Circle of Control

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

This has been an important lesson for the pandemic. I can’t control my body or the chance of me getting COVID. I can reduce the chances of getting it but ultimately I have no control over whether or not I get it. This is important to remember in other parts of my life because I think I forget that and then try to control things that are very clearly outside of my control.

I read an interesting note earlier today from an executive. They can set direction and provide guidance but then it’s out of their hand and it’s up to all the people in the organization to execute on it.

The One Path To Serenity

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Identify what is inside and outside of my control. Give up everything outside of my control. I’ve slept a lot better since this and similar stoics. If I can’t sleep it’s an opportunity to meditate. Often what comes of that is sleep. I am surrendering to my body because that is something I don’t control. Instead I am choosing to practice meditation. I’m giving in and not allowing frustration over a lack of sleep to control my lack of sleep.

If You Want To Be Unsteady

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Choices and judgement determine my tranquility not the environment. This means not avoiding things that potentially disrupt my steadiness. To me this means not being docile in my judgement and choices. To instead embrace differences and make a judgement based on them. Stoicism is often seen as being passive. This seems to indicate that stoicism is our control and what we do with that control.

That’s comforting because I’ve come to a point in my career where I’m going to embrace my ability to push the status quo. It’s something I’ve always done but at some point I hit a wall. Once I hit that wall I’m told to be quiet and let things happen. I think there’s opportunity there and it only comes when I have conviction that my reasoned choices and judgements are the right path. It may end in failure but again my choices and judgements about that failure determine my tranquility.

If You Want To Be Steady

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Proper judgement is the best way. How do I found out what’s proper judgement. We all have different viewpoints and ideas about how things should work. That’s where conflict arises. Even when I speak up the response I get back are along the lines of, “he just wants to do it his way.” That hurts because I feel I have the best interest of everyone in mind. I’ve started to take more conviction to those types of responses because I do see an inefficiency in the way things are currently working. I like to push the status quo. I should embrace that and I should embrace the conflict that arises from that. Now to do that while remaining steady.

What We Control And What We Don't

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

This is a key lesson for me and has helped me sleep better at night. It’s also put a lot of things about the world into perspective. Instead of fighting against what I can’t control I focus on what I can control my thoughts and response. Some times that means taking a step back to truly think about something that is causing a particular type of reaction.