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Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast. On Friday, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation,

but also reading a passage from the Daily Stoic. My book, 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance in the Heart of Living,

which I wrote with my wonderful collaborator, translator, and a literary agent, Stephen Hanselman.

So today, we'll give you a quick meditation from the Stoics with some analysis from me,

and then we'll send you out into the world to turn these words into works.

One of the things that separates us from other people, indeed that has been responsible for our success,

is our ability to be strict and self-disciplined, where other people are fine making excuses or taking shortcuts, we are not.

Where other people wing it or do what's easiest, taking the path of least resistance, we don't.

That's really the essence of Stoicism, and why those of us who have committed to doing the hard work have been able to get so much out of it.

But it can be a problem when people like us come into positions of leadership or become fathers and mothers.

Suddenly, it's not just our own behavior we're regulating. We're now responsible for other people as well.

It's tempting to try to hold them to the very same standards we hold ourselves to.

But this is not only unfair, they didn't sign up for that. It's often counterproductive.

It burns people out. It sets you up for disappointment or worse, disillusionment.

This observation from Marcus Aurelius' most thoughtful biography by Ernest Rennon explains the right way to do it.

He said, the consequence of austere philosophy might have produced stiffness and severity.

But here it was that the rare goodness of the nature of Marcus Aurelius shown out in all its brilliancy, his severity was confined only to himself.

That's exactly the key your standards are for you.

This philosophy is about your self-improvement. It's about being strict with yourself and forgiven of other people.

That's not only a kind way to be, it's the only effective way to be. It's the only defense to be constantly upset and let down.

Hello, I'm Hannah.

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