The Daily Stoic - You’re Going To Wish You Did This

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

Do you write down the important things you read? Do you take the time to understand those “helpful pieces of teaching” and what they could mean for you?Turn the words into works 👉 Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge | Ryan Holiday walks you through not only the system he's used for writing his bestselling books, but also the reading practice he uses in his life every day—to help him be a better professional, a better parent, and a better person: https://challenge.dailystoic.com/readtolead📚 Get Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge & all other Daily Stoic courses for FREE when you join Daily Stoic Life | dailystoic.com/life🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a city near you! Grab tickets here |  https://www.dailystoiclive.com/🎙️ AD-FREE | Support the podcast and go deeper into Stoicism by subscribing to The Daily Stoic Premium - unlock ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content: https://dailystoic.supercast.com/✉️ FREE STOIC WISDOM | Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail--Stop online threats before they become real-world attacks. Visit ironwall.com/DAILYSTOIC and request a free Risk Assessment to see exactly how exposed your executives are.--Wealthfront’s high-yield cash account: https://www.wealthfront.com/stoicThis experience may not be representative of other Wealthfront clients, and there is no guarantee of future performance or success. Experiences will vary. Ryan Holiday, who’s a client of Wealthfront, receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Brokerage for paid testimonials in his podcast, creating a conflict of interest. More details available via the referral link. The Direct Deposit Plus Investing Program from Wealthfront Advisers LLC and Wealthfront Brokerage LLC provides eligible clients a 0.25% APY increase above the base APY on eligible Cash Account balances (up to an overall boosted rate of 4.30% for a limited time when including the three month 0.75% APY boost for new clients) when you direct deposit $1,000 a month, plus open, fund, and maintain an investing account. Wealthfront may change or end the program at any time and determine eligibility at its discretion. Terms apply. Full details at wealthfront.com/promo-terms.The Cash Account, which is not a deposit account, is offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC ("Wealthfront Brokerage"), Member FINRA/SIPC. Wealthfront Brokerage is not a bank. The Annual Percentage Yield ("APY") on cash deposits as of January 30, 2026, is representative, requires no minimum, and may change at any time. References to the APY for the Wealthfront Cash Account, including any APY increase, are to the APY paid by insured depository institutions that participate in our cash sweep program (the "Program Banks”). Wealthfront Brokerage does not pay interest. Wealthfront Brokerage sweeps cash balances to Program Banks, where they earn the variable APY.Instant and same-day withdrawals use the Real-Time Payments (RTP) network or FedNow service. Transfers may be limited by your receiving institution, daily caps, or participating entities. New Cash Account deposits have a 2–4 day hold before transfer. Wealthfront does not charge fees for these services, but receiving institutions may impose an RTP or FedNow Fee. Processing times may vary.. Fees & Eligibility requirements may apply to certain checking features.Investment advisory services are provided by Wealthfront Advisers LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Securities investments are not bank deposits, bank-guaranteed or FDIC-insured, and may lose value.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast, designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. When he was young, the future general James Mattis hitched hiked to San Francisco to meet Eric Hoffer, the philosopher most famous for his book, The True Believer. And there, talking with Hoffer, James Mattis was told, make sure you write down everything interesting that you find. and I have ever since, he said. It's wonderful advice.

We're lucky, for instance, that 2,000 years ago, a student named Arian decided to jot down the lectures of his teacher Epictetus. We're lucky that Marcus Aurelius wrote down his own thoughts because that's how meditations survives to us. We're lucky that Seneca chose to write those letters to Lucilius. Because without them, not only would we be without his wisdom, but we'd be without many of the quotes from the early Stoics that were preserved only because Seneca wrote them down.

General Mattis's followed Hoffer's advice his whole life. To bring his speechwriters up to speed, Mattis gave them access to a closet in his office. As one of his former speechwriters described, there Mattis kept many years' worth of meticulous notes in black notebooks from his time in uniform. Each page included a small printout of his daily schedule along with handwritten notes and lined up on the shelf above them

were three special journals in old, worn, worn, three-ring binders. These he referred to as his books of wisdom. This treasure trove held decades of personal thoughts, plus correspondence from his mother and friends and colleagues. Seneca described this exact process when he said that we should hunt out the helpful pieces of teachings and the spirited and noble-minded sayings which are capable of immediate practical application and learn them so well that the words become works. So if you want to become wiser, if you want to become better. You should do this too. When you hear good advice, when you read good advice, write it down, record it, capture it. By the way, this is a habit that I have been practicing for over two

decades now. My books are a result of it. My changes as a person are a result of it. And it's one of the core teachings that we are talking about in the Daily Stoic Read to Lead Challenge, which you can join us in right now. We're going to be doing a Q&A on September 22nd that I'd love to have you in. You can sign up right now at dailystoic.com slash read to lead. And remember, if you join Daily Stoic Life, you get this challenge and all our challenges for free. That's daily stoiclife.com.