A Stoic Freedom Bath

“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”

Take a beat and think about that for a moment. I’ll happily wait. Now that you are in philosophy mode, I will tell you that this profundity comes to us from Stoic philosopher and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

In recent years, the Stoics and their philosophic worldview have become incredibly popular due in large part to a renaissance of the ideas brought about by a cadre of thoughtful social media personalities promulgating the works of Epictetus, Seneca and, of course, Marcus Aurelius.

Stoicism, in essence, argues that the practice of virtue is enough to achieve “eudaimonia,” which is basically a well-lived life, or “the good life.”

The Stoics identified the path to achieving eudaimonia as a life spent practicing four key virtues — wisdom, courage, temperance (or moderation) and justice. They also advocated living in accordance with nature, which I would call living in harmony with reality.

Now, I like much of Stoicism’s views, especially its advocacy of reason to understand the world and to guide actions. However, I do have differing views on many key points, particularly on the nature of happiness.

For example, the Stoics taught that happiness comes from virtue and aligning oneself with the natural order, and so they often advocated for detaching themselves from external outcomes.

In my view, happiness comes via the rational realization of one’s own values and goals through productive achievement, and that happiness should be celebrated and embraced emotionally (the opposite of the detachment of the Stoics).

Yet despite some key differences, I enjoy reading the Stoics and integrating their insights into my life, as this has generally been a good supplement to my intellectual diet.

A few days ago, my friend and Fast Money Alert co-editor Dr. Mark Skousen told me that one of the leading figures in the current Stoic movement would be a featured speaker at this year’s FreedomFest.

That leading figure is Ryan Holiday of The Daily Stoic. Holiday’s book of the same name, “The Daily Stoic,” is one I highly recommend as a great read that’s chock-full of wisdom.

Holiday is a bestselling author whose books have sold over 10 million copies and spent more than 200 weeks on bestseller lists. He has made Stoicism accessible and actionable for a new generation. His works — The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Stillness Is the Key and Discipline Is Destiny — are studied by Super Bowl-winning coaches, Olympic gold medalists, Fortune 500 leaders and military commanders alike.

Last November, I watched a video by Holiday with the provocative title, “Who Would Marcus Aurelius Vote For?” I even wrote about this video in The Deep Woods, because I thought it was a different perspective on how to think about the presidential candidates and issues of character that pertained to our choices.

Here are a few of the highlights from the Daily Stoic video here that I found compelling:

“We can’t go around expecting Plato’s Republic.” Holiday says that the reason many people don’t vote is because they don’t like either candidate and that they see the election as a choice between two evils. “Welcome to reality,” explains Holiday. “Being an adult means making tough choices between two things that you don’t like.”

I really like this, because it reflects an understanding about the imperfect nature of life and the choices we are given, and that we must make. Realizing that there is no perfect solution, only tradeoffs, to any given problem is a wise approach to existence.

Now, here is where the video gets really good. When contemplating what makes a leader good and what makes one bad, Holiday tells us about Marcus Aurelius’ views. Here he quotes from “Meditations,” reminding us that a good leader possesses qualities such as compassion, persistence, listening to others, the determination to treat people as they deserve, a constant devotion to the needs of the public and the willingness to take responsibility and blame for the outcomes.

As for what makes a leader bad, Holiday tells us the Stoics thought that someone who is not philosophical and not “in command of themselves” has no business in the halls of power. “If a leader does not have good character, does not have command of themselves, is not a virtuous person, not only are they ill-suited to lead, but they are ill-suited to be exposed to so much power.”

Holiday goes on to explain that the Stoics warned of the following: “When you have someone who’s a hypocrite, when you have someone who lies, when you have someone who has character that you would refuse to tolerate in a boss or a co-worker, someone you would never invest money in… you get yourself into trouble.”

Finally, Holiday provides this keen insight from the Stoics: “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much or how little you agree with someone on certain issues, ultimately character is fate.”

I concur with Holiday’s assessments here, and I think he’s doing a fantastic job of bringing ancient wisdom of this sort back into the modern world. We need more wisdom, especially when toxic tribalism, nationalism and caprice rule the roost.

The inclusion of Holiday as a featured speaker at FreedomFest gives us an opportunity to take a Stoic freedom bath together! This year, not only am I excited about Holiday, but I’m also excited that FreedomFest will be held very close to my home, specifically in Palm Springs, California, from June 11-14, at the Renaissance Hotel.

This year’s conference will include what is going to be a fantastic discussion, titled: “The ‘Tariffying’ Debate.”

Is Trump’s new tariff policy and “America First” doctrine good or bad for the economy? The experts on both sides will fight it out in front of the best and most discerning audience in the world.

I’m also excited about the keynote speaker this year, the hilarious and thoughtful Adam Carolla. He hosts the hugely popular podcast, The Adam Carolla Show. Adam plans to interview several big-name Hollywood celebrities in person at FreedomFest, and he will also headline the Punching Up Comedy Festival show.

Of course, I will be there speaking, as will Dr. Skousen. I will also be a judge at this year’s Pitch Tank competition, which was incredibly fun last year. Other highlight names on the speakers’ list include Kat Timpf, Steve Forbes, Art Laffer, Marc Eliot, Kennedy (Fox News) and my fellow financial gurus, Hugh Grossman, Jon Johnson, George Gilder, Dave Phillips, Jim Rogers, Rob Arnott, Mike Turner, Alex Green and Rick Maybury (his first public appearance in 15 years).

Now, the good thing about being a subscriber to The Deep Woods is that you get access to the early bird FreedomFest discount. Sign up now using the code EagleEB and get $150 off the retail price, or call Hayley at 855-850-3733, ext. 202.

I hope to share this Stoic freedom bath with you!

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How Long?

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?”

–Epictetus

I thought it would be fitting to have this week’s quote come to us courtesy of a Stoic. Here, Epictetus reminds us that the best time to do something great is right now. Life is now, and your life matters. So, don’t delay. Reach down deep into the best within you and extract your potential. I guarantee it will feel amazing.

Wisdom about money, investing and life can be found anywhere. If you have a good quote that you’d like me to share with your fellow readers, send it to me, along with any comments, questions and suggestions you have about my newsletters, seminars or anything else. Click here to ask Jim.

In the name of the best within us,

Jim Woods