Stillness is the Key. Ryan Holiday.

Confidence

Confidence is an honest understanding of our strengths and weakness that reveals the path to a greater glory: inner peace and a clear mind. 65.1

Confident people know what matters. They know when to ignore other people’s opinions. They don’t boast or lie to get ahead (and then struggle to deliver). Confidence is the freedom to set your own standards and unshackle yourself from the need to prove yourself. A confident person doesn’t fear disagreement and doesn’t see change— swapping an incorrect opinion for a correct one—as an admission of inferiority. 65.2

Ego, on the other hand, is unsettled by doubts, afflicted by hubris, exposed by its own boasting and posturing. And yet it will not probe itself—or allow itself to be probed—because it knows what might be found. 65.3

But confident people are open, reflective, and able to see themselves without blinders. All this makes room for stillness, by removing unnecessary conflict and uncertainty and resentment. 65.4

There are going to be setbacks in life. Even a master or a genius will experience a period of inadequacy when they attempt to learn new skills or explore new domains. Confidence is what determines whether this will be a source of anguish or an enjoyable challenge. 65.5

There is no such thing as full confidence, or ever-present confidence. We will waver. We will have doubts. We will find ourselves in new situations of complete uncertainty. But still, we want to look inside that chaos and find that kernel of calm confidence. 65.6

Contentment

You will never feel okay by way of external accomplishments. Enough comes from the inside. It comes from stepping off the train and see what you already have, what you’ve always had. 101

Mastery

Mastering our mental domain—as paradoxical as it might seem— requires us to step back from the rigidity of the word “mastery.” We’ll get the stillness we need if we focus on the individual steps, if we embrace the process, and give up chasing. We’ll think better if we aren’t thinking so hard. 69

When our thoughts are empty and our body is in its groove, we do our best work. 157

When the body is busy with the familiar, the mind can relax. The monotony becomes muscle memory. To deviate seems dangerous, wrong. As if it’s inviting failure in. 158

Solitude

Solitude allows us to reflect while others are reacting. We need solitude to refocus on prospective decision-making, rather than just reacting to problems as they arise. 166

The wise and busy know that solitude and stillness are there in pockets, if they need them. The few minutes before going onstage for a talk or sitting in their hotel room before a meeting. The morning before the rest of the house wakes up. Or late in the evening after the world has gone to sleep. 169

Sleep

Sleep is the other side of the work we’re doing—sleep is the recharging of the internal batteries whose energy stores we recruit in order to do our work. It is a meditative practice. It is stillness. It’s the time when we turn off. It’s built into our biology for a reason. 178

We have only so much energy for our work, for our relationships, for ourselves. A smart person understands this and guards it carefully. The greats—they protect their sleep because it’s where the best state of mind comes from. They say no to things. They turn in when they hit their limits. They don’t let the creep of sleep deprivation undermine their judgment. They know there are some people who can function without sleep, but they are also smart and self-aware enough to know that everyone functions better when well-rested. 178

If you want peace, there is just one thing to do. If you want to be your best, there is just one thing to do. Go to sleep. 179