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Hi there and welcome!
I am Ryan Holiday and I am a writer and media strategist. When I was 19 years old, I dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power. I went on to become the director of marketing for American Apparel (you might have seen some of the controversial campaigns I was a part of). My creative agency, Brass Check, has advised clients like Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as many prominent bestselling authors, including Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins and Tim Ferriss. I am the author of five books, including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy and The Daily Stoic. The Obstacle Is the Way has been translated into more than twenty languages and has a cult following among NFL coaches, world-class athletes, TV personalities, political leaders, and others around the world. Now I live on a ranch outside Austin, Texas where I do my writing and work in between raising cattle, donkeys and goats.
I originally started this blog nearly ten years ago to help me along in my journey of self-education. I wanted to write what I wished other blogs would talk about more often: life, dealing with assholes, how to be self-critical and self-aware, humility, philosophy, reading, learning, research and strategy. Aside from this site, I have written for the New York Observer, Thought Catalog, Entrepreneur, 99U, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Medium, Boing Boing, Forbes, Columbia Journalism Review and multiple other outlets.
Today, most people subscribe to my work via email—about 70,000 people get them emailed directly to their inbox wherever I happen to publish them. I’d like to invite you to sign up and get them to (you can also reply and chat with me about anything I’ve written). As a welcome, I will instantly send you a free pdf collection of my most viral and popular articles designed to help you be more productive, strategic and successful. I can’t take credit for everything in them—because one of my strategies is to borrow from the smartest people I know. My tips and tricks include helpful hints from a wide range of people like filmmaker Casey Neistat, my editor Niki Papadopoulos, my wife Samantha and authors like Tim Ferriss, Nassim Taleb and Robert Greene. Just sign up below and I look forward to chatting!
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For my favorite articles throughout the years, you can consult this page.
What Others Say
“Ryan Holiday is one of his generation’s finest thinkers…” — Steven Pressfield, author of the New York Times bestseller The War of Art
“Holiday is part Machiavelli, part Ogilvy, and all results…this whiz kid is the secret weapon you’ve never heard of.” — Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titan
“Ryan Holiday is one of the most promising young writers of his generation.” — George Raveling, Hall of Fame Basketball Coach, Nike’s Director of International Basketball
“I don’t have many rules in life, but one I never break is: If Ryan Holiday writes a book, I read it as soon as I can get my hands on it.” — Brian Koppelman, screenwriter and director, Rounders, Ocean’s Thirteen and Billions
“[The Obstacle Is the Way is] a book for the bedside of every future—and current—leader in the world.” — Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery
“It’s rare that I finish a book then immediately reread it, this time with a yellow marker in hand…I can’t recommend [Ego is the Enemy] highly enough.” — Kevin Rose, entrepreneur and technology investor
“[The Daily Stoic is] a generous gift of guidance on modern living culled from a canon of wisdom hatched long ago.” —Maria Popova, editor of Brain Pickings
“Ryan’s insights are priceless.” — Marc Ecko, founder of Ecko Unltd and Complex
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You can of course also follow me on Twitter and Facebook where I post most of my writing as well. You’re welcome to follow me on Instagram as well where I regularly post stories involving my donkeys and other animals from our ranch in Texas.