{"id":87124,"date":"2023-01-16T22:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T02:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=87124"},"modified":"2023-01-20T12:28:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T16:28:58","slug":"ryan-holiday-stillness-is-the-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/ryan-holiday-stillness-is-the-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Holiday: Stillness Is the Key (Book Overview)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is Ryan Holiday’s Stillness Is the Key<\/em> about? What is the key message to take away from the book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Stillness Is the Key<\/em>, Ryan Holiday takes us through the dimensions of the mind, soul, and body, explaining how to cultivate stillness. He explains that stillness is a state of being that can enrich our lives, guide us to make better decisions<\/a>, and encourage a sense of connectedness to everything around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for the key takeaways from the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Is Stillness?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stillness isn\u2019t the literal absence of physical motion. Rather, Holiday explains that it\u2019s a perceptible state of mind that exists in the absence of physical, mental, or emotional chaos. Stillness is a state of clarity, contentment, peace, awe, love, fulfillment, and brilliance. <\/strong>He likens it to the Buddhist concept of \u201csatori,\u201d an experience of deep insight and awakening, or a state of enlightenment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: According to Buddhists the state of satori<\/a> is actually our original, natural state, to which we can return<\/em> through the practice of meditation<\/a>. Buddhists believe that of all living creatures, only humans have strayed from this original enlightened state of being.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, stillness is a state of being that gives you strength and courage to deal with adversity and difficulty. For example, Holiday says stillness was the quality that allowed Anne Frank to endure the horrific experience of persecution in Nazi Germany with such grace and peace of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Perhaps the most remarkable quality Anne Frank possessed was her ability to maintain optimism in the face of unimaginable horror. Psychological research has shown that maintaining a positive outlook<\/a> is the single greatest predictor of how resilient one is in adversity.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Stillness Is the Key<\/em>, Ryan Holiday assures us that stillness is accessible to everyone at any time, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s easy<\/em> to access\u2014it requires substantial practice and discipline. Even when we do experience stillness, he says, we often only experience fleeting moments of it. You must keep practicing to get to a point where it’s consistently maintained and readily accessible to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calming the Muddy Waters of Your Mind<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Throughout our lives, we\u2019re all bound to face crises of some kind and we\u2019ll come through them much better if we know how to approach them with stillness, rather than reacting in an emotionally charged way. In addition to dealing calmly and effectively with challenges, cultivating stillness in your life allows you to have breakthrough moments of inspiration and genius<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better help us understand how stillness leads to breakthroughs, Holiday uses a metaphor taken from the Chinese philosophy of Daoism (or, Taoism<\/em>). He says to think of your mind as a pool of muddy water. As thoughts churn, the mud does too. When you allow the muddy water to become still, the mud settles to the bottom and the water becomes clear. This allows you to see what is deeper under the surface. Beautiful fish, plants, and rocks that were previously obscured by the mud become visible. The same goes for our minds. When we learn to calm the chatter, worries, and petty concerns, our minds become clear and we\u2019re able to access the deeper thoughts, insights, and inspiration that are normally obscured by the \u201cmud.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: <\/strong>A sacred text of the Taoist tradition, the Tao Te Ching<\/em><\/a>, says the Tao<\/em> is the natural order of the universe, to which we\u2019re all connected on a deep, spiritual level. However, we often lose our connection with it and need to practice simplicity, patience, and compassion to find it again. Practicing simplicity means not pursuing worldly possessions, power, and other superficial achievements. Instead, we should let go of ambition<\/a>, as our worldly ambitions distract us from the deep peace of the Tao<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Holiday describes stillness as a state of mind, he also emphasizes that the mind cannot achieve stillness without being in tune with the body and soul.<\/strong> He says these three dimensions of ourselves are inseparable, so he gives us instructions for how to cultivate stillness in each. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stilling the Mind<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Holiday, cultivating stillness in your life begins with learning to consciously control your thoughts<\/a>. To that end, you need to stop wasting energy on the wrong things, such as fear and negativity, and free up that energy for developing positive mental habits and qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conserve Your Mental Energy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Prepare your mind for stillness by eliminating the amount of mental energy you waste.<\/strong> This will give you more energy to devote toward strengthening your mind with confidence and wisdom. Holiday explains how <\/strong> limiting your mental consumption, prioritizing your daily tasks, and making space for silence all reduce mental energy and create the right conditions for stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, he says our mental states are affected by the news and other information we consume. Anything you read or listen to will influence your mind, often in detrimental ways. So one thing he advises is that you should limit your exposure to the news and don\u2019t consume it in real time.<\/strong> Instead, give it a few days\u2014this will naturally sort out what\u2019s important to your life and what\u2019s not. Put simply, the important information will still be important later and the unimportant won\u2019t. By waiting and only consuming what is crucial, you can avoid wasting mental energy on information that doesn\u2019t matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holiday points out that the need to constantly be \u201cinformed\u201d and up to date on everything is rooted in ego. We fear looking ignorant and being left out or left behind. In reality, it\u2019s not necessary to know what\u2019s going on all over the world at all times. Most of it is a waste of your valuable time, and because the media sensationalizes everything and focuses on the negative, the consumption can clutter and disturb your mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysis Paralysis<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Holiday says taking in too much information on a daily basis can cause \u201canalysis paralysis,\u201d a state when your mind becomes overwhelmed to the point where you can\u2019t make good decisions and you become unproductive. In order to cultivate stillness, Holiday says you need to prioritize your tasks (and the mental energy that each requires). To do this, he advises ordering your priorities using the \u201cEisenhower Box<\/a>.\u201d This method involves sorting your tasks into four categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Important and time-sensitive: Do it now.<\/li>
  2. Important but not time-sensitive: Schedule a later time to do it.<\/li>
  3. Less important but time-sensitive: Delegate it to someone else if possible.<\/li>
  4. Important and not time-sensitive: Eliminate it.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Holiday points out that most truly important stuff isn\u2019t actually time-sensitive, so it should be given space, time, and contemplation.<\/strong> When you organize your life this way, you may see that you spend too much time on unimportant tasks. Eliminating those distractions will free your mind for stillness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (Shortform note: James Clear, self-help speaker and author of Atomic Habits<\/em><\/a>, says there is no faster way of doing a task than not doing it at all<\/a>. He says one of our biggest productivity blocks is spending time on things we really don\u2019t need <\/em>to do. For him, the Eisenhower Box is an excellent tool for identifying those unimportant tasks. He argues, in fact, if we were to eliminate all of the unnecessary tasks we do on a daily basis, we probably wouldn\u2019t even need any other productivity strategies<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Create a Quiet Atmosphere<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    In addition to limiting your mental consumption, freeing up your mental energy requires creating a quieter atmosphere in your life<\/strong>. Holiday says we\u2019re constantly trying to avoid silence and fill it with any noise we can find, but we can never find peace that way. Trying to cover up and avoid your thoughts with literal and figurative noise is counterproductive. To make space for silence in your life, Holiday recommends the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n