Most Replayed Moment: Make 2026 Your Best Year Yet! 5 Daily Practices For Health And Happiness

Steven Bartlett (0:00)

I mean, listen, if you've been listening to this podcast for any period of time, you've probably heard me talk about sleep a gazillion times. It was the single biggest priority that I ignored for the vast majority of my life until I realized that it was upstream from everything that mattered to me. And this brings me to our sponsor, Helix. They make high quality tailored mattresses and bedding that are customized to fit, and they help you to sleep better. That is their mission. In fact, a study found that around 82% of people in a study that slept on Helix mattresses saw an increase in their deep sleep cycle while sleeping on their mattresses. So if you're thinking that you're not sure about what the right mattress might be for you, their sleep quiz will look at you, look at your situation, your sleeping needs, and match you with the right mattress. And if it's not what you're after, and you're not satisfied, you're still covered by their 120 night sleep trial. So you can either swap your mattress for another one or return it all together. Helix also offers a limited lifetime warranty. And because you listen to this podcast, you can get at least 20% off site-wide. Just head over to helixsleep.com/diary. That's helixsleep.com/diary.

You've read so much. You write so much. You have the wisdom of someone who has lived many, many lives.

Ryan Holiday (1:19)

That's what reading is, by the way. You know what I mean? Reading is maybe the only way that you can live multiple lives. Like you think about the millions of people who have done crazy things, groundbreaking things, terrible things, and you think of all that wisdom. It's all there in books. And you know, it's $10. Sometimes it's a dollar.

Steven Bartlett (1:42)

Isn't it funny how similar the wisdom is there?

Ryan Holiday (1:45)

Yeah. I think the more you read that you come up with some sort of themes, sometimes it boils down to Eastern and Western philosophy, kind of like a horseshoe. You know, they come come come together towards the the ends.

Steven Bartlett (1:57)

But what are those themes? What are the themes of living a good life that I must know?

Ryan Holiday (2:03)

First would be, let's say, you focus on what's in your control. What's up to you?

Steven Bartlett (2:08)

Okay. What does that mean in practical in in day to day life? So someone cuts me off in traffic?

Ryan Holiday (2:13)

Yeah, somebody you don't, somebody doesn't like something that you did, the weather. How much of your energy are you spending emoting about, complaining about, worrying about things that are not up to you?

Steven Bartlett (2:29)

And what do the, is there any particular examples from stoicism where?

Ryan Holiday (2:33)

Well, Epictetus is like, that's our first job in life, is to separate things into two categories. Is this up to me or is this not up to me? And it's a resource allocation issue, right? Like, if you are focusing your energy, even half of it on stuff that's not up to you, that's half your energy that's not being focused on the stuff you can make a difference on. It's like, that'd be like putting 50% of the power of your car on the wheels that aren't touching the ground, you know? Like, you want to put it where it's going to get traction. That's a key thing in life. Is this up to you or not? Number two, there's something magical about water and there's something magical about long walks. This is where we find a lot of peace, we find a lot of inspiration, we find a lot of calmness and stillness. Like, I'm not saying that taking a walk will solve all of your problems. I'm just saying that there's very few problems that are made worse by taking a walk.

The same goes for jumping in the swimming pool or the ocean, you know.

Steven Bartlett (3:45)

What is it about those two things that you believe?

Ryan Holiday (3:48)

I mean, look, I think we evolved traveling very long distances. I mean, some of the oldest evidence of human beings in America are a set of footprints of a mother carrying and setting down, carrying and setting down a child 20,000 years ago in what is now White Sands, New Mexico. That's just what we've been doing for as long as there have been people. There's something about the rhythm of it, the movement of it that slows us down, forces us to think, makes us very present. It's just magic. I think there's a reason that every religious tradition or Zen garden has a water fountain or something. There's just something about sound of water.