Most Replayed Moment: Make 2026 Your Best Year Yet! 5 Daily Practices For Health And Happiness

Transcript from https://podmenti.com/t/8e7624c0beb28ce0

Uh
So much.
You write so much.
You have the the wisdom of a of someone who is
Who has lived many, many lives.
That's what reading is, by the way.
You know what I mean? Reading is is maybe the only way.
That you can live multiple lives.
Like you think about
The milions of people.
We have
Done crazy things, groundbreaking things, terrible things.
And you think of all that wisdom, it's all there in books. And you know, it's ten dollars.
Seven times a dollar. Isn't it funny how similar the wisdom is there?
Yeah, I think the more you read the you you come up with
Some sort of
themes, it boils down eastern and western philosophy.
kind of like a horseshoe, you know, they come
come come together towards the the ends. But
What are those themes?
What are the themes of living a good life that I must know?
Whew. First would be let's say you you focus on what's
in your control.
Okay.
What does that mean in practicality in
in day to day life. So someone cuts me off in traffic. Yeah. Uh somebody you don't
Somebody doesn't like something that you did, uh
The weather.
How much of your energy are you spending
emoting about, complaining about, worrying about things.
That are not up to you.
And what do the is there any particular s examples from stoicism where
Well, epic fetus is like that's our first job in life, is separate things into two categories. Is this up to me or is this not up to me?
And it's a resource allocation issue.
Right? Like if you
Are focusing your energy.
Even half of it on stuff that's not up to you.
That's half your energy.
That's not being focused.
Um
The stuff you can
make a difference on. It's like that'd be like putting fifty percent
Oh
Uh
the power of your car on the wheels that aren't touching the ground.
You know?
Like you wanna put it where it's gonna get traction.
That's
The a key
thing in life.
Is this up to you or not?
Number two
Uh
There's something magical about water.
And there's something magical about long walks.
Interesting.
Find a lot of peace.
Find a lot of inspiration.
Find a lot of calmness and stillness.
Like
I'm not saying that taking a walk will solve all of your problems. I'm just saying that there's very few problems that are made worse by taking a walk.
Same goes for
Jumping in the swimming pool or the ocean.
What what is it about those two things that you believe
I mean look, I think we evolved traveling very long distances.
I mean some of the oldest evidence of human beings in America are a set of footprints.
Of a mother carrying and setting down, carrying and setting down a child.
twenty thousand years ago in
White sand what is now White Sands, New Mexico.
Like
That's just what we've been doing.
For as long as there are good people.
And there's something about the rhythm of it, the movement of it.
Yeah.
Slows us down, forces us to think, makes us very present.
It's just magic.
And I think

religious tradition or
Zen garden has a water fountain or something. You know, there's just something about sound of water.
It's so true. All of my
Best ideas either come
Usually in the gym or in the shower. Yeah.
I mean, I don't do a lot of walking.
You got it.
But in the gym in the shower.
I seem to get
m my my epiphany moments. Yes.
Taking a break from what you're doing to go do one of those things.
often unlocks.
A lot of stuff.
Okay. And y you have
That is a ritual.
Every day? Every day. Every single day.
Yeah.
Try to take a walk every day.
What else are sort of rituals in your life? The daily rituals? So I would add uh as a third one, as a ritual, I'd be I'd say like do something hard every day.
Like s do something.
physically difficult every day.
the art of challenging oneself and pushing those limits and boundaries.
That is a
Essential practice and skill.
uh that will help you whatever life has in store for you.
And is that
Is that the third one on this list of the third. Okay. So do something difficult every day and that ranges from
As small as
Not eating the cheeseburger to as big as running a marathon.
Yeah. I mean not eating the cheeseburger that's not I wouldn't put the I w I I wouldn't go, Hey, w like I really challenged myself today. I didn't eat
Garbage.
Here's the positive thing that I did.
Right. Like I lifted. I lifted heavy rocks.
You know, I went for uh I did some sprinting.
I went for a bike ride.
You know, I uh
I went for a run.
took a spin class, you know, whatever it is.
The walk doesn't count. The walk is for the mental health.
Then you gotta do something for the physical health.
Okay, so four, I think we have to put something here
About
I
We are made for each other.
Right.
The idea of
Uh
Meaning comes from servicing
Or contributing to the common good.
Mark Sri Lis talks about the common good maybe forty, fifty times in meditations.
Um
You know, he says like we're we're put here for other people.
Um
Our job is to is to help others to, you know, leave this place better than you like leave this place better than you found it.
To me, that's the meaning of life right there.
So what is the positive contribution? What is the legacy you're leaving? Not
How much money did you make?
You know, what records did you break?
But
What is the
What is the
contribution you are making to the collective.
That's
meaning and purpose and
Quite frankly, your obligation
as a human being.
Service.
S.
And then the fifth one, the fifth one is is
Why don't you just pause there and I forgot to ask you for an example on the third one from Stoicism. Of doing something hard. Yeah. Like a I mean the Greeks trained in wrestling, the gymnasia was the central part of the of Roman life.
You know, you'd go and you'd you'd train.
You know, um

Were they aiming at when they were training? What were the means to A strong mind and a strong body, like to not be flabby and lazy and uh not to fight each other or anything, but to No, but I mean there's something about combat sports, you know, that I think is
is very primal and probably good for you.
Um, you know, just something about
The challenge of
Of of pushing oneself, not living this sort of sedentary lifestyle. I th I think that's
Yeah, whether you're talking about
Zen Buddhist practicing martial arts, or are you talking about the Romans, you know?
Uh
Practicing wrestling, I think uh
the philosophical tradition
is it it's it's wrong to think of
philosophers as soft.
I always wonder if there's something innate.
in human beings that we we're designed to need struggle.
Like we're designed to s'cause if you think about we're in a big building here and with all these
Well this stuff that humans came up with and the cameras that they they our ancestors just
struggled forward.
to create all this stuff. So is it conceivable that they left something in me that says you two shall struggle.
Forward.
Yeah, you were
You are an heir to people who
Crossed oceans.
But
In wars.
Braved the elements.
You know, lived through poverty and
Depressions
Sacrificed, struggled.
You know
They did all that.
And you have that in you.
You know?
You have that in you. We all do.
And here we are ordering candy on a robot. Um and and going

Air conditioning isn't
At the exact temperature that I want to be.
And number five?
Number five across all religious and
Philosophical traditions.
there is some version of the practice of memento mori.
Remember you are mortal, but life is short.
Talk about
Top of the list of things that you don't control.
Right? Uh just death.
And the acceptance and the submission to that fact.
The awareness, the urgency
the perspective that that gives you is one of the most
Essential
philosophical practices there is. Like why do we procrastinate?
Why do we not
prioritize our health.
Why do we not
Do the stuff that we know we should do.
'Cause we think we have forever.
You know, we think we're invincible.
Um
And it's only, you know
In light of a pandemic.
Uh
Call from the doctor.
You know, a a loved one suddenly going
That we get these brief moments of clarity that oh wait.
Shit.
No.
You can go at any moment.
Um
Marcus really says you could leave life right now, let that determine what you do and say and think.
Now, if he's saying that in a time where
He buried six children.
Six children.
That's how
Deadly.
and unforgiving the ancient world was. And he was even then having to remind himself, Hey
Don't procrastinate. Don't think you have
Forever.
You know, don't take life for granted.
And here.
You know, when the average lifespan is
So much long, like inconceivably long.
Compared to the ancients.
where, you know
You might never see someone die in your whole life.
Until you are in a hospital bed.
You know, we have
We live if e we live in even more of a bubble.
You know, we are even more sheltered. We are even more detached.
From
the reality of uh
Of our mortality. As they say, death is the only prophecy that never fails. Like you people think about like well, what would I do if I found out?
Yeah.
I had cancer. Like if you got a terminal diagnosis from a doctor, you go, What changes would I make?
But the reality is you do have a terminal diagnosis. Like the second you were born, the doctor knew with a hundred percent certainty that you would die.
You just didn't know when.
You know, it could be
Eight years from now, it could be eight decades from now.
We don't know.
But
To live in ignorance.
Or in rejection of that fact.
is to
Set yourself up, I think.
More often than not to waste
Your life.
And so uh some practice.
Of
Hey.
Time is
ticking by now in this very moment. How am I spending it?
There's a a sand timer.
Oh there is.
Of all these things, Ryan, what is the what is the
Stoic wisdom.
That you
continually struggle with the most.
Ooh.
Um
No, I think people think
That stoicism is about.
Suppression of emotion.
That's what the word stoic means to people, right?
Emotionless.
Robotics.
Superhuman, et cetera.
I don't think that's it at all.
Um
I don't think that's possible.
If you're stuffing the emotions down.
You're pretending they don't exist.
They do exist.
And they will eventually reveal themselves. You've just
Deferred it, maybe with
Some interest attached, right?
So
For me, like
when I'm feeling something, when I'm having big feelings as we
Say to my kids.
You're having big feelings. Well, why are you having those feelings? What is the cause of those feelings?
What does your body feel like?
And the uh the practice of going.
I'm feeling this.
Feeling this because
I'm feeling as a result of that an inclination to do
And then go, but is that a good idea? You know, is that what I want to do?
Like
I've never lost my temper and then afterwards been like, I'm so glad I did that.
You know, I'm I always regret it.
Always, right?
I've never
forced my kids to do something out of frustration and then been like, Yeah, that was definitely the right call. You know, afterwards I'm like
You had so much more time than I was
Under the impression we did. You know what I mean?
It's like like we get this big fight to leave the house and then we get there and then we're like waiting in the car five minutes to go in. You know, or whatever, right? Like uh or you're so stressed about missing the flight and then y you
You get there or you don't get there. And it neither one of those things is like a matter of
Life and death, right?
So
I think for me
Seeing stoicism as the practice of under

Processing the emotion.
And then not being
A slave to that emotion.
is the practice of stoicism.
Perhap
I think I struggle with.
But I think when you
Read the private thoughts of the stoics.
You see that they were also struggling with.
You know.
Um
People are frustrating.
Things are annoying.
You know?
Things go sideways.
But then how you deal with that. That's what
That's what matters.
And that's the control you have.
Yeah.
And it is a practice, isn't it?'Cause we all get frustrated with things.
I get frustrated with so many things.
Yeah.
'Cause you have high standards, you have expectations.
Wanting things to be a certain way, needing them to be a certain way.
That's like the root of
so much of the tension and problems that we
We have.
And the question I ask is why?
Why do I need them to be a certain way you don't.
You go I need everything to be a certain way.
I won't be able to do what I do.
And then you're like, Wait, how fragile
Am I?
But I can't
I can't adjust, I can't adapt, you know what I mean? Like
You it's because you can want it or request it or
You think you should have it, that's what sets you up.
Epictetus's thing is he says, like, uh don't want things to be a certain way, want them to be the way that they are. That is the path to peace.
I think about it's like hey
Like
If I wake up and I go, I need the weather to be a certain way today.
Well then.
There's a
Pretty big chance.
Then I'm not gonna be happy.
I was talking to my friend, his name's Shaka Smart, he's the head basketball coach at Marquette.
He he lived in Texas, he was the head coach at Texas and um
Yeah.
moved to Marquette where it's colder and I said, H what's the what's the weather shift like? I said something like, Uh, you know, are you
Are more of a
hot weather guy or a cold weather guy, you know? And um
He goes, I'm addressed for the weather guy.
And I was like, that is stoicism right there, dressed for the weather.
You know?
Like, I don't care what it is.
I'm good.
I'm good either way.
Yeah.
I'll figure it out.
I love that.
And the conflict I have is
The Stoics must have understood the importance of detail.
And small things.
So
Yes.
Yeah.
But at the same time they also understand how that can quite easily rob you of
That obsession to detail.
Yeah, or like routine is important.
Right. This is the order I like to do things. This is when I'm at my best.
But what if that routine becomes
Almost.
A religion.
Mm-hmm.
Which becomes almost a kind of fragility.
You know, that's the problem.
Shit fuck.
What am I gonna do?
I need
I need my special socks. You know, or whatever. Um
I can't no, I need ten minutes before and you're like
Okay.
You know, you're not diffusing a nuclear bomb here. Like
It's gonna be fine.
Two things can be true at the same time.
It's better. Well the Stoics say um
There's
There's such a thing as
Preferred indifference.
So the basically the stoics are like if it's in your control.
Great. It's not under control.
Not worth thinking about.
But they said they're still
Some things.
It's better to have than not have.
Right. Like
It's better to be rich than poor.
Better for it to be, you know
Nice weather, not nice weather, right? And so the idea is you're gonna be fine regardless.
Right. So if you can you can go, I am good, I'm a dress for the weather guy, I can thrive in any and all situations, right? That's
the first thing that has to be true. And then the second thing is to be true.
Which can be true is but if you ask me what I want.
Here this
Here's the circumstances or
situation that
If it's in my power, that's what I'm gonna choose.
I don't need it.
I can do great in any and all situations. But
She asked me, do I want it to be cold in here or warm in here?
I'm gonna tell you the temperature that I like.
Because I know
That if it gets hot then I start to feel warm and then I get distract. You know, like y you can you can know what
It's nice to have.
But not need it.
Of all the of all the things that
you know, you've read about in um stoic philosophy and wisdom.
Fewer.
Lying on your deathbed.
Uh-huh.
And you had the entirety of the world as the audience.
Mm.
And you could just say one thing that you believed would be as of most benefit to that audience.
To relieve them of their suffering the most.
You know, to leave them with one last statement from Ryan Holiday, drawn from his readings of
Stoic wisdom and philosophy.
Mm.
What might be the insight, the last daily stoic.
What I say.

Oof.
We know Marcus Aurelius' sort of last words, his last words in
In meditations are about sort of
Hey man.
This is the play. It only got three acts.
Curtain's coming down.
Did you do a good job? And he started talking to himself like that. It's pretty beautiful.
And then
Um
Real life.
Probably dying of the plague.
Mm.
He
Friends are all around him and they're weeping and crying.
And he goes.
What are you crying about?
Like
Don't think about me. Think about your you. Think about your life.
Go try to
You know.
Do what you can with the time that you have left.
And
Yeah, it's just something like that.
Like hey.
The whole
The one
The one benefit of people dying.
Is
The one way that they
can go on living after they die.
One
way they can improve us and help us after they're gone is
is the reminder of
The fact that they're not here.
Which
Will be true for you at some point.
And
That's one of the things that the loss of people that we love
can do for us. It's like hey, none of us get forever.
The song ends at some point.
And so what did you um
What did you do?
With the time that you've got.
And the fact that you get tomorrow and I don't.
Is
A gift.
That you should not
Take for granted.
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