Week 1: Epictetus

Epictetus was born a slave in ancient Rome and became a stoic philosopher, so he knew a thing or two about overcoming adversity and he distinguishes between those aspects of life that can be controlled by the individual and those aspects which lie beyond the individual's control. Epictetus was lame and below he is depicted with his crutch.

Epictetus

James Stockdale used Epictetus' philosophy for a much more serious problem than my own; he used it to help him survive seven and a half years in a military prison during the Vietnam War. He wrote a book about his experiences called, Courage under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior (1993).

The Epictetus quotation for this week is: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Sometimes fear of failure can stop us from taking necessary action in our life. Epictetus would say there are two sources of failure - that which lies within ourselves and factors beyond our control. In terms of factors that it is within our power to control, then we will only fail if we choose to fail. In terms of factors beyond our control; it is not worth worrying about them.  Once we have decided on a course of action then it goes from being a vague hope and turns into a goal, and at that point we need to find ways to achieve our goal and take those steps... just like Laura Trott does.

Laura Trott wins the omnium