Stillness is the Key: An Ancient Strategy for Modern Life

Distracted minds are commonplace in today's world. With information overload, lots of people have forgotten how to be more present and in the moment. Maybe this is why mindfulness has become so popular. Boredom is something that people hate with a device needed to keep us company and our minds indulged, even when waiting in the shortest of queues or period of inactivity. From a peak performance perspective, stillness as Ryan describes it becomes really important to maintain focus and presence during overwhelming chaos and stress. This is a small book but packed with richness. Ryan uses stories of Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy, Marina Abramovic, Napoleon, Shawn Green, Fred Rogers, Anne Frank, Socrates, John Cage, Awa Kenzo, Marcus Aurelius, Tiger Woods, Seneca, Leonardo da Vinci, Michael Jordan, Winston Churchill, Epictetus, William Gladstone and many others. Ryan uses these to demonstrate how important stillness is for self-mastery, discipline and focus in this noisy world. The book divided into three parts: 1. Mind 2. Spirit 3. Body Each part has several chapters making the case for stillness and giving life practices that can help to practically develop stillness. I do feel that the book could have more practical tips but for me it really does help with stirring the emotions and helping to really value the importance of stillness in my life and finding ways to develop this. For me this topic is really important. I previously read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport and have also pre-ordered Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Indistractable-Control-Your-Attention-Choose/dp/1526610221/ I will be reading this book a few times to inspire me and develop practices to help me as I try to navigate this world of chaos. I recommend this if this is the journey you are also looking to take.

Easy to read and grasp all the concepts covered. Appropriate level of detail and depth. Would recommend highly. Some key life lessons in this book.

I found this book an easy and insightful read. It's was well written and on the back of doing it I have got more of the authors books. It had unexpected but insightful content in it in terms of the people it covered and the perspectives it shared.

I'd enjoyed Holiday's Ego is the Enemy, so I was excited to try this. It didn't disappoint. It's organised into very short, snappy chapters and covers a lot of ground. The book takes after the Stoic philosophers he cites so often and presents a guide to living a good life. Holiday's writing is breezy and clear and he doesn't waffle, which is appreciated given the weight of the book's subject matter. Can't recommend it highly enough. A great book. Can see it being a perfect primer for teenagers on philosophy and it made me reconsider my own approaches to issues, too.

Having began and dropped various attempts at self improvement (life gets in the way) I can across Ryan’s work through an article I read. His work and the surfacing of stoicism has really resonated with me. This book became a mirror for me, sometimes an uncomfortable one, sitting with yourself is much harder that remaining busy, (one of the key themes within the book), but it showed me life is about balance the mind, body and spirit and you must wake and live an intentional life, take time to reflect, journal on trying to keep these three elements in balance. Where you struggle to do so then the stoic approach is acceptance with no judgement on yourself and begin the next day with the same approach. One thing I take from stillness is living in gratitude, for the day I have and the life given to me. Knowing that when it ends we can go back to that place of stillness we had before we were born.

Highly recommend this book. It really is a good read and helped me through a tough time. I pick up to read bits now and again too.

Ryan Holiday is a very impressive guy - incredible wisdom for a man of his age. I'm significantly older but learn loads from his writings. Overall I think this is a great book but I have my issues with using 'Politicians' (Kennedy, Churchill) as moral role models and examples. They are corrupt to the core by the very self-serving nature. Ignore this significant issue and there are huge lessons in here.

Stillness is the key by Ryan Holiday Having read Ryan’s other books The obstacle is the way and Ego is the enemy I was excited to learn about this new book coming out. As a martial artist I like the eastern philosophies Zen, Taoism, etc… So the title spoke to me. The book, just like Ryan’s other books consists out three parts which are divided into chapters. These chapters are each a story around a theme. Stories are great vehicles to get lessons across. The stories by Ryan often do more than just teach, they also inspire. Ryan who is known for being inspired by Stoicism, delves into many different backgrounds for his stories, east, west, past and present… Universal and timeless… Like classical music where the same pieces are played with different chords the book sheds a fresh light on classical teachings. What I like about the book is the storytelling, the easy to read stories can be easily read during a short break, not too long, not too short and they grab your attention and hold it right up to the end. Then the rest of the day you can ponder on it and try to apply it in your daily life. The act of reading the book itself already gets you into this state of stillness. Which brings peace on a hectic day and answers to questions and problems. Stillness is indeed the key. And like the Zen saying goes: “It is the silence between the notes that makes the music; it is the space between the bars that cages the tiger.”