>>> WELCOME BACK TO "SQUAWK BOX." THE HOST OF THE DAILY STOIC WHICH APPLIES STOW I SICHL TO MODERN LIFE. GUESTS INCLUDED ON HIS SHOW WITH MATTHEW GLADWELL AND MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER. HERE HE IS AT OUR TABLE, HE'S A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF MULTIPLE BOOKS. HIS NEW BOOK "RIGHT THING, RIGHT NOW" IS OUT RIGHT NOW, BOOK NUMBER 16. THAT'S A LOT OF BOOKS. ARE YOU A STOIC? >> I TRY TO BE. >> CAN YOU DESCRIBE IT FOR THE AUDIENCE? >> MY WORKING DEFINITION IS THEY FOCUS ON HOW THEY RESPOND TO WHAT HAPPENS. COU COURAGE, WISDOM, JUSTICE, AND RESPONSIBILITY. >> HOW MUCH ARE YOU AN AUTHOR, HOW MUCH ARE YOU A PSYCHIATRIST WHEN YOU INVITE PEOPLE ON YOUR PODCASTS? >> IT'S SURREAL. WHEN I SAID I WANT TO RIDE A BOOK ABOUT ANCIENT OBSCURE PHILOSOPHY, I DIDN'T ENVISION ANY OF THIS. OTHERS HAVE. IT'S BEEN SUR REERL TO HEAR FROM MILITARY LEADERS AND TECH LEADERS AND ATHLETES AND ACTORS THAT THIS THING FROM SO LONG AGO COULD HAVE SO MUCH RELEVANCE PARTICULARLY AMONGST ELITE PERFORMERS. >> TO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE LEADING A STOIC LIFE? >> I'M CERTAINLY NOT CLAIMING TO HAVE MASTERED ABOUT THESE THINGS. I'M WRITING THEM FIRST AND FOREMOST TO MYSELF. I TRY TO BE STOIC. I THINK I'M GOOD AT SOME STUFF. >> WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT? >> THE DISCIPLINE THING COMES TO ME EASIER THAN COURAGE OR JUSTICE. I THINK I'M REASONABLY INTELLIGENT. I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO LEARN. >> BREAK THE OTHER PIECES DOWN, THE JUSTICE PIECE AND COURAGE PIECE, WHAT THAT EVEN MEANS. >> COURAGE, DISCIPLINE, JUSTICE U WISDOM. COURAGE IS IMPORTANT, BUT IN PURSUIT OF WHAT. WISDOM IS IMPORTANTING BUT WITHOUT THE DISCIPLINE, THE STRENGTH TO BRING IT INTO REALITY, WHAT CAN YOU DO? THESE SORT OF INTERLOCKING VIRTUES ARE WHAT TRY TO SHAPE US AS ASPIRING STOICS. >> HAVE YOU FOUND -- YOU TALK TO ATHLETES AND CEOs AND ALL SORTS OF OTHER PEOPLE. TO YOU FIND THERE'S ONE TYPE OF WINNER, IF YOU WILL, THAT'S BETTER AT THIS? I WOULD THINK THEETS WOULD BE BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH PAIN AND DISCIPLINE AND IT SORT OF -- IT'S PHYSICAL. >> WHAT'S FASCINATING IS WHAT THEY ALL SHARE IN COMMON IS AT THE ELITE LEVEL IT COMES DOWN TO THE MENTAL SIDE OF THINGS. YOU GO INTO THE LOCKER ROOMS, AND WHAT THEY'RE REALLY THINKING ABOUT IS NOT THE Xs AND 0s OR HOW TO COME BACK STRONGER BUT HOW TO DEAL WITH INJURIES, THINGS NOT GOING YOUR WAY, HOW TO FINDING STRESS, PEACE AND STILLNESS INSIDE THE CRAZINESS. TO ME THAT'S WHERE THE PHILOSOPHY SIDE OF THINGS COMES IN. THAT'S WHAT IT WAS DOING 2,000 YEARS AGO FOR A GENERAL OR AN EMPEROR. >> WE HAVE A LOT OF CEOs WHO WATCH THE BROADCAST AND THEY COULD USE SOME OF THEIR HELP. YOU HAVE FOLKS WHO ARE STRUGGLING, ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, TRYING TO GET THROUGH THE DAY, IS THERE ANY WAY TO TELL THEM HOW TO BE STOIC? >> THE BIGGEST STOIC IS MARCUS, THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE WORLD. ALSOEST RAH TALSOEST FRA TEE TEASE. HOW DO WE HAVE COMMAND OVER OUR THOUGHTS, OPINIONS, ULTIMATELY STOICISM IS THERE. >> HOW MUCH IS HAVING A MENTAL ATTITUDE? >> PEOPLE THINK OF STOICISM AS DEPRESSING OR RESIGNED, BUT IT'S ABOUT FOCUSING ON WHAT YOU CONTROL. >> BEING OPTIMISTIC TO SOME EXTENT THAT I CAN TO THIS. >> WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE LIFE OF SOMEONE WHO HAS TRAGEDY AND PANDEMIC AND WARS AND FLOODS AND ALL OF THE DISASTERS, THAT HE GOT OUT OF BED EACH MONTHING SHOWED COURAGE AND HOPE. HE DID IT EARLY AND REALIZED HIS POTENTIAL. THIS IDEA OF A SAD DEPRESSIVE -- >> DO WE HAVE TO MEDITATE? >> MARCUS'S WORK IS MEDITATIONS. HE'S NOT SITTING THERE WITH HIS EYES CLOSED. HE'S WRITING. JOURNALISTS AS A PRACTICE, HOW DO YOU CREATE SOME DISTANCE FROM YOUR THOUGHTS? HOW DO YOU HOLD YOURSELF -- >> I THOUGHT ABOUT DOING THE JOURNALING THING, THE ARTIST WAY. >> QUIET TIME IN THE MORNING. >> WE DON'T HAVE QUIET TIME. >> YOU'VE GOT TIME. YOU'VE GOT QUIET MOMENTS. WE CAN IMAGINE HE WAS A PRETTY BUSY GUY, BUT HE'S FINDING TIME TO SCRIBBLE THINGS DOWN. >> HIS FAVORITE PHILOSOPHER WAS A SLAVE? >> YEAH. >> DID HE DO ANYTHING TO RELEASE THE SLAFR? >> WERE THE STOICS PERFECT? >> NO. IT WAS NOT A TIME. >> I WOULD RATHER BE AN EMPEROR. >> IT'S A PREFERRING INDIFFERENCE. WOULD YOU RATHER BE RICH OR POOR, TALL OR SHORT? YOU'D HAVE SOME CHOICE. >> STOICISM HAS BEEN A BIG TOPIC FOR MANY OF YOUR BOOKS. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENT TWEENS WHERE YOU STARTED IN THE PROCESS AND WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW? >> LIKE A LOT OF YOUNG MEN, I WAS INTERESTED IN WHAT IT COULD DO FOR ME, HOW IT COULD MAKE ME MORE PRODUCTIVE, RESILIENT, AND IN CONTROL OF MYSELF. JUSTICE IS A CENTRAL PART OF STOICISM. WHAT IS STOICISM ASKING OF YOU? AS A CITIZEN, HUMAN BEING, SPOUSE, PARENT. WE CAN'T STRIP THE ETHICAL COMPONENT OUT OF IT. IF WE THINK OF STOICS AS BEING THESE POWERFUL IMPORTANT
