“Don’t trust in your reputation, money, or position, but in the strength that is yours — namely, your judgments about the things that you control and don’t control. For this alone is what makes us free and unfettered, that picks us up by the neck from the depths and lifts us eye to eye with the rich and powerful.”
EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.26.34-35
There’s really only one thing that will truly make you more powerful than the rich, influential, strongmen of the world. Even more than Alexander the Great, as author Ryan Holiday outlined in today’s entry in The Daily Stoic.
What’s the secret? It’s the ability to have mastery over yourself and what’s going on inside. It’s “your judgments about the things that you control and don’t control” — and when to know the difference.
It’s your awareness of the need to reduce your wants and desires, and thus increase your happiness.
It’s your quest to control your self and your emotions, and to use your reasoned choice, which makes you invincible.
It’s knowing how to receive the day’s events as they unfold — your most powerful ability.
All of these things combine into the concept of self-mastery. And that, my friends, is how to be truly powerful. With this realization and this strength, you be able to go toe-to-toe with the rich and influential — anybody, really.
And you’ll know who has more power (hint: it’s you!).
