The Daily Stoic - Now’s the Time to Sharpen Your Sword

Episode Date: July 24, 2020

"It’s when you actually need something that it’s too late to get it ready. It’s in times of peace that nations must sharpen their swords. It’s in times of prosperity that people must save money. It’s in times of leisure that we have to be learning. It’s before the onslaught that we need to be shoring up our defenses."And it is precisely during this time, as bad as it is, that we should be preparing for worse things to come, as Ryan explains in today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowach.com. Now's the time to sharpen your sword. It's when you actually need something that it's too late to get it ready. It's in times of peace that that it's too late to get it ready.

It's in times of peace that nations are sharp in their swords. It's in times of prosperity that people must save money. It's in times of leisure that we have to be learning. It's before the onslaught that we need to be sure enough our defenses. We've talked about this before, but there's a great exchange in the book Chicago by David Mammott. The characters having found themselves on the wrong side of a mob war are arming themselves and discussing where to hide a pistol for protection. Then one reminds the other that the one phrase you never want to use when trouble arises

is wait here while I fetch it. It should be obvious to you by now that the next few months and years will be rough. We don't know exactly how rough but considerably rougher than they were last year and quite possibly rougher than they have been already. That's not going to be yours to control or to prevent. What is up to you putting aside any failures

or mistakes we may have made in the past is how ready you will be. failures or mistakes we may have made in the past is how ready you will be. Are you going to have a sharp sword or are you going to have to run and fetch something? Are you going to be tucked inside a strong inter-citadel or are you going to be looking envyously at other people who used their time wisely who prepared for the possibility of winter? Marcus Aurelius said that philosophy made us like a boxer where we don't even need to stoop to pick up a weapon where all we have to do is clinch our fists.

Epic teetuses in Caribbean translates similarly at hand, it's always ready to go, which is how you have to be, how you'll want to be for whatever the future holds. And right now, in the present, now is the time to get ready to use this moment to prepare, to sharpen, to build, to reinforce, to learn. And if you're behind, better late than never. They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. Well, the second best time is today. So get to it. Thanks for listening to the Daily Stoic podcast.

If you could leave us a review in iTunes, it helps a great deal. And of course, if you know anyone who had benefit from these messages, please spread the word. Thanks. Hey, Prime Members. You can listen to the Daily Stoic early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Hey there listeners! While we take a little break here, I want to tell you about another podcast that I think

you'll like. It's called How I Built This, where host Guy Razz talks to founders behind some of the world's biggest and most innovative companies, to learn how they built them from the ground up. Guy has sat down with hundreds of founders behind well-known companies like Headspace, Manduke Yoga Mats, Soul Cycle, and Kodopaxi, as well as entrepreneurs working to solve some of the biggest problems of our time, like developing technology that pulls energy from the ground to heat in cool homes,

or even figuring out how to make drinking water from air and sunlight. Together, they discussed their entire journey from day one, and all the skills they had to learn along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So, if you want to get inspired and learn how to think along the way, like confronting big challenges, and how to lead through uncertainty. So if you want to get inspired and learn how to think like an entrepreneur, check out how I built this, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon or Wonder yet.