Ryan Holiday is the author of the bestselling Ego Is the Enemy, and Conspiracy and roots the majority of his self-help books in stoicism a school of Hellenistic philosophy heavily influenced by Socrates; however, much of what he writes is influenced by Marcus Aurelius (Meditations), a Roman emperor who reigned from 161 to 180 AD. Aside from compiling his own memoir-like writings, He also serves as the launching pad for most people’s dive into the stoic realm and Ryan creates a contemporary landscape for some of his more poignant points to live in today’s empire.
Stoicism deals heavily with an analysis of one’s own judgement of self and others in a universal perspective. This book posits the reader within this analysis as it pertains to their own analysis of the way(s) in which they are responding to obstacles in their day to day life. Here’s an example from the text:
What is perception? It’s how we see and understand what occurs around us –and what we decide those events will mean. Our perceptions can be a source of strength or of great weakness. If we are emotional, subjective and short-sighted, we only add to our troubles. To prevent becoming overwhelmed by the world around us, we must, as the ancients practiced, learn how to limit our passions and their control over our lives.
The book goes on to state that the training necessary to combat negative perceptions and filter out the nonsense from what actually matters, but through the practice of cultivating that discipline one finds the two things that matter: truth and freedom.
Don’t get yourself bogged down in the density (or possible density… you know how sometimes smart people think they’re smarter than they really are…) because much of what the books deal with is putting things within a lens of simplicity. There are personal moments that are all to familiar to the reader like preparing a powerpoint for a presentation all night, only to get to work and experience technical difficulties with the projector. Or practicing for a specific position only to find out that you have to perform in another one. What do you do? Do you panic?
A zen-like focus is what Holiday calls for in the face of adversity. He asks that we understand that there is a version of us on the other side of what we view as an obstacle and that other version is often times a better one. He asks for a cheerfulness in all situations, especially the bad ones. That we act instead of act out. It’s definitely a short read that everyone can benefit from having on their book shelf.
