The Self-Help Advice of Ryan Holiday is More Existentialist than Stoic
Would it surprise you that Ryan Holiday’s core advice is grounded in something more like existentialism, and not stoicism?
It’s honestly not even that hard to see, which is why this article is only 5 minutes long. And as a bonus, I’ll even show you that his self-help advice is not just more existentialist, but in fact anti-stoic.
Some of you are making lip farts right now. “Ryan isn’t an idiot. How the heck can you say that his whole brand is a lie?”
Well before I start, let me first say that, although my words may seem accusatory, this is not a diss on Mr. Holiday. I actually like the guy and respect his efforts. The fact that he occupies more space on the bookshelves of nearly every philosophical section in bookstores — I mean that’s saying something.
But let’s be honest, traditional stoic philosophy isn’t all that sexy. Especially when your target audience is a caffeine-crazed bunch that idolizes the self-made man (nothing wrong with that by the way).
The thing is, Mr. Holiday knew this. And being the marketing guru he is, he filtered a complex dynamic of stoicism through some tortured interpretive scheme. Namely, he took out all the “bad” parts of stoic religiosity.
