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Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life.

Each one of these passages is based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

You have to be kind to yourself. There's no question that much of what we talk about in this philosophy is hard. Specifically, it's hard on the person practicing it.

Stoicism asks you to challenge yourself. It doesn't tolerate sloppy thinking or half measures. It wants you to undergo deprivation. It asks you to look in the mirror and examine your flaws.

But it's important that we don't mistake all this with self-flagulation or a lack of self-esteem.

The early stoic, Clienthese, once overheard a philosopher speaking unkindly to himself when he thought no one was listening.

Clienthese stopped him and reminded him. You aren't talking to a bad man. One of the most beautiful passages in Seneca's letters is the one where he talks to Lucilius about how he was learning to be his own friend.

He wrote that as a very old man. He was still working even then on being nicer to himself.

The same man who was so hard on himself practicing poverty and diving into freezing rivers wanted to make sure he was also loving himself like a good friend.

Are you doing the same? Do you know that you're a good person? Are you your own friend? There is a line in a great song by the head and the heart. Until you learn to love yourself, the door is locked to someone else.

It's true. It's also locked to wisdom. The point of this philosophy we are writing and talking about is not self-punishment, it's self-improvement.

Nobody improves for a teacher that lowers them. No one trusts someone that is out to hurt them.

Forget cutting yourself a break today. Instead, just be kind. Be your own friend. Catalog some of your strengths. Smile at all the progress you've made. Tell yourself good job.

And then promise you are going to keep going and keep working because you know that you're worth it.

Hey everyone, we've seen how much you've loved the Daily Stoke challenges. And so we released a new product that will help you challenge yourself all year round.

It's the Daily Stoke Challenge deck. It's got 30 days of challenges, physical cards, and an awesome box that will test your strength, your willpower, and help you become better you.

Each challenge card comes with a great stoke quote and a cool picture. We know you're going to love it. You can buy the Daily Stoke Challenge deck now at DailyStoke.com slash store.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondering Plus in Apple podcasts.

The 10% happier podcast hosted by me, Dan Harris has one overarching message. Happiness is a skill. The mind is trainable. So why not get involved with this?

I used to be a fidgety skeptical news anchor, but after having a panic attack on national television, which was pretty inconvenient, I decided to change my life. I went on a whole trip to learn everything I could about the human brain, human mind, human psyche.

And now my job is to help you achieve some measure of peace and happiness in your own life. On my show every week, I talk to top scientists, meditation teachers, even the odd celebrity in wide-ranging conversations that explore topics such as productivity, relationships, anxiety, enlightenment, and psychedelics.

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