So I think when the Stoics talk about managing your emotions,

what they're really saying is like, don't get so angry that you just turn around and punch

someone in the face. That's probably not going to solve whatever your problem is, right?

It's what plan are you going to initiate? How do all the variables interplay with the other

variables so you're likely to accomplish what needs to be accomplished?

We are here because we know the outcomes in our lives are within our control.

That taking absolute ownership of how we eat, sleep, train, think, and connect with each other

is how we'll optimize our health and happiness. That chasing excellence is how we grab hold

of what is possible. Our mission is to live in the world. Always chasing. Never stop.

Hello and welcome to another episode of Chasing Excellence. A lockdown edition, a special edition.

Not only has Ben somewhere strange, but we're joined by one of our favorite writers, Ryan

Holiday. How are you doing, Ryan? I'm doing awesome. Thank you so very much for giving us some time

today. I know that both Ben and I, I think I was thinking before recording that. There's probably two

people who we reference the most on this show and one is Steven Covey and the other is you

and the work that you do. And so it's a treat to have you on.

That's that's high praise. I appreciate that. Yeah. So I think we're going to have a bit of a

freewheeling conversation. We're recording this on on Thursday, the fourth impossible not to think

about, talk about everything that's going on in the world. And so we kind of, we didn't want to have

you on the show and pretend that we weren't in the midst of all of this. And so I think maybe just

to kind of kick the conversation off, I wonder, I think one of the things that people

describe to stoicism is this idea that you don't care about what's going on in the world or that

you're really hands off and unemotional. And I think that that's something that you've done a

...