You Could Leave Life Today. What Would You Do Differently?
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 27 December 2025
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The end of the year has a way of reminding us that nothing lasts forever. In today’s episode, you will hear a deep dive into the Stoic practice of Memento Mori, the reminder that you could leave life at any moment. Not as something dark or depressing, but as a way to sharpen your focus on what actually matters.
You will hear conversations with psychologists, grief experts, and artists who have all confronted mortality in very real ways. From near death moments and personal loss to ancient Stoic wisdom that still holds up today, this reminder helps make you more present, more patient, and more intentional with your time.
🎙️ Listen to the full episodes:
- Think About Death. Science Says You’ll Be Happier. | Dr. Laurie Santos
- David Kessler on Finding Meaning in Grief and Practicing the Art of Memento Mori
- EGO, DEATH, FAME: Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe
📚 Books Mentioned:
- Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero by James Romm
- Finding Meaning and the Finding Meaning Workbook by David Kessler
- Just Beyond The Light by Randy Blythe
- Dark Days by Randy Blythe
🪙 We have a collection of items in the Daily Stoic store to help you in your own memento mori practice, check them out here: https://store.dailystoic.com/
👉 Dr. Laurie Santos is an expert on the science of happiness and the ways in which our minds lie to us about what makes us happy. Listen to Dr. Laurie’s podcast, The Happiness Lab, where she shares the latest scientific research on what it means to be truly happy.
Check out more of Dr. Laurie’s work at DrLaurieSantos.com and follow her Instagram @LaurieSantosOfficial, X @LaurieSantos, and on YouTube and TikTok @DrLaurieSantos
👉 David Kessler, a grief and loss expert. David co-authored two books with Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, including On Grief and Grieving and after experiencing the death of his son, he updated her 5 stages of grief with a 6th stage: meaning.
Follow David Kessler on Instagram and X | @IAmDavidKessler
👉 Randy Blythe is the lead singer of Lamb of God.
Follow Randy on Instagram and X @DRandallBlythe and check out his Substack
No more waiting. Demand the best for yourself. The Daily Stoic New Year New You challenge begins January 1, 2026. Learn more and sign up today at dailystoic.com/challenge
🎁 This holiday season, give the gift of Daily Stoic Premium | https://dailystoic.supercast.com/gifts/new
🎙️ Follow The Daily Stoic Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoicpodcast
✉️ Want Stoic wisdom delivered to your inbox daily? Sign up for the FREE Daily Stoic email at https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail
🏛 Get Stoic inspired books, medallions, and prints to remember these lessons at the Daily Stoic Store: https://store.dailystoic.com/
📱 Follow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Ryan. I try not to make too many puns on my last name because I've been hearing it my whole life. |
| 0:06.9 | But if you want to give a holiday gift of me, Ryan Holiday, and the Daily Stoic, well, you can. |
| 0:14.9 | We have a special offer. If you want to give Daily Stoic premium as a gift, you can do that, your friends, your family members, coworkers, whoever you give it to, can get ad-free episodes, early access, and exclusive bonus content. |
| 0:29.1 | Plus, we'll even throw in premium episodes of the Daily Dad podcast. |
| 0:33.8 | You can get both premium plans together for 25% off. |
| 0:37.3 | It's a limited offer available now through the end of the holidays. |
| 0:40.6 | That's through December 31st. |
| 0:42.4 | You can click below to get it for them today. |
| 0:45.0 | Happy holidays. |
| 0:49.2 | Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Stoic. |
| 0:52.8 | Each weekday, we bring you a meditation inspired by the ancient Stoics, |
| 0:57.5 | something to help you live up to those four Stoic virtues of courage, justice, temperance, and wisdom. |
| 1:04.3 | And then here on the weekend, we take a deeper dive into those same topics. |
| 1:09.3 | We interview Stoic philosophers. We explore at length how these |
| 1:14.7 | stoic ideas can be applied to our actual lives and the challenging issues of our time. |
| 1:21.5 | Here on the weekend, when you have a little bit more space, when things have slowed down, |
| 1:27.1 | be sure to take some time to think, |
| 1:29.9 | to go for a walk, to sit with your journal, and most importantly to prepare for what the week |
| 1:35.1 | ahead may bring. |
| 1:40.7 | Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoic Podcast. |
| 1:46.2 | You know, it's this time of year. |
| 1:48.0 | We're with family. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.