How to develop discipline: A conversation with Ryan Holiday (2022)
Apr 15, 2024
02:08:51
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Ryan Holiday, author and philosopher, discusses developing discipline with Stoicism, embracing discomfort, building discipline through cold plunges and writing, starting from zero with discipline, and navigating opportunities and decision making in publishing. The conversation also covers maintaining a sustainable pace in creativity, building direct relationships with the audience, the power of focus in creativity and success, navigating tension and disagreement in interviews, and building audience through long-form storytelling.
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Quick takeaways
Embrace stoicism for personal growth and control over reactions to external events.
Seek financial independence to pursue creative endeavors without immediate monetary pressure.
Focus on patient and steady progress in building a body of work and audience.
Prioritize discipline in output and rest to maintain sustainable creative pace.
Create unique content and set boundaries to sustain long-term success in a competitive environment.
Deep dives
Transitioning from Marketing to Writing
Ryan Holiday discusses his transition from a marketing career to writing. Despite his success in marketing, Holiday was drawn to the philosophy of stoicism, which he finds personally fulfilling. He highlights the importance of following one's passion and not solely pursuing what is popular or lucrative.
Impact of Growth Hacker Marketing
Holiday shares a story from his career at American Apparel where he successfully implemented growth hacker marketing strategies. By leveraging the concept of audience capture and reducing discovery costs, he was able to turn excess inventory into effective marketing campaigns that garnered significant attention.
Freedom in Creative Pursuits
Holiday emphasizes the freedom that comes from financial independence when pursuing creative endeavors. By living below his means and not being financially tied to his creative projects, he could take risks and explore writing about topics that truly inspired him.
Managing Creative Freedom and Financial Stability
Holiday advises against linking creative pursuits directly to financial stability, promoting the idea of maintaining creative freedom without the pressure of immediate monetary success. By sharing personal anecdotes of his career transitions and experiences, Holiday underscores the importance of balancing creative passion with financial independence.
Importance of Building a Body of Work and Audience
Developing a body of work and audience takes time. The speaker emphasizes the steady progress made over 11 years in selling almost 200,000 copies of their first book. They stress the need for patience and consistency, highlighting that success does not come overnight.
Navigating the Changing Landscape of YouTube and Content Creation
The podcast delves into finding a unique niche in the oversaturated YouTube space. The speaker discusses the evolution from mimicking popular content to creating original, condensed stories. By exploring short and long-form videos, creators learn to omit non-essential content and focus on engaging storytelling.
Balancing Output and Rest in Creative Pursuits
The importance of discipline in managing output and rest is highlighted. The challenges of maintaining a sustainable pace in a fast-paced creative environment are discussed. The speaker emphasizes prioritizing one's time and energy to avoid burnout and ensure consistent, high-quality creative work.
Importance of Focus and Setting Boundaries
One key insight from the podcast episode emphasizes the importance of focus and setting boundaries in one's professional and personal life. The speaker discusses the significance of living away from major cities like New York or LA to maintain focus and the ability to say no to opportunities that do not align with personal goals. By creating physical distance from distractions, the speaker highlights how it becomes easier to prioritize essential tasks and avoid comparisons with others in the same industry.
Embracing Longevity and Audience Building
Another significant point from the podcast focuses on embracing longevity and deliberate audience building strategies for creative works, such as books or content. The discussion delves into the concept of building a long-lasting career as a creator by prioritizing quality over short-term success. The emphasis lies on fostering word-of-mouth promotion through creating content that resonates deeply with the audience, encouraging them to share the work with others. By considering the long-term impact of creative endeavors and focusing on creating timeless content, the speaker highlights the importance of evolving distribution strategies to cultivate a dedicated and engaged audience over time.
Author and philosopher Ryan Holiday writes about Stoicism, which is the belief that we can’t control or rely on external events but we can control our ourselves and how we react to them.
Ryan is a prolific creator – he’s written 12 books in ten years, and he writes two daily emails and hosts a daily podcast. But he’s not a YouTube creator, and he thinks totally differently than we do. That’s why we found this conversation so valuable.
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