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Six lessons from Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
Discipline is Destiny is the second of four books by Ryan Holiday about the four stoic virtues: Courage, Temperance (sometimes referred to as Moderation or Discipline), Wisdom and Justice. Here are six lessons I’ve learned from it.
By now, you should know who Ryan Holiday is. Best-seller author, his newsletters, podcasts and social accounts are followed by hundreds of thousands, and he is credited to have single-handily brought stoicism to its current modern fame.
Stoicism is a philosophy I truly can recognize my principles in, and I discovered it a few years ago because of Ryan Holiday.
Here are but a few lessons from the book Discipline is Destiny, which I listened to on Audible, and read by the author.
1. Self-discipline is the work by which pleasure is the reward
This is the thought that has most stayed with me after reading the book. Self-discipline is hard work, but its result is not LESS, it’s MORE. More of what makes ME happy.
Moderation calls for restraint, but restraint equals a better mental and physical state.
Some examples of how discipline brings joy:
- Not eating too much -> Not feeling bloated
- Not drinking too much -> No regrets about the previous night or hangover wasted days
- Not staying sedentary throughout the day -> Not feeling low in energy
- Not waking up late -> Not feeling unproductive
- Not meeting with people who can only complain -> Not getting dragged down in their negative views of the world
What else can you think of that restraining yourself from that could bring you a better way of living?
“When you keep in check your lower self, you will elevate your higher self.”
2. The past does not equal your future
Some of the excuses people have to continue doing what they know it is bad for them or the people around them are: “I’m used to do it that way” and “even if I would like to do it differently, I can’t”.
