5 Tips From The Stoics To Remain Calm While Working
Entrepreneurship is a long-term emotional game.
It was a day like any other day when I noticed some players complaining about our games being offline. My first company developed online games, and they should be running 24/7. Players want to play whenever they want. Any minute offline is money that we are losing. We should be cautious with our servers.
At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, and then I went to check. It was true. All of our games were offline. I talked to our technical leader, and he told me that he forgot to pay an annual fee necessary to keep the servers running. What do you do?
The word “stoic” is mainly used today to mean being calm or self-controlled in the face of difficulties. Sometimes it is even used to describe an emotionless person. As an entrepreneur, you will always have challenges to face and problems to solve. That will never end. Sometimes, even life and death situations for your company. It’s essential to remain calm, especially in those moments. Entrepreneurship is a long-term emotional game.
#1 Examine the costs of panicking or emotional reaction
“How much more harmful are the consequences of anger and grief than the circumstances that aroused them in us!” — Marcus Aurelius
I didn’t believe that my technical leader had forgotten to pay the annual fee. That was the second year that that happened. My first reaction was to be angry. It’s unacceptable that the games went offline like this. However, as I noticed the negative feeling going through me, I stopped, breathed, and calmed down. The negative emotion wasn’t helping me.
How many times have you seen a boss shouting at an employee? I would probably have done the same if I didn’t stop to talk to myself. The games were offline. I didn’t have time to panic and shout. If I did that, I would be sending a message to my technical leader that it was ok for him to do the same. How can I expect him to solve the problem if he is panicking?
#2 Focus on the smallest thing you can do right now
“Concentrate every minute like on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can - if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable.” — Marcus Aurelius
— What can we do to solve this problem right now?
— We need to pay the annual fee for the servers to be running again.
— Is there anything I can do to help?
— I need the company credit card number.
— Ok, here it is…
— Thanks. I just paid the fee. The games are back.
— Awesome. I’ll let the players know.
There was only one thing that I looked for at that moment. I wanted the games to be running again. Nothing else matters at this point. The goal is to focus on the smallest thing I could do to solve the problem.
#3 Seek stillness
“Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.” — Seneca
In difficult moments where there is not much you can do to help, you might be stressed while the problem isn’t solved. However, that is not helpful. There is always something to solve at a company. If you are worried about an issue that is not up to you to solve, you will be wasting your capabilities to solve the problems you are responsible for.
During my entrepreneurial journey, I often stressed about problems that were not up to me to solve. When you have stillness, you can organize your thoughts patiently and do better work, as you will be calm and focusing on what you have control of. Sometimes, the best you can do is nothing.
#4 Accept what’s outside of your control, get to work on what is
“Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.” — Epictetus
— I just want to let you know that this is the second year we have this problem with the games being offline. Is there anything we can do to avoid that from happening again?
— Hmm… I’m not sure. Let me think.
— Is there anything you could to not forget to pay the annual fee?
— I’m going to add a reminder for one week before the time to pay the fee. I will add you too, in any case I don’t see the reminder in the future.
— Awesome. Let’s do this.
I can’t change the past. The games were offline for a couple of hours. I lost a little money for not having the players being able to play. What I have in my control is to avoid the problem from happening again. We are all humans and make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from them and try to avoid making them repeatedly.
#5 Have confidence in your ability to make the best of anything
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” — Marcus Aurelius
As an entrepreneur, you will always have challenges to face and problems to solve. It’s up to us how we react to those situations. You may not get things right, but you should know that you are giving your best. Don’t waste time complaining when your best doesn’t work.
I wasn’t happy that the games were offline for a couple of hours, but I was happy with myself about how I handled the situation. I was calm and talked positively with my technical leader. His idea worked, and we never had our games offline again (at least, not by not paying this annual fee). It’s not that my employee doesn’t want the best for the company. He made a mistake, and I, as a leader and CEO, should help him see how we could fix the problem.
I wasn’t always a calm person. I used to be very stressed when I started my first company, which negatively impacted my performance. Studying the Stoic philosophy helped me be a calmer person, leading me to better results for my company and life. Every time I got myself perturbed, I start thinking about the five tips I just shared here.
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