The Daily Stoic - This is Why You're Upset | Anyone Can Get Lucky, Not Everyone Can Persevere

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoic Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast. On Thursdays, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation, but also reading a passage from the book, The Daily Stoic, 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance in the Art of Living, which I wrote with my wonderful co-author and collaborator, Stephen Hanselman. And so today we'll give you a quick meditation from one of the Stoics, from Epititus Markis, really a Seneca, then some analysis for me, and then we send you out into the world to do your best to turn these words into works. Hi, I'm David Brown,

Starting point is 00:00:49 the host of Wendery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target, the new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon music or wherever you get your podcasts. This is why you're upset. Like a lot of us, you wake up each day, a little frustrated and dismayed,

Starting point is 00:01:12 or sometimes really frustrated and dismayed. Did someone really tweet that? Why can't these people get their act together? What's happening to this country? Why are my kids acting like that? What the hell is wrong with my neighbor? Things may be baffling, and there may be real consequences this country. Why are my kids acting like that? What the hell is wrong with my neighbor? Things may be baffling and there may be real consequences to what's happening in the world

Starting point is 00:01:29 right now, but it shouldn't surprise you that you're upset. Your attitude is largely responsible. Or according to Marcus Aurelius, totally responsible. You take things you don't control and define them as good or bad, he said. And so of course when bad things happen or the good ones don't, you blame the gods and feel hatred for the people responsible or those you decide to make responsible. We have to remember what happens to us is objective. Most of it has nothing to do with us. Most of it is not anyone's fault and most of it does not actually even harm us. We just tell ourselves that it does. We desist on having an opinion. We insist on assigning blame.

Starting point is 00:02:11 No wonder we're angry. No wonder we're upset. We inserted ourselves into this, we're demanding things we don't control be a certain way and we are surprised when they aren't. This is madness. You have to remember what Marcus really has said, that we must limit a sign in good or bad or rather positive and negative to our own actions. Then we'll have no reason to curse anyone or anything, except of course, ourselves. Anyone can get lucky, not everyone can persevere.

Starting point is 00:02:44 Success comes to the lowly and to the poorly talented, but the special characteristic of a great person is to triumph over the disasters and panics of human life. That's Seneca on Providence, 4-1. And I'm reading to you today from the Daily Stoic, 366 Meditations on Wisdom Perseverance in the Art of Living by yours truly, my co-author and translator, Steve Enhancelman.

Starting point is 00:03:09 You can get signed copies, by the way, in the Daily Stoic store, over a million copies of the Daily Stoic in print now. It's been just such a lovely experience to watch it. It's been more than 250 weeks, consecutive weeks on the best cellist. Just an awesome experience. But I hope you check it out. We have a premium leather edition at store.dailystoke.com as well.

Starting point is 00:03:28 But let's get on with today's reading. Perhaps you know people who have been extraordinarily lucky in life. Maybe they hit the genetic lottery or have skated through classes or careers with ease. Despite never planning, making reckless decisions, jumping from one thing to the next, they've

Starting point is 00:03:45 somehow survived without a scratch. There's even a saying, God favors fools. It's natural to be a bit envious of these folks. We want the easy life too or so we think. But is the easy life really that admirable? Anyone can get lucky. There's no skill to being oblivious, and no one would consider that greatness. On the other hand, the person who perseveres through difficulties, who keeps going when

Starting point is 00:04:09 others quit, who makes it to their destination through hard work and honesty, that's admirable. Because the survival was the result of fortitude and resilience, not birthright or circumstance. A person who overcame not just the external obstacles to success, but has mastered themselves and their emotions along the way, that's impressive. The person who has been dealt a harder hand understood it and still triumph, that's greatness. I say a version of this in some of my talks to, especially over the last year, where I've been talking to people about the pandemic, I go, look, it's good that it's hard. Is it, is it true that, yes, some people, it hasn't been hard for them. Some people have been extraordinarily lucky, skated through life, as we said, never had to stoop for a thing, never had to ask, never had to work. Even when

Starting point is 00:05:01 they do all the right things, you know, they don't struggle, right? Sure. But it's good that it's hard because for the most part, it's the difficulty that weeds those people out. Over a long enough timeline, if you're not resilient, if you're not tough, if you don't actually have competence, it's going to catch up with you. So when things are hard, like in the middle of writing a book right now, it's kick my ass as they always do, I go, look, it's good that it's hard. If it was easy, be a lot more books out there.

Starting point is 00:05:29 And there's already a ton of books out there. So I go, it's good that it's hard. It keeps me honest for one. Keeps me on the straight and narrow. But also, it keeps out other people. Do I know authors who have phoned in books, hired crappy ghost writers or whatever just put up a book that was basically an article, expanded out into 300 pages and hit it huge? I know people have been

Starting point is 00:05:56 complete, jerks filing in every rule that everything wrong and dominated the bestseller list, yes. But one, I don't find that particularly impressive. And two, it's very difficult for those people to repeat that stroke of good fortune. So if they're in this for the long haul, which I am, which I hope you are in, whatever you are in for the long haul, it's better to be good than lucky. It's better that it's hard than easy.

Starting point is 00:06:22 It's better that you had to earn it. It not only was, you know, a builder of character, but it kept out the riff raff, made the thing honorable, made it impressive, and it showed you what it was worth and what you're capable of. That's what I think about. Maybe I'm fooling myself, but I don't want to see it any other way. And I don't think you do either. My newest book, Courage is Calling Fortune Favors the Brave is now available for preorder.

Starting point is 00:06:55 We've got a bunch of amazing bonuses. You can get signed copies, of course. I'm so proud of this book. General Jim Mattis is called it a superb handbook for crafting a purposeful life. Matthew McConaughey called it an urgent call to arms to each and all of us. I do hope you check it out. It's my first in the four virtue series Courage Temperance

Starting point is 00:07:12 Justice Wisdom. Courage is calling Fortune favors the brave. If you want to pre-order it, I'd really appreciate your support. Go to dailystowick.com slash pre-order. 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. underreplus in Apple podcasts.

The Daily Stoic - This is Why You're Upset | Anyone Can Get Lucky, Not Everyone Can Persevere

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