The Daily Stoic - Where Does It Get You? | Keeping "The News" In Check

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast, designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Where does it get you? People have been doing the same things for as long as there have been people. That's what you realize when you walk the streets of Pompeii, which we were just talking about. We have people buying fancy real estate to impress others. We have people chasing trends. We have people writing their names.

Starting point is 00:00:33 on walls. We have people waiting in line at street vendors. We have people trying to get out of the heat. You have people going to the gym. In short, you have all the things that Marcus Aurelius lists in his haunting passage about the things that happened in the age of Vespasian. He talks about how back then, just as now you had people doing the exact same things. Marrying, raising children, getting sick, dying, wage in war, throwing parties, doing business, farming, flattering, boasting, distrust, and plotting, hoping others will die. complaining, falling in love, putting away money, seeking high office and power. But the haunting part of that passage, which was an observation about the final third of the

Starting point is 00:01:14 first century a.D. is the last line. And that life they led is nowhere to be found, he writes. The age of Vespasian ended in June 79 AD. Four months later, so too did Pompeii, when it was buried after the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius. So you think about the people who accumulated those impressive states in that pretty little city. You think about the things people argued about or the parties they threw. You think of the offices they sacrificed for, the favors they did and hoped for, and in an instant they disappeared, as they easily can for us too, as they inevitably will for us too.

Starting point is 00:01:56 That's the final lesson for Marcus. survey the record of other eras, he says, and see how many others gave their all and soon died and decomposed into the elements that formed them. But most of all run through the list of those you knew yourself, those who worked in vain, who failed to do what they should have, what they should have remained fixed on, and found satisfaction in. Today's executives are more threatened, more exposed, and more vulnerable than ever before. Corporations spend billions on workplace security but what happens when a threat finds your executives outside the office? Here's why that matters.

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Starting point is 00:03:40 That's ironwall.com slash daily stoic. Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks, and there's a link in the show notes. Every time you look at your phone, there's another chaotic headline. You almost feel like you have to be glued to your screen to keep up. But saving for your future doesn't have to be this hard, because Wealthfront helps you tune out the noise and earn more with a high-yield cash account

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Starting point is 00:05:26 inundated with gossip and news. This week, you will face a barrage like they couldn't have imagined, from texts, calls, emails to the incessant grind of the 24-7 news machine. Instead of responding to every status update, every urgent call or the latest trending incendiary news story, take a moment to remember the three ways that the Stoics use to keep their focus on their purpose and duty in the present moment. Number one, step away from the noise. Two, remember that no news can throw you off the purpose of your present choices. Three, don't add something negative or positive to what's being reported.

Starting point is 00:06:02 This is from this week's entry in the Daily Stoke Journal, 366 days of writing and reflection on the art of living by yours truly and my colleague Stephen Hanselman, who I also wrote the Daily Stoke with. You can actually get signed copies of the Daily Stoke Journal in the Daily Stoke Store at store.dailystoke.com or we've got copies here at the painted porch, my bookstore in Bastrop, Texas. Always popular. People ask me to sign them all the time. Anyways, but here's two quotes from Marcus and one from Epictetus to get. guide you this week? Are you distracted by breaking news? Then take some leisure time to learn something good and stop bouncing around. But when you do keep in mind the other mistake, to be so distracted by

Starting point is 00:06:45 getting control that you wear yourself out and lose a purpose by which you can direct your thoughts and impulses. That's Meditations 27. Epicetus's Discourses 3.8 says whenever disturbing news is delivered to you, bear in mind that no news can be relevant to your reasoned choice. Can anyone break news? to you that your assumptions or desires are wrong, no way. But they can tell you someone died. But even so, what is that to you? And then Mark Surrealis' Meditations 849. He says, Don't tell yourself anything more than what the initial impressions report. It's been reported to you that someone is speaking badly about you. This is the report. The report wasn't that you've been harmed. I see that my son is sick, but not that his life is at risk. So always stay within your

Starting point is 00:07:28 first impressions and don't add them to your head. This way, nothing. nothing can happen to you. Look, I think the number one secret to a good, productive routine and personal happiness is to limit your news consumption. Obviously, I'm biased as an author, but read books, don't watch the news. Read thoughtful, perennial analysis. Don't follow speculative news reports. Limit your news consumption. Honestly, if you do feel like you need the distraction, you need like a palis cleanser, don't pull up CNN, pull up ESPN. like read about sports or something, right? Read celebrity gossip.

Starting point is 00:08:06 Don't read the latest divisive piece of news. I'm not saying that it's not important to be informed. Of course it's important to be informed. I would just argue that following the infinite news machine is how one becomes informed. Because the news story has never really changed anything. It's like, hey, this thing is real. Here's the scientific advice. Take it seriously.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Wait for it to be over. Right. The latest report is only adding to what we are. know for the most part. So step back. Don't consume so much news. A couple recommendations on this front. Obviously, one, my book, Trust Me, I'm lying, is about how the news manipulates you. But this great book by Daniel Borsden called The Image that I suggest people read is. There's also Neil Postman's amusing ourselves to death. These are two eye-opening books that will give you a sense of why you should consume as little news as possible, how manipulative it is and how harmful it is.

Starting point is 00:09:00 And then the other book, which inspired my book, trust me, I'm lying, if you read the jungle as a kid in high school or whatever, Epton Sinclair's expose of the meatpacking industry, then I strongly suggest you read his book, The Brass Check, which is actually an expose of the news industry around the same time. And sadly, almost nothing has changed. I'm not saying that reporters aren't good people. I'm not saying that they don't do an important public service. I'm not saying I read no news. I'm just saying, look, the most viral emotion is anger. Should it surprise us that the news perpetually makes us angry, right? Should it surprise us that news is always breaking but never fully arrives, that they're always

Starting point is 00:09:41 speculating? No, it's an enormous beast trying to capture as much attention as possible to then sell that attention to advertisers. You are the product that's being sold when you consume this free news. Got to understand that. I think it's interesting that even 2,000 years ago, the Stoaks were struggling with it. They'd be appalled at what our information diet is today. So step back, give yourself some space.

Starting point is 00:10:05 Don't follow breaking news. Don't let it change who you are. Don't let it rattle your equilibrium. Just keep doing you. Read books, study real wisdom and information. That will make you smarter and able to respond to what's happening in the world and make you a better, more informed citizen.

The Daily Stoic - Where Does It Get You? | Keeping "The News" In Check

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