Be a Captain

As a consultant, working in the world of technology, losing a consulting role is a common thing. I have had positions that lasted three years and others that only lasted a single quarter.

What does this have to do with Stoicism? There are a number of ways to respond to these ups-and-downs. You can get angry and frustrated and ask, "Why me?" You can embrace the fact that there are things in your control and things out of your control. Management can change their strategy and regardless of how hard you work, the outcome will be the same: the budget for a role is cut and a company goes in another direction. So long as you do the best you can, you should step away without frustration or anger. Sure, you can feel badly, but only for a moment as it doesn't change anything. All you can control is your own response to the forever shifting circumstances. If you allow your emotions to be jerked around by things out of your control, your entire life will feel chaotic. When faced with chaos, you have the ability to remain consistent moving toward a goal of your own design. You are in control of your mind and your response, not the events that occur around you. You don't ignore the world, you pick through it and discover those things you can control and that is where you put your energy. The alternative is to be like a boat with no captain tossed by the wind and sea.