Ryan Holiday’s Stoic Morning
Designed by Bearmore
Inspired by Ryan HolidayBecause your mornings don’t have to start with emails first.
Start the day deliberately, not reactively. Ryan Holiday's Stoic morning: a long walk, three notebooks for journaling, a passage of Marcus Aurelius, then your writing, all before the inbox gets a look-in.
The runsheet
Walking before anything else
Being in natureHoliday opens with a long walk around his Texas farm before he sits down to anything. It clears the head for anything that follows. Any unhurried walk outdoors does the same job; the point is to enjoy the walk, not to clock distance.
30 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing being in nature before journaling
This is a strong combination because nature gives journaling fresh sensory detail and reflective material that's harder to summon at a desk.
Three notebooks and inspiration to journal
JournalingHoliday keeps three: a one-line diary of the day before, a reflective page on gratitude and what he wants to improve, and the Daily Stoic Journal's morning prompt. Use one notebook or all three; the habit matters more than the format.
18 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing journaling before reading (mindful)
This can be a good pairing because the reflective state from writing can carry into mindful reading and a patient engagement.
A passage from Marcus Aurelius
Reading (mindful)Holiday has read Marcus Aurelius's Meditations for twenty years, well over a hundred times, treating it as a daily touchstone rather than a book to finish. Read a passage of whatever grounds you; the aim is a sturdy idea inspires you or helps you.
15 min activityBearmore’s thoughts on doing reading (mindful) before creative writing
This is an excellent pairing because reading primes the rhythms and patterns of language, which writing then draws on without needing much warming up.
Your own writing
Creative writingThis is the part the whole morning leads up to: his own creative writing. Holiday writes for one to two hours; we've capped it at the menu's forty-six minutes. Pen and paper is the way to go, keeps you off screens and other distractions.
46 min activityTime well spent.
2h 5m spent doing something good for yourself.
The breakdown
Burst evaluation
Wellbeing focus
About this Burst
Ryan Holiday is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and the writer behind The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and Discipline Is Destiny. He runs the Daily Stoic newsletter and podcast and The Painted Porch bookshop, and lives on a farm outside Austin, Texas. His work has made Stoic philosophy a fixture of modern self-improvement, read widely by athletes, coaches and executives.