What, me worry?
Mark my words — the next self-help global bestseller is going to be written by a Bangalore cab driver.
With due respect to Morgan Housel, keep your eyes peeled for something along the lines of The Psychology of Mani. I have a feeling it’ll rock your world.
I’m slowly starting to believe all those posts on LinkedIn. You know, the ones where people recount those incredibly deep and profound conversations with their cabbies that left a life-changing impact on passenger, driver and anyone within a moving 5-kilometre vicinity of the cab route?
But seriously, during such a ride the other day, my cabbie volunteered some of his thoughts on the events of the past year. And how in his view, the pandemic has been the greatest leveller in remembered history. That no matter what their level of access, faith, fortune, privilege, or wealth, each person struggled. And how none of the tools at their disposal truly put anyone in a position to be able to rise above the effects of the outbreak and influence most outcomes.
It got me thinking about what’s called the “dichotomy of control”. Rooted in Stoic philosophy and practices, it divides everything in life into two categories — things we have control over, and things we don’t. It’s an explosively simple, but powerful framework for decision-making, problem-solving or just choosing what to worry about. It teaches you to identify incidents, occurrences, and events that you have the power to influence — and then focus the best of your energies, time, and attention on those things alone. For everything else, there’s M̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶c̶a̶r̶d̶ little point worrying about.
I’ve benefitted immensely since starting to put the ideas behind the DOC into my everyday life. It’s not just helped me bring down stress levels and focus better, but it’s also taught me to repurpose my thoughts, perspectives and emotions towards more fulfilling, happier outcomes.
I thought this article was a strong primer on the concept, and also offers simple advice on how to put it to use in your own everyday.
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