This Is A Good Surprise | The Stoic Edge Behind Peak Performance

Welcome to the daily stoic podcast designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. This is a good surprise. You're tough. You're firm. You don't get bothered by things. You keep yourself under control. You know a thing or two about life. You have earned your wisdom the hard way by experience. Good. But you're missing something else just as important and perhaps more impressive. If ever anyone possessed of power had grounds for thinking himself the best and most enlightened among his contemporaries was the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote. Marcus was the absolute ruler of nearly the entire world. He was strong and firm, wise and resilient. But what was less expected from his stoical breeding, Mill said, was his tender heart. What a lovely thing to have said about you that you're nicer and kinder than expected, nicer and kinder than perhaps you could have gotten away with. Marcus Aurelius probably would have attributed his tender heart to his mother, but that was by no means at odds with stoic philosophy. He saw this tenderness in Antoninus and in Sextus who taught him, he said, to be free of passion but full of love. That's good surprise. Not just strength, but softness where it matters. Not just control, but care. Not only to be wise, but to be attentive, compassionate, and patient with the people in our lives. So the performance superhighway of your body are your blood vessels. You have 60,000 miles of blood vessels in your body that deliver oxygen and nutrients to every cell. That's your cardiovascular system. You've got 60,000 miles of blood vessels that deliver oxygen, nutrients to every cell in your body. And this is why elite athletes and longevity experts invest directly in their cardiovascular systems because supporting healthy blood flow is critical for energy recovery, mental clarity, and performance. And that's where today's sponsor, Schumann, comes in. Schumann with two n's. They actually started out a research done here in Texas, actually at the University of Texas, and they have fifteen years of experience making award winning supplements. Human Cardiovascular Health Daily is a is plant based and made from clinically studied ingredients like grape seed and seed kelp extract. It supports nitric oxide production for healthy blood flow and energy while also supporting blood pressure and helping support the delicate inner lining of your blood vessels. You take two capsules every morning to power energy and recovery. It also helps you play the long game of your long term cardiovascular health. Human has an exclusive offer for our listeners. You just go to human.com/stoic. That's humanwith2n's.com/stoic for 15% off your first purchase. All you gotta do is enter code stoic at checkout, humanwith2n's,.com/stoic for an extra 15% off with code stoic at checkout. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Look. We all have plans for being better in a new year. And then what …