Are you Listening to the Voices That Last?

We live in the age of noise. Sensational headlines. Outrage. Instant gratification.

But some voices—some truths—cut through the static and endure.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to those voices. The Stoics. Epictetus. Marcus Aurelius. Seneca. Not because it’s trendy, but because there’s something grounding in the fact that their words still hold up.

Each morning, I read from Ryan Holiday's The Daily Stoic. Then I journal. I wrote only a single page. That’s my rule. A single page about the things I’m avoiding, tolerating,

Unnamed Philosopher whose words and thoughts are memorialized in stone: a lasting truth.

or complaining about. I try to face myself honestly before the world gets its hands on me.

This morning, the reading focused on self-control in the face of others’ emotional chaos. Epictetus reminded me: No one else owns my reaction. Not my child pushing a boundary. Not peer, boss, or spouse venting their frustration. Only I do.

This isn’t just about emotional intelligence, it’s about moral courage.

The courage to pause. To stay grounded. To resist the pull to match emotion with emotion.

And what strikes me most? These ideas are ancient. Yet they feel more relevant than anything in the news cycle. So why would I put more trust in a hot take than in a thought that’s outlived empires?

That’s the shift I’m working on. A deeper kind of patience. Not passive waiting, but active reflection.

A pause that holds power. A discipline that says, “I will own myself first.”

And maybe that’s the challenge we all need right now:

Over the next 7 days, where can you practice more ownership in your reactions?

The Stoics wrote it down. Ryan Holiday handed us the baton.

Now it’s our turn to live it out.