COVID-19: What would the Stoics say?

I’ve long been a huge advocate of the ancient philosophy of Stoicism.

Today their teachings have never felt more important.

These three lessons seem particularly relevant given the situation we all currently find ourselves in:

1. Focus on controlling only the things you can control
2. Take action, however small
3. Turn challenges into opportunities

These lessons are helpful regardless of the circumstance, but feel especially helpful given the situation we all find ourselves in today.

1. Focus on controlling only the things you can control

Beyond ensuring I isolate myself and my family, there’s nothing I can do to slow the spread of COVID-19. This applies to pretty much anyone who isn’t a healthcare professional or politician.

Expending energy on stressing about the situation and losing sleep with anxiety serves no one’s interests, least of all mine.

So the Stoics would urge us to focus on controlling the many things we can influence.

For me this includes:

• The direction and response of my company
• The morale and spirits of my coworkers and my family
• My own physical health and emotional wellbeing

Identify the things you can control or influence, and focus exclusively on those. Expending energy and attention on anything else is futile and wasteful.

2. Take action, however small

Given the scale of this crisis, I empathise with people’s sense of impotence.

In the face of such enormous, unprecedented challenges, it’s tempting to throw one’s hands up in surrender and passively let life happen to you — at least temporarily.

In this situation, the Stoics would urge us to fight this instinct, take action and make progress — however small and incremental — in service of one’s goals.

Incremental progress — small forward steps, made every single day — whether at work or in one’s personal life, can compound quickly and deliver meaningful positive outcomes. Even during times like these.

3. Turn challenges into opportunities

The Stoics counsel that every challenge — big or small — must be turned into an opportunity.

An opportunity to learn. An opportunity to grow. An opportunity to think differently.

We have a responsibility to those people hardest hit by this crisis to unearth the positives, identify the opportunities and take everything we learn from this experience to build a better future — for ourselves, our families, our businesses, our society.

This might be the single most important, transformative event in our lifetime. Our individual and collective response to it could effect profound, paradigm-shifting societal and economic change.

We have an opportunity, I believe, to rethink everything and question fundamental assumptions about how we live and work.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if ultimately all this suffering and despair counted for something? Wouldn’t it be great if we used this disaster to rebuild a cleaner, safer, and more equitable world?

At a time when optimism is in increasing short supply, considering this possibility fills me with hope.

For anyone interested in learning more about Stoicism, Ryan Holiday’s book The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph is the perfect introduction.