All You Control is How You Play

It would be wonderful if teams didn’t cheat and refs always got the calls right. It’d be wonderful if people in the media knew what they were talking about and didn’t stake out positions just to be controversial or contrarian. It’d be wonderful if other politicians operated in good faith and put country above partisanship. It’d be wonderful if drivers were courteous and followed all the rules of the road. But we know that this is simply not how things go. They never have, and they never will. So where does that leave us? It leaves us to focus on the one thing we can control. As Marcus Aurelius wrote, it doesn’t matter what other people say or think, it only matters what you do. An athlete doesn’t control the weather or the conditions on the field. They only control how they play. A politician doesn’t control the game of politics, only how they choose to play it. We don’t control whether we get credit for our good deeds, or whether our hard work is noticed. We don’t control the economy. We don’t control whether we were born rich or poor. What we control is what we do in response. What you control is how you play. You control how you play. Not whether you win. You control how you play. Not if people like you. You control how you play. Not if the crowd cheers you on. You control how you play. That’s it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  All you control is how you play. It would be wonderful if teams didn't cheat and refs always got the calls right. It'd be wonderful if people in the media knew what they were talking about and didn't stake out positions just to be controversial or contrarian. It'd be wonderful if other politicians operated in good faith and put country above partisanship. It'd be wonderful if drivers were courteous and followed all the rules of the road. But we know that is simply not how things go. They never have, and they never will. So where does that leave us? It leaves us to focus on the one thing we can control. As Marcus Aurelius wrote, "It doesn't matter what other people say or think,

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  it only matters what you do." An athlete doesn't control the weather or the conditions on the field, they only control how they play. A politician doesn't control the game of politics, only how they choose to play it. We don't control whether we get credit for our good deeds or whether our hard work is noticed. We don't control the economy, we don't control whether we were born rich or poor. What we control is what we do in response. What you control is how you play. You control how you play, not whether you win. You control how you play, not if people like you. You control how you play, not if

• 1:54Ryan Holiday?

  the crowd cheers you on. You control how you play. That's it. If you're liking this podcast, we would love for you to subscribe. Please leave us a review on iTunes or any of your favorite podcast listening apps. It really helps. And tell a friend.