Business Book Review: Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
The key to a bold and brave life begins with discipline. Let Holiday guide you in making self-control a daily reality worth pursuing.
My Rating: ★★★★
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Portfolio
Released: 2022
Key Takeaways for Personal Branding
As the sequel to Courage is Calling, Ryan Holiday’s Discipline is Destiny offers impressive standalone value. Based on the essential Stoic virtue of discipline, the book guides you on cultivating willpower, self-respect and focus in your daily life. Because the mastery of anything begins with discipline:
"To master anything, we must first master ourselves: our emotions, thoughts and actions. This ancient virtue of self-control is more essential than ever in today’s distraction-filled world.”
Ruling over Your Body
While some of his counterparts might take the gentler approach to nurturing success, Holiday shares the harsh truth - mastery is painful. It requires overcoming the apparent limits of your body with a relentless commitment to your purpose:
"You say you love what you do. Where’s your proof? What kind of streak do you have to show for it?"
It’s how the greatest achievers of history have gotten the results they did. Not by showing up sometimes. But by pushing through the pain to show up consistently even when their body didn’t want to.
Ruling over your body also links to Holiday’s principle that a strenuous life is the best life:
"Because as you’re building muscle, you’re also building willpower. More important, you’re building this willpower and strength while most people are not.”
Avoid the Superfluous
As Stoic tradition dictates, Holiday stresses to avoid the superfluous. One indication you have of knowing something is superfluous is paying attention to what other people are pushing on you - the insecure pressure you to be like them. Another is assessing how much your interest in something is motivated by keeping up or the fear of missing out.
Holiday highlights the inspiring story of boxer Rubin Carter’s 19-year wrongful imprisonment. It wasn’t his wealth that got him through his incarceration, but quite the opposite. He deliberately stripped himself of whatever “luxuries” prison offered - no pillows, radio, rugs or TV. This was a remarkable act of willpower in the tragic circumstances of unjustly losing his freedom. It was a strategy to ensure that nothing else could be taken away from him. The guards had no leverage over him. Holiday says:
“By being strict with ourselves, we take away others’ power over us."
Sweat the Small Stuff
Discipline is Destiny advocates to ‘just show up’:
“Don’t worry about setting any records … just report for duty. No excuses. And here’s the irony: This is also a way to break records!”
"Show up and try. Get on the treadmill. Pick up the violin. Answer some emails. Script out some scenes. Reach out to some clients. Read some reports. Lift a couple weights. Jog one mile. Cross one thing off the to-do list. Chase down a lead."
“One thing a day adds up. Each day adds up.”
To be clear, just showing up is not about showing up half-heartedly. Winners sweat the small stuff. Whether you’re a carpenter or an athlete, greatness is disguised in the details. And the details require self-discipline. Even when it feels like nobody notices or cares, it matters to your mastery. Plus, you never know who might be watching or one day will be - and what their opinion of your efforts will be:
"By focusing on form, by sweating the small stuff, we make ourselves stronger—stronger, in fact, than if we’d just rushed in and thrown ourselves at supposedly harder problems. By ignoring the little things, we make ourselves vulnerable."
The book is painstakingly peppered with fascinating stories of history’s most famous figures to paint its points. Use the Stoic virtue of discipline to master your body, emotions, thoughts and actions. Create extraordinary discipline to achieve what others don’t.
Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday: Available on Amazon.
