“Instead of carrying that baggage around in our heads or hearts, we put it down on paper. Instead of letting racing thoughts run unchecked or leaving half-baked assumptions unquestioned, we force ourselves to write and examine them. Putting your own thinking down on paper lets you see it from a distance. It gives you objectivity that is so often missing when anxiety and fears and frustrations flood your mind. What’s the best way to start journaling? Is there an ideal time of day? How long should it take? Who cares? How you journal is much less important than why you are doing it: To get something off your chest. To have quiet time with your thoughts. To clarify those thoughts. To separate the harmful from the insightful. There’s no right way or wrong way. The point is just to do it.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 56)
“The world is like muddy water. To see through it, we have to let things settle. We can’t be disturbed by initial appearances, and if we are patient and still, the truth will be revealed to us.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 47)
“During the recording of her album Interiors, the musician Rosanne Cash posted a simple sign over the doorway of the studio. ‘Abandon Thought, All ye Who Enter Here.’ Not because she wanted a bunch of unthinking idiots working with her, but because she wanted everyone involved—included herself—to go deeper than whatever was on the surface of their minds. She wanted them to be present, connected to the music, and not lost in their heads.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 43)
“Yes, thinking is essential. Expert knowledge is undoubtedly key to the success of any leader or athlete or artist. The problem is that, unthinkingly, we think too much. The ‘wild and whirling words’ of our subconscious get going and suddenly there’s no room for our training (or anything else). We’re overloaded, overwhelmed, and distracted… by our own mind!” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 42)
Oh, how different the world would look…
“How different would the world look if people spent as much time listening to their conscience as they did to chattering broadcasts? If they could respond to the calls of their convictions as quickly as we answer the dings and rings of technology in our pockets? All this noise. All this information. All these inputs. We are afraid of the silence. We are afraid of looking stupid. We are afraid of missing out. We are afraid of being the bad guy who says, ‘Nope, not interested.’ We’d rather make ourselves miserable than make ourselves a priority, than be our best selves. Than be still… and in charge of our own information diet.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 36)
“The way you feel when you awake early in the morning and your mind is fresh and as yet unsoiled by the noise of the outside world—that’s space worth protecting. So too is the zone you lock into when you’re really working well. Don’t let intrusions bounce you out of it. Put up barriers. Put up the proper chuting to direct what’s urgent and unimportant to the right people.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 35)
“Don’t reject a difficult or boring moment because it is not exactly what you want. Don’t waste a beautiful moment because you are insecure or shy. Make what you can of what you have been given. Live what can be lived. That’s what excellence is. That’s what presence makes possible.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 28)
“We want to learn to see the world like an artist: While other people are oblivious to what surrounds them, the artist really sees. Their mind, fully engaged, notices the way a bird flies or the way a stranger holds their fork or a mother looks at her child. They have no thoughts of the morrow. All they are thinking about is how to capture and communicate their experience. An artist is present. And from this stillness comes brilliance.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 28)
“Who is so talented that they can afford to bring only part of themselves to bear on a problem or opportunity? Whose relationships are so strong that they can get away with not showing up? Who is so certain that they’ll get another moment that they can confidently skip over this one? The less energy we waste regretting the past or worrying about the future, the more energy we will have for what’s in front of us.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 27)
“There’s no greatness in the future. Or clarity. Or insight. Or happiness. Or peace. There is only this moment. Not that we mean literally sixty seconds. The real present moment is what we choose to exist in, instead of lingering on the past or fretting about the future. It’s however long we can push away the impressions of what’s happened before and what we worry or hope might occur at some other time. Right now can be a few minutes or a morning or a year—if you can stay in it that long.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 27)
“Being present demands all of us. It’s not nothing. It may be the hardest thing in the world.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 25)
Ryan Holiday Quote on Cultivating Mental Stillness To Succeed In Life
“Each of us will, in our own lives, face crisis. A business on the brink of collapse. An acrimonious divorce. A decision about the future of our career. A moment where the whole game depends on us. These situations will call upon all our mental resources. An emotional, reactive response—an unthinking, half-baked response—will not cut it. Not if we want to get it right. Not if we want to perform at our best. In these situations we must: be fully present; empty our mind of preconceptions; take our time; sit quietly and reflect; reject distraction; weight advice against the counsel of our convictions; deliberate without being paralyzed. We must cultivate mental stillness to succeed in life and to successfully navigate the many crises it throws our way.”
Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 20)
Beyond the Quote (97/365)
It’s a fine line between reacting and responding; between acting then thinking versus thinking then acting; between needing to make a quick decision and not wanting to wait (or not having the self-control to wait) to make a decision. Crisis situations are going to call upon the full extent of our mental resources if we are to handle the crisis properly and in a way that is in complete alignment with our best intentions. The challenge, of course, is that most crisis situations have a strong sense of urgency attached to them that requires a quick decision to be made.
Read More »Ryan Holiday Quote on Cultivating Mental Stillness To Succeed In Life“Our job is not to ‘go with our gut’ or fixate on the first impression we form about an issue. No, we need to be strong enough to resist thinking that is too neat, too plausible, and therefore almost always wrong. Because if the leader can’t take the time to develop a clear sense of the bigger picture, who will? If the leader isn’t thinking through all the way to the end, who is?” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 14)
“Stillness is what aims the archer’s arrow. It inspires new ideas. It sharpens perspective and illuminates connections. It slows the ball down so that we might hit it. It generates a vision, helps us resist the passions of the mob, makes space for gratitude and wonder. Stillness allows us to persevere. To succeed. It is the key that unlocks the insights of genius, and allows us regular folks to understand them.” ~ Ryan Holiday, via Stillness is the Key (Page 2)
Stillness Is The Key [Book]
Book Overview: All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness–to be steady while the world spins around you. In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history’s greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus. More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever.
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Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
- 47 Deep and Insightful Ryan Holiday Quotes from Stillness is the Key
- Herbert Simon Quote on Attention and How Eyes Communicate Priority (Beyond the Quote 280/365)
- Ryan Holiday Quote on How Being Present May Be The Hardest Thing In The World (Beyond the Quote 138/365)
- Ryan Holiday Quote on Leisure and Recharging Constructively (Beyond the Quote (120/365)
- Epicurus Quote on What The Wise Will Accomplish in Their Life (Beyond the Quote 119/365)
- Anne Frank Quote on Reflection and Doing Better Each Day (Beyond the Quote 104/365)
- Epictetus Quote on Prioritizing What’s Important (Beyond the Quote 100/365)
- Ryan Holiday Quote on Cultivating Mental Stillness To Succeed In Life (Beyond the Quote 97/365)
Ryan Holiday Quote on Producing Good Work—Despite The Challenges
“Work is finding yourself alone at the track when the weather kept everyone else indoors. Work is pushing through the pain and crappy first drafts and prototypes. It is ignoring whatever plaudits others are getting, and more importantly, ignoring whatever plaudits you may be getting. Because there is work to be done. Work doesn’t want to be good. It is made so, despite the headwind.”
Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy
Beyond the Quote (69/365)
Why do all of this work at all? Why show up when it’s raining and cold? Why push through writing tasks when Netflix is one click away? Why keep working when you’re getting praised and approved of for what you’ve already done? Why not stay indoors, become complacent, relax, and soak in the compliments you’ve already received? …Well, because that’s not how your best work comes to life—that’s why. And that task of bringing to life your best work, may be your most important calling on this earth.
Read More »Ryan Holiday Quote on Producing Good Work—Despite The ChallengesRyan Holiday Quote on Success Being About Beating Yourself—Not The Other Guy
“[Success] is not about beating the other guy. It’s not about having more than the others. It’s about being what you are, and being as good as possible at it, without succumbing to all the things that draw you away from it. It’s about going where you set out to go. About accomplishing the most that you’re capable of in what you choose. That’s it. No more and no less.”
Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy
Beyond the Quote (19/365)
Be what you are—and be as good as possible at it. Identifying your unique strengths, aptitudes, and abilities as a person is the most important first step in discovering your success. Once those characteristics are discovered (or at least a relatively firm idea has been developed), then step two is tripling down on those strengths with as much of your energy and effort as you can afford so that you can accomplish all that you’re capable of accomplishing.
Read More »Ryan Holiday Quote on Success Being About Beating Yourself—Not The Other Guy
Ego is the Enemy [Book]
Book Overview: Many of us insist the main impediment to a full, successful life is the outside world. In fact, the most common enemy lies within: our ego. Early in our careers, it impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. Ego Is the Enemy draws on a vast array of stories and examples, from literature to philosophy to history. We meet fascinating figures such as George Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Katharine Graham, Bill Belichick, and Eleanor Roosevelt, who all reached the highest levels of power and success by conquering their own egos. Their strategies and tactics can be ours as well.
Post(s) Inspired by this Book:
“All great men and women went through difficulties to get to where they are, all of them made mistakes. They found within those experiences some benefit – even if it was simply the realization that they were not infallible and that things would not always go their way. They found that self-awareness was the way out and through – if they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have gotten better and they wouldn’t have been able to rise again.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy