How Stoicism Inspired Me to Change My Company’s Mission
Create a healthy and compelling long-term goal.
Stoicism is a philosophy designed to make us more resilient, happier, and wiser. For the past couple of years, I have been studying the works of Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus, who are the three great Stoic philosophers, in addition to reading the books of Ryan Holiday, who is a great student of stoicism. It is a straightforward philosophy to put into practice, and I have been trying to follow my life to the fullest concerning its teachings.
Stoicism helped me see life differently. Especially the professional part. I was the type of person that overthought the future and ended up not enjoying the present the best was possible. I was always pushing myself in a way that wasn’t healthy personally and professionally.
Big Hairy Audacious Goal
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.” — Seneca
When I started my first company, I didn’t understand the importance of setting goals. I knew how to work hard, and that was what my three partners and I did. After two years of long hours of work and a few hours of sleep, my three partners decided to give up the entrepreneurial journey. We were not getting good results. I decided to go on, but I had to learn to work better to achieve better results. That’s when I learned about goals. Setting goals helped me make my company profitable, and when that happened, I started to think more about long term.
I learned from Jim Collins’ books that a company’s mission is its Big Hairy Audacious Goal. BHAG is a powerful and bold long-term goal, which influences the medium and short term goals. This long-term goal has the purpose to challenge and motivate everybody to do a better job, which was something that I was looking for.
Jim Collins presented four types of mission:
- Targeting: set a clear, well-defined target and aim for it. Most examples were about being #1 in an industry or country.
- Common Enemy: set out to defeat a common enemy. It appeals to people’s competitive instincts.
- Role Model: use organizations that you admire as images of what you want your company to become.
- Internal Transformation: usually best in organizations that need a dramatic restructuring.
Although I didn’t choose to go with the Common Enemy type of mission, I’m a very competitive person. I always thought about being the best. Because of that, I chose the Targeting type. I defined my company's mission as “Be the #1 word game company in the world”.
Entrepreneurship is a long-term emotional game
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…” — Epictetus
There are some absolute things in our lives. One is that we will always have problems. Entrepreneurial life is basically solving problems. So it is up to us to decide how we are going to face them. We can complain or find ways to solve them.
In 2018, I was going through burn out, and because of that, I started therapy. One of the things I learned from my psychologist is that we tend to create goals considering things that are not in our control, which is frustrating. I remember saying that I would like my next romantic relationship to be the last one in my life. However, this is not an objective that belongs to me alone. What is up to me is the type of person I will be in the relationship, so, even if it doesn’t work out, the important thing is to look back and see what kind of person I was.
Being the number one company in the world was not a goal that was entirely up to me either. I have no control over the results of other companies. Let’s say you set the goal of making US$2 billion in revenue for the year because currently, the #1 company in the world in your segment makes US$1 billion. The year ends, and you reach US$2 billion, but the company that is currently #1 in the world makes US$ 3 billion. How do you feel? You couldn’t reach the goal of being #1 in the world. As much as you made an incredible number, our brain focuses on the part not achieved, which creates frustration.
What would be a stoic mission?
“It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” — Marcus Aurelius
Because of all that I shared, I started to work on a new mission. However, before I could finish, I decided to leave my own company. I came up with some drafts for my team, but I hadn’t come up with anything yet that satisfied me. I was unable to come up with anything that would bring the vision of stoic philosophy, and that would be challenging and exciting for everyone on the team.
What I was trying to achieve was a mission that was entirely up to me. I didn’t want to be the best in the world anymore. I didn’t want to beat anybody. I didn’t want to compare myself with others in a way that would stress me. Instead of being obsessive about the competition, I prefer to compete with myself. How can my company be better?
We often stress about unnecessary things that could be left out. Differentiating things over which we have control is one of the most talked-about practices of stoic philosophy. We can be much happier if we can make clear to ourselves the parts of our day that are within our control and those that are not. When something goes wrong at your company, what can you do about it? Which action, which you have control, should you take? There are many unwinnable battles in which we participate that could be left out.
For a long time, I compared myself with other people and companies that had already were where I wanted to be, which only hurt me. Never compare yourself with others, as each one of us has its own time and history. Always compare yourself with yourself. Looking for ways to improve will bring positive results to your life and your company. Focus on setting goals and a mission for your company that is entirely up to you.
