoic New Year, New You Challenge over the years. I'm really loving the challenge and everyone I'm talking to about it's really kind of enjoying hearing about it. So I just want to say thank you for everything. This was a really cool way to start the year.

2:17Thank you. About three years ago, I discovered you. So I've been through Ego is the Enemy fairly recently. And of course, this year's challenge, I've been doing the challenge for three years. I'm kind of a real life embodiment of some of the stuff my wife passed from cancer. But just learn that it's day by day process, kind of cliche. I've been reading the Stoics and participating in your challenges the past few years. And look, I'll give you one testimonial on top of that. It's worked really well for me. I get something out of making the challenge, but I also do it alongside all of you. It's one of my favorite things.

2:51It kicks off the year right for me. So if you want to kick the year off right with a challenge, well, join us in the Daily Stoic New Year New You Challenge. You can sign up right now at dailystoic.com slash challenge. It's going to start on January 1st. Why don't you challenge yourself right now to stop procrastinating and do it, and I will see you in there.

3:13We just took our kids to an outdoor performance at The Nutcracker. They had a snow cone and then they went insane in the car ride home. And one of the things I try to remind myself when that's happening is that I don't control my kids' behavior, especially when they're too far gone like that, but I do control how I respond, right? That's stoicism, but it's also what Dr. Becky talks about. Dr. Becky is a clinical psychologist and a bestselling author, and she founded Good Inside, which is there to give parents practical, actionable tools for handling those everyday challenges with confidence. My wife introduced me to Dr.

3:50Becky's books. I love them. I've recommended them a million times. I've had her on the podcast. And as it happens, Dr. Becky is hosting two live Q &A events for good inside members. I am one of them. She signed me up for it about a year and a half ago. I've loved it ever since. On December 1st, you can join Dr. Becky for her How Not to Raise Assholes event, which is about avoiding entitlement and raising kind, Empathetic Kids. And on December 15th, she's hosting her How Not to Lose It over the holidays event, which I'm sure we could all use. As I said, I'm a big fan of Dr. Becky. She's been a great influence for me as a parent and just as a human being.

4:31And Daily Stoic listeners can join for 15 % off with code STOIC15. You just got to head over to goodinside.com to catch the events. you can handle more than you can handle it's too much not another thing not another problem not another person not another piece of bad news you just can't handle it we all feel that way but that doesn't mean it's true athletes learn that your body is a liar that when you feel like you're at capacity you're not even close to your physical limitations courtney dewalter talked about this in an amazing episode of the Daily Stoic podcast a while back. This is partly why Seneca talked about treating the body rigorously, so that we can learn to triumph over these limitations, that we get good at asserting who is actually in charge.

5:20I can handle way more than I can handle, Bon Iver sings, and it's true. We all can. You have so much more in you than it feels like you do. And how do you know this? Because the load you're handling today dwarfs the load you could have carried at other times in your life. The things you were handling calmly today would have freaked you out just a few years ago. You have so much more capacity. Your inner citadel is strong. You got this. And look, that's what I'm trying to say in discipline is destiny. We got to cultivate this destiny, this command of one's self. So when we have command of oneself, we can command ourselves in so many difficult and stressful, even scary situations.

6:01All the virtues are related. There's a big overlap in here with courage. Like, no, you can do it. Don't be so afraid. Courage is Calling, Discipline is Destiny are two great places to start if you want to explore this idea a little bit more.

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