"Systems of Thought" - Installment 7
Stoicism
“Objective Judgment now at this very moment, Unselfish Action now at this very moment, Willing Acceptance now at this very moment of all external events. That’s all you need.” -Marcus Aurelius
In my seventh installment of the “Systems of Thought” series, I’ll be explaining how Stoicism, a 2,000 year old philosophy, has helped me through my career. Stoicism is a philosophy for life that prepares the individual for adversity. The game of hockey challenges our mental toughness every time we step onto the ice and we have an opportunity to choose to respond to the games obstacles with courage, discipline, and leadership. I picked up this philosophy later in my career but found that the general ideas are woven into the fabric of hockey culture. Reading and studying the ideas directly allowed me to understand my own nature. I have used these lessons to narrow my focus on the important values that help me contribute to my team in the best ways.
Stoicism is a philosophy that focuses on three disciplines; PERCEPTION, ACTION, and WILL. Whether faced with an obstacle in life or on the ice, they may cause us to feel fear, frustration, confusion, helplessness, anger, doubt, and anxiety. When adversity stares us in the face we have a decision to make.
How do I perceive the problem in front of me?
What course of action am I going to take?
Do I have the will to push through the hardship of the obstacle?
Perception
Perception is how we see and understand events that happen around us and we decide what those events mean. Too often we react emotionally, get hopeless, and lose perspective. When we act on emotion, we make impulsive decisions that negatively impact the pursuit of your goal.
Here are some rules to follow when faced with an obstacle; (From: The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday)
Be objective
Control your emotions
See good in the situation
Steady your nerves
Put the situation in proper perspective
Be present in the moment
Focus on what can be controlled
Real strength lies in the control over impulsive emotions. Defeat those emotions with logic and reason. If you think about hard times you’ve gone through in the past, how many problems come from making early judgments about things we can’t control? Proper perspective can be achieved through thinking about context and framing. Context is seeing the bigger picture, and and framing is your way of looking at the world. With proper context and framing, we can have perception that helps us in difficult times, and gives us time to slow down and think about the problem instead of acting impulsively. Perception always comes before action, so to have the right action…we must have the right perception. As Ryan Holiday says, “Where the head goes, the body follows”. A way to practicing having proper perception during a difficult time is to think, “this moment is not my life, it is just a moment IN my life”.
Action
Action is the solution to our problems. With persistence and flexibility, we will act in the best interest of our goals. When proper perspective in place, we are prepared to greet obstacles with energy, persistence, resilience, and a plan. In the action phase, we are acknowledging some kind of failure. To make any progress we need to remember that failure is part of progress. Questions to ask are: What went wrong? What am I missing? What can be improved? Failure shows us the way by showing us what ISN’T the way.
Taking action to reverse a failure requires us to follow a process. The process should be about finishing the smallest task right in front us. Don’t think about the end, just think about surviving the first step. When the right process is order, it keeps our perceptions in check and actions in sync. Taking action requires we take responsibility and ownership of the problem in front of us. And doing the right thing right now, our perception can be managed and action can be directed.
Context and Framing
Looking at our problems with the correct context and framing to shape our perspective and taking proper action, we are left with the will to persevere. Will is our internal power, which can never be affected by the outside world. True will is courage, resilience, humility, and flexibility in the face of adversity. Progress sometimes requires the endurance of pain. Acknowledge that pain (mental or physical) but keep moving toward your task. The Stoics believe that every Roman had this Inner Citadel within them. It is the fortress inside us that no external adversity can break. It resides in all of us if we have the courage and strength to think this way. This inner fortress sees each adversity in life as an opportunity to develop another strength, perspective, or way of gaining wisdom. The Inner Citadel accepts the world as it is. It says see clearly and act correctly. With the will to persevere we prepare ourselves for pushing through tough times.
Application
In hockey, tough times take on different forms. They include lack of playing time, conflict with teammates or coaches, getting cut, losing a big game, playing for a team that gets outshot, or playing for a team that doesn’t give up many shots. The examples can be endless. All of the things listed are things we have no control over. We can only react to it. We goalies have the biggest impact on the outcome of the game (good or bad). We are the last line of defense. We know that if we outperform the other team’s goalie… the chances of your team winning are high!
The goalie is put into a position where he or she bears the most pressure game in and game out. When you find yourself in high-pressure situations, remember to have the right perspective. Take the correct course of action. Have the will push through what is front of you. In his book “The Obstacle is the Way”, Ryan Holiday summarizes the stoic mindset perfectly, He says, “See things for what they are, do what we can, endure and bear what we must, what blocked the path is now a path, what once impeded action advances action, the obstacle is the way.”
-JP
This Month’s recommended reading: The Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday