"A podium and a prison are both places, one high and the other low, but in either place you can still choose how you respond, if you wish to do so." - Epictetus
Almost daily we face both highs and lows, major wins and tough rejections. And when you’ve had a week of it, it's easy to feel like these circumstances control us.
But the truth is, you control your response.
Whether you’re celebrating or struggling, your attitude and next move are always within your power.
Remember, setbacks may not be your fault, but how you respond is entirely your choice.
Actionable tips:
- Focus on how you react to every outcome. Whether it's success or setback, ask, “What can I choose to do next?”
- If a deal falls through, stay proactive and immediately shift your focus to the next opportunity rather than dwelling on the loss.
Remember you will die.
—
Subscribe to The Sales Stoic for daily insights: https://www.dealfront.com/resources/newsletters/the-sales-stoic/
Follow Jack & Zac: Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-frimston-5010177b/ Zac: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zac-thompson-33a9a39b/
Connect with We Have a Meeting: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-have-a-meeting/ Website: https://www.wehaveameeting.com/
Disclaimer:
The Sales Stoic draws inspiration from the profound wisdom of Stoicism as presented in Ryan Holiday's "The Daily Stoic." As avid readers & fans, we deeply respect the work of Ryan Holiday, and acknowledge the significant impact of Stoic philosophy on our own approach to sales and life.
While The Sales Stoic applies the core principles of Stoicism to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by salespeople, it is an original work with its own distinct voice and focus. We aim to build upon the timeless wisdom of Stoicism to empower sales professionals with practical guidance and actionable insights for success in their careers and personal lives.
Zac Thompson
Co-Founder at We Have a Meeting
Jack Frimston
Co-Founder at We Have a Meeting
Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you. Wow, those singing lessons are paying off. I'm glad that we invested in them. It's the 19th of January. Tell me the quote. I'm going to hit you with it. A podium and a prison is each a place, one high and the other low. But in either place, your freedom of choice can be maintained if you so wish. So.
It may not be your fault, but it's your responsibility. So every single salesperson, when something goes wrong, when somebody hangs up on them or a deal doesn't come across the line or they have a bad discovery call, it may not be their fault, but you have a choice. How do I respond? Do I say, why me? That was so sad. I'm really upset now. Or do I say, thank you. Thank you, Marcus Aurelius for blessing me with this challenge because only now
I can get better from it. Yes. For anyone looking for the TLDR of stoicism, the framing is it's not what happens to you. It's how you respond to you. know, so it could be a case of, that deal didn't come through. There's no way I can do my job anymore. This is awful. How am going to possibly get through the rest of the month? Or it could be that deal didn't come through fair enough. You know, I've got another one. I'm prepared. I was expecting that.
It's not ideal, but okay, we can, we can roll with the punches. You control the narrative, but you certainly do not control what happens to you. And the faster you can learn that the quicker you can get into a stoic way of thinking. You can't control what happens to you. So that's beautiful. It takes me on nicely. Do you know the story of the two arrows? I don't think I do. Okay. So like we say, you can't control what happens to you. The two arrows is a story about the first arrow is the stuff that you can't control. Okay. So that might be.
the loss of someone or a deal falling through or an opportunity not going your way. So that's going to hit you. That first arrow is I've lost someone. It's inevitable. Right. You've lost a deal or someone's dead, both on similar pages. Possibly depends who's died. The second arrow is when you shoot yourself, mate. So you might shoot yourself in the foot, but you're causing the pain to yourself because your choice, your reaction is saying, I choose this feeling. I choose upset.
I choose to put myself through suffering or worrying. So the first one you have no control about and that is life. But the second one is when you choose to put yourself through that with the pain or the suffering. We're all about the questions that you can ask yourself as well as being a great salesperson and asking other people questions. So the question typically is why me? If we invert that question, why not me? Yeah, it's really, it just sparks a thought there.
I don't know if it's 60 or 90 seconds, but the anger response lasts 60 or 90 seconds, the chemical response. And people will be listening to that thinking, I've definitely been angry, angry for longer than 60 or 90 seconds. Cause that's when you do it to yourself. That's when you're in a loop then of making yourself continually more angry. You're repeating the thought or repeating the action, whatever it is that's made you angry. So the response only lasts that long. It's only meant to last that long.
But what you can be then is the observer. You can watch it happen and choose the way you respond to it. Yeah. And you see some people go through slumps for days. They come in and they put, and they put themselves through that suffering. Now the Stoics are all about going through suffering to make yourself stronger, but why suffer in your imagination? For what? So the big thing I think for today's one is you do have a choice.
Beautiful. I feel like the 19th of January could possibly be my favourite day in January so far. Wow. Big statement. I've been Jack Frimston. I've been Zach Thompson. Remember you'll die. Howard, you crack me up.