gm lions and fellow passengers of planet Earth! As many of you out there I sometimes find myself getting into an anxious state. I don't believe I've ever experienced an "anxiety attack" as some people describe it, but I have been caught in a wave of negative thoughts of "what if"...
What if... I lose all my clients
What if... A.I. takes over my job
What if... robbers break into my business
What if, What if, What if...
It wasn't till I realized this about myself that I started to find ways of doing something about it. You know, like an alcoholic recognizing that he has a drinking problem. The best solution I've found, as it often happens, is to refer to the wisdom of the ancient stoics and embrace the unpredictability of the future and things that are not within my control.
Some things are up to us and some are not up to us. Our opinions are up to us, and our impulses, desires, aversions — in short, whatever is our own doing. Our bodies are not up to us, nor are our possessions, our reputations, or our public offices, or, that is, whatever is not our own doing.
When I see someone in a state of anxiety, I say, ‘What is it that he wants?’ For unless he wanted something that was not within his power, how could he still be anxious?’
-- Epictetus, from The Enchiridion
Trying to control things I can't control or even just thinking about them is a waste of time and all they do is generate fear and anxiety.
If we just focus on minding our own actions, thoughts and attitudes, anything outside of that will no longer be our concern and thus we won't have to worry about them or anticipated them with fear and anxiety. They'll come and go like a rainy day and we will be able to keep our inner peace despite them.
Easy, right?
Well, yes. But like many things in life, it requires routine and repetition.
In the words of Aristotle,
We are what we repeatedly do. We become what we repeatedly study and focus on
So it's important that we practice these thoughts day in and day out as they become more and more second nature to us. We must remind ourselves that our worries about the future exist only in our minds.d
I think I have some ideas of how I can apply these stoic principles to business, but for now, writing these thoughts on this lovely Sunday morning have put me in a beautiful state of mind. I think I'll go enjoy my Sunday with my loved ones now.
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