Bob Dylan, the Queen, and the Secret to Staying in the Game!
👉 How showing up & doing the work can lead to fulfillment.
Welcome Back to the Daily Dylan Stoicism Series!
So far, we’ve explored:
📌 How obstacles fueled Dylan’s greatest reinventions.
📌 How the Four Stoic Virtues shaped his career.
But there’s one simple principle that underpins everything Dylan has ever done:
Perseverance.
Sticking with it. Keeping on, even when no one is watching. Staying committed to the task at hand.
The world sees Dylan as a legend, a poet, a cultural icon. But how does he see himself?
A working musician. Someone who shows up, does the job, and keeps moving forward.
And that’s the real secret.
The Never-Ending Tour: A Masterclass in Showing Up
Since 1988, Dylan has been on the Never-Ending Tour—performing over 100 concerts per year for decades.
No artist of his stature has worked this relentlessly, year after year, through changing times, trends, and personal struggles.
Many have asked: Why does he do it? He doesn’t need the money. He doesn’t need the fame.
Dylan’s answer?
“A song is never the same. You sing it once, and the next night, it’s different.”
For Dylan, it’s not about some abstract goal or legacy. It’s about being present with the music, every single night.
He focuses on the task at hand—and that’s why he never burns out.
🎯 The Stoic Lesson: Focus on what’s in front of you right now. Focus on the task at hand.
The Task at Hand: Why Small Actions Matter
We live in a world obsessed with results, achievements, and end goals.
📌 How much money do you have?
📌 Did you get the promotion?
📌 What’s your five-year plan?
But Dylan never worked like that. He didn’t become a legend by thinking about being a legend.
He just focused on:
🎸 Writing the next song.
🎸 Recording the next album.
🎸 Playing the next show.
Day after day. Tour after tour.
Even today, at over 80 years old, he’s still out there, still focused on doing the work, not chasing the reward.
How This Applies to You aka The Queen’s Approach
Most people think that life is about reaching a destination—a big achievement, a retirement, a point where they can finally “relax.”
But Dylan shows us something different:
🎯 The point isn’t to stop. The point is to keep going.
And he’s not alone in this mindset.
Take Queen Elizabeth II. She could have retired at any point. She could have stepped down and enjoyed the quiet life of a former monarch. But she didn’t. She kept working, kept showing up, kept fulfilling her role until the very end.
Why?
Because duty, consistency, and having something to do are more important than simply "checking out."
Dylan’s approach is the same. He doesn’t tour because he has to. He keeps going because doing the work is what gives life meaning.
Let’s break it down:
❌ Retired and bored?
👉 The Stoics (and Dylan) would say: Retirement isn’t the goal—having a purpose is. The human mind needs a task at hand, something to work on, something to stay engaged with. Dylan and Queen Elizabeth both understood this.
❌ Hate your job?
👉 Stop fixating on quitting or waiting for a “better” opportunity. Instead, focus on mastering today’s task. When you fully commit to the present, the rest takes care of itself.
❌ Feeling stuck in life?
👉 Stop thinking about the big picture. Think about the next action, the next step, the next thing you can do today.
❌ Struggling to stay motivated?
👉 Don’t think about “passion” or “inspiration.” Just show up and do the work. Some days will be great. Some won’t. But forward motion is everything.
🎯 The Stoic Lesson: True perseverance isn’t about willpower. It’s about making peace with the work itself.
Why Most People Fail at Perseverance
Most people give up because they focus on the wrong thing.
🔹 They focus on motivation instead of discipline. (Dylan doesn’t wait to feel inspired—he just starts working.)
🔹 They chase big goals instead of small, daily victories. (Dylan just focuses on the next show.)
🔹 They let boredom or frustration stop them. (Dylan accepts that some nights are bad—he plays anyway.)
If you always need motivation to keep going, you’ll never last.
If you focus on one step at a time, you can go forever.
🎯 The Stoic Lesson: Forget motivation. Build habits. Show up, every day, no matter what.
Dylan’s Greatest Act of Perseverance: Reinventing Himself Again and Again
People talk about Dylan’s reinventions as if they were grand plans.
But in reality, they weren’t reinventions.
They were adjustments. Small changes. A continuous, relentless commitment to moving forward.
📌 In the ‘60s, he moved from folk to rock.
📌 In the ‘70s, he leaned into country and gospel.
📌 In the ‘80s, he was dismissed—but he kept working, and eventually created Time Out of Mind.
📌 In the 2000s he won an Oscar and a Nobel Prize.
At no point did he say, “I need to reinvent myself.”
He just kept going.
🎯 The Stoic Lesson: Don’t think about change—just keep working, and change will happen naturally.
How to Apply This to Your Own Life
Dylan’s career is proof that perseverance isn’t glamorous—it’s about consistency.
Here’s how you can apply it:
✅ Forget the future. Stop worrying about five years from now. What’s your task today? Do that.
✅ Let go of motivation. Some days will feel good. Some won’t. Do the work anyway.
✅ Accept that not every day will be great. Some concerts weren’t great. Some albums flopped. So what? The work continues.
✅ Stay in motion. You don’t need to reinvent yourself. You just need to keep moving.
Dylan didn’t chase success—he focused on the work.
Do the same, and success—whatever that means to you—will follow.
What’s Coming Next?
So far, we’ve explored:
📌 How obstacles fueled Dylan’s greatest reinventions.
📌 How the Four Stoic Virtues shaped his career.
📌 How perseverance—and focusing on the task at hand—keeps him going.
Next up:
📌 The Stoic Principle of "Creating Yourself" – Why Dylan never waited for inspiration, but built his identity one decision at a time.
See you in the next email,
Daniel
https://substack.com/@johnshane1/note/c-104451850