Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast, where we provide one lesson every single day to help you with your most important job, being a parent.

I'm Ryan Holiday, and I draw these lessons from ancient philosophy, modern psychology, practical wisdom, and insights from

parents just like you all over the world. Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

It's not a goal to be impressed by. You might think that every little boy would want to be king, but Marcus Aurelius didn't.

That's the opening line in the fable that I wrote about Marcus Aurelius, the boy who would be king.

And it's true. Marcus Aurelius supposedly wept when he found out that he would be emperor,

because he knew how many bad kings there had been in history.

And also, more sweetly, since he was just a boy, he didn't want to move out of his mother's house.

Although Marcus Rilus had lost his father at age three, it was clear that he came from good stock

and that his parents and grandparents had done a good job raising him.

He was wary of power and did not lust for it.

He wanted a quiet life.

He did not prize fame or attention or wealth.

Why is it that so many of us try to impress ambition on our kids?

Why are we trying to push them to become famous or powerful?

Have we not seen the people who tend to get these positions? Have we not seen how it works out for

them? There is nothing wrong with humility. There is nothing wrong with having a quiet and a modest,

fulfilling job. There is nothing wrong with not being a household name or not being

super wealthy. The goal for a kid should be happiness, whatever that might look like for them.

Let's not pressure them into a different direction for our own reasons, but support them on the

path they choose for themselves. Always. I wrote this book for my kids during the pandemic, and I read it to them a bunch of times, and now my kids are reading it back to me. In a way, it's like I'm proudest of that of any of the books that I've done. And I just gave a talk in San Diego last night, and a woman brought up a copy of it and asked me to sign it for her son.

If you want to introduce your kids to Stoicism, the boy who would be king, the girl who would be free are two fables about Stoke philosophy.

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