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Stoic Optimism: Ryan Holiday at TEDxUChicago 2014

2014

Ryan Holiday is the Director of Marketing at American Apparel and the author of “The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Adversity to Advantage” (May 2014), a manual for approaching the obstacles we face in life and flipping them into advantages.

21:47 min

FindCenter Quotes ImageLearning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it . . . the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way. . . .

Quote
George Leonard
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FindCenter Quotes ImageThis is how great intellectual breakthroughs usually happen in practice. It is rarely the isolated genius having a eureka moment alone in the lab. Nor is it merely a question of building on precedent, of standing on the shoulders of giants, in Newton’s famous phrase.

Quote
Steven Johnson
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Your Hidden Superpowers: How the Whole Truth of Failure Can Change Our Lives

Dr. Becca North rewrites the story we tell ourselves about failure. She puts forth a captivating vision of how shifting our view of failure would change how we lead our lives, yielding profound benefits for us as individuals and as a society.

Book
Becca North
2025
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Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges

Most of us at some point in our lives will be struck by major traumas such as the sudden death of a loved one, a debilitating disease, assault, or a natural disaster. Resilience refers to the ability to ‘bounce back’ after encountering difficulty.

Book
Steven M. Southwick, Dennis S. Charney
2025
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You Are Awesome: How to Navigate Change, Wrestle with Failure, and Live an Intentional Life

Why is life getting harder instead of easier? How do I get back up after life knocks me down? And how do I grow stronger and live more intentionally? We no longer have the tools to handle failure…or even perceived failure. When we fall, we lie on the sidewalk crying. When we spill, we splatter.

Book
Neil Pasricha
2025
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Everyone Fails. Here’s How to Pick Yourself Back Up.

Learning to fail is a skill like any other—which means it takes practice. Learn how to thrive in spite of even your most epic mistakes.

Article
Rachel Simmons
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The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery

This is a book about self-sabotage. Why we do it, when we do it, and how to stop doing it—for good.Coexisting but conflicting needs create self-sabotaging behaviors. This is why we resist efforts to change, often until they feel completely futile.

Book
Brianna Wiest
2025
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Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World

In The Price of Privilege, respected clinician, Madeline Levine was the first to correctly identify the deficits created by parents giving kids of privilege too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right things.

Book
Madeline Levine
2020
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FindCenter Quotes ImageYou can’t do everything, but you can do one thing, and then another and another. In terms of energy, it’s better to make a wrong choice than none at all. You might begin by listing your priorities—for the day, for the week, for the month, for a lifetime. Start modestly.

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George Leonard
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FindCenter Quotes ImageFailures are finger posts on the road to achievement.

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C. S. Lewis
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Adaptability