Stoic Advice If You Can't Focus

Our house is chaos. Our schedule is grueling. Our boss is screaming our ears off.

There is barely a thread holding it all together. There is never enough sleep. There is never enough time. Yet, to be good at our jobs, to be good at this living thing, we need to find the time so that we might find stillness. Find time to reflect, to focus. We need the calm that comes from stillness to restore and reboot us.

Where will we find it? It won’t be, as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius remind us, in fleeing to the country or to the sea. It won’t be those measly two weeks of vacation or by cutting and running. No, we must find the stillness within the chaos. It might not feel like these moments of quiet can exist within a world full of honking and yelling, with a Google calendar so packed with meetings and deadlines that everyday looks like its own package of Starburst.

But it can. If we go within.

#Stoicism​ #DailyStoic​ #RyanHoliday​

Animation:

[aureliusmarcus]

"Difficulties strengthen the mind as labor does to the body"

-Seneca

[forestpump]

The person who animated this need a raise!

[StoicPhilosophyLessons]

"If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable." -Seneca

[mojo_joju]

Damn, it’s nice to know that even thousands of years ago, people were annoyed by their neighbours.

[nnnjc]

Depressed? Don't be. Distracted? Just focus. Wow great advice.

[thepotbellyninja]

Stoic advice if you can't focus: "just focus". Phenomenal!

[maximelagace]

Think about this one:
"The day a man becomes superior to pleasure, he will also be superior to pain." -Seneca

[DrRussell]

Ryan. Thank you for taking my excuses away.

[jadenfabiani]

"i can't focus"
"then just focus"
that's great.

[ohreally]

So, the advice seems to be "block out the distractions". Thanks. Hadn't thought of that.

[robbedacop]

Started daydreaming after the pick pocketing scene. Can't even focus enough to watch this so stay safe guys.

[jkdmasta]

Love the animation! Fantastic representation of how Seneca handled all the disturbances that surrounded him. I’m a current student so this is something I struggle with, finding focus when everything around me is constantly breaking it. To strengthen my nerves, this I will do. Thank you Ryan!

[marybaker]

❤❤ I love and appreciate the artist's interpretation with these videos. I appreciate the lessons, Ryan. Very incredible and informative, thank you. I love this about no sound reaches them.

[davespeed]

Awesome video! I work as a substitute teacher. Last school year, I re-read STILLNESS IS THE KEY to help me stay calm in the classroom.

[yashkotecha]

A man who suffers before it is necessary, suffers more than is necessary. - Seneca

[StoicEvolution]

"Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish." - Marcus Aurelius

[safiulfaiyaz]

I think people need to stop hating on things that don't tell them what to do, this is a meditation, not an instructional video you close your eyes & imagine & everything around you fades away & you start again.
Such is Life.

[FrankGraffagnino]

We need a video interviewing the person who does these animations. Incredible!

[stefansofronescu]

Besides the knowledge this video provides, I find this story to be inspiring more than anything else, as it motivates me to achieve the greatness of people like Seneca, because they are venerated and remembered, not for the treasures or land they had, but for their impact on the world and for the sagacity they provided us with.

[SikOfBS]

I can't thank you enough, Ryan. You've been extremely helpful with my new direction, and I'm grateful to you for being the gardener who planted stoicism in a time when it was exactly what I needed. Your videos and shorts introduced me to Stoicism as our son laid in a hospital bed waiting for a new heart. I'm happy to say that he and I hang out with you daily now.