$99 for 6 weeks. Starts when you're ready, with lifetime access to the full challenge.
Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders— HARRY S. TRUMAN
are readers.
“I cannot call somebody ‘hard-working’ knowing only that they read. Even if ‘all night long’ is added, I cannot say it — not until I know the focus of all this energy…” — Epictetus
It's how you read.
It's not about reading to impress people or for mental gymnastics. It's not about pouring inputs into your brain.
It's about getting better. It's about filtering your inputs. It's about finding useful knowledge — knowledge you can use in your actual life. It's about putting the information up to the test, examining it, seeing how it applies to your life, asking yourself how you might use it, what it's prompting you to think.
If that's the kind of reader you want to be, the Stoics can show you the way.
We built out their best insights into our Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge.
This challenge will take place across 6 weeks at a pace of 1 email every 3 days (~30,000 words of exclusive content), in which Read to Lead participants will learn:
And much, much more.
Additionally, there are dozens of video recordings with Ryan Holiday, author of 12 books about Stoic philosophy which have sold more than 10 million copies in over 40 languages. Ryan's monthly newsletter dedicated to book recommendations goes out to over 350,000 people. His book recommendations are featured weekly on the MSNBC morning show, Morning Joe, and videos on his reading habits have gotten millions and millions of views.
As a participant in Read to Lead: A Daily Stoic Reading Challenge, you'll not only become a better reader and build a real reading habit, you'll get to learn from Ryan and the practice that's made him, as it's been said, “the king of reading as a form of self-improvement.”
Far too many good brains have been afflicted by the pointless enthusiasm for useless knowledge.— Seneca
For the relaunch of the Read to Lead Challenge, Ryan will be hosting a Q&A, only accessible to folks who sign up for the challenge. Don't miss this opportunity!
This month only, for the launch of the all-new 2026 edition of the Read to Lead Challenge, participants will receive a 20% off discount to Ryan's bookshop, The Painted Porch, so you can grab all the book recommendations you'll be getting throughout the challenge!
Marcus Aurelius' life was changed by a single book recommendation. In Book 1 of Meditations, he thanks his philosophy teacher Rusticus for introducing him to Epictetus's lectures — and loaning him his own copy. Rusticus handed Marcus one book, and Marcus read that one book. This changed the arc of history.
As for Epictetus — he found freedom from slavery, long before he was legally free. How? In the writings of the Stoics, in the words of Musonius Rufus. He read his way to freedom, literally and figuratively.
More recently, there's the story of someone like Malcolm X. His early life was defined by crime, and it was a story that led to a prison cell. But in that cell, Malcolm picked up a book… and then another book… and then another. He would say later,
“People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book.”
Or think of someone like Warren Buffett — one of the richest men in the world. Do you know what he traces his fortune back to? His single best investment decision? It's a book. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham, which he first read at the age of 19. He explained in his 2013 letter to shareholders:
“I can't remember what I paid for that first copy, [but] of all the investments I ever made… [it] was the best.”
Never forget that it's in your self-interest to read — there's incredible power in it.
"The Read to Lead Challenge was the first course I chose to try, and was the reason I signed up for the Stoic Life Membership. Within it I found ideas that I was able to use to expand my reading practice. Not just tips and tricks, but real actionable lessons. Not just on reading but on leadership. I really enjoyed the set up of the course, and once I realized that I could go through it at the pace that was best for me, I was able to get more out of it. I would like to thank Ryan and his team for putting this content together."
“This challenge has set me upon a path to I don’t know where, and that’s part of the gift. I have read books I thought were beyond me, re-read books that hit very differently second time round, and developed cognitive thinking I thought had been so dormant to be beyond revival. Of all the [Daily Stoic] challenges, I have found Read to Lead to be the greatest ‘self help’ course I have completed. Ryan’s passion for Stoicism is infectious, his passion for reading is inspirational. The two together might just be the superpower you are looking for."
"I found this course to be insightful. I really like the suggestions, including the commonplace book and reading books outside my comfort zone. When this course is re-launched, I intend to sign up and, this time, make sure I have a commonplace book of some sort for those notes. All in all, an excellent course and I am looking forward to participating in the updated version!"
“Before this course I used to consider myself a reader, but now I feel like I'm truly ‘reading’ for the first time in my life. I remember more pieces of the book, and have a ton of stickies with notes and quotes to add to my commonplace book. I seriously can't thank you enough for pointing me in the right direction!”
Ryan Holiday is one of the world’s bestselling living philosophers. His books, including The Daily Stoic, The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, Stillness Is the Key and his #1 New York Times bestselling series on the Stoic Virtues, appear in more than forty languages and have sold over 10 million copies.
He lives outside Austin with his wife and two boys… and a small herd of cows and donkeys and goats. His bookstore, The Painted Porch, sits on historic Main Street in Bastrop, Texas.