stoicism is not the secret, it's not
magically wishing that something is is
true there is no power of intention if
you want to make a million dollars you
will not suddenly make a million dollars
if they do something about it right so
what do you do how do you how do you
guard your perceptions but then take
action by them Dwight D Eisenhower I
think there's a wonderful example of
this as the Nazis overwhelmed Europe
with the blitzkrieg which was a
fundamental change in modern warfare and
the blitzkrieg attack is actually
designed to exploit the flinch of the
enemy the idea is if you throw enough
firepower and you throw enough speed at
an enemy they will break that you will
be able to plunge into their territory
and they won't be able to catch up right
this is essentially how the blitzkrieg
attack works so as that as the German
Panzer divisions wreaked havoc through
Europe this exploitation became sort of
a feedback loop and shortly after the
invasion of Normandy the Nazis launched
what is the largest sort of
counter-offensive that they'd ever done
it's about two hundred thousand troops
they're being launched at the Allies and
the Allies really have nowhere to go
right they can't get back on their boats
and go home and so for the first real
time Eisenhower is forced to examine
this strategies forced to examine why
the blitzkrieg is working and he
assembles all his generals at a at the
at the Allied headquarters in Malta and
it's this magnificent scene he strolls
into the conference room all his
generals are sitting around the table
and he says the present situation is to
be regarded as opportunity for us and
not disaster there will be only cheerful
faces at this conference table and again
this isn't just his perception this
isn't just how he's looking at it but
what he's realized is that if the Allies
could bend instead of break if they
could if they could allow the enemy
advance to happen but then encircle it
from the rear they could exploit a
fundamental opportunity or I guess you
could say fatal flaw in the
effectiveness of the blitzkrieg and so
that's what the Allies do first at the
follies pocket and then later at the
Battle of the Bulge
these are critical victories what looked
like an overwhelming counter-offensive
becomes the two of the major victories
that assure Ally success in Europe they
open up the path to Berlin and so so
it's it's how Eisenhower is able to
look at this opportunity and then do
something about it that creates that
creates the advantage from the obstacle
right and Epictetus is saying every
event has two handles one by which it
can be carried in one by which it can't
if your brother does you wrong don't
grab it by his wrongdoing but use the
other handle and that's what Eisenhower
did he grabs it by the other handle and
suddenly this this adversity becomes an
advantage and Amelia Earhart is a
similar figure who I find deeply
inspiring her strategy as she had
painted on the side of her plane always
think with your stick forward there
needs to be momentum and when you slow
down especially in the air this is where
you lead to a crash and Amelia Earhart's
biggest and most Admiral decision was as
a young woman
it's the 1920s women had just earned the
right to vote she's working as a as a
social worker and she gets a call and a
donor had been willing to fund a
transatlantic flight with a woman and
this would be a record-setting flight
but there was a catch right the catch is
amelia is not going to be able to fly
the plane she's not even gonna be the
copilot she has to sit in the back with
the map she can be the navigator and not
only that the other two pilots are going
to get paid and she's not she basically
has to sit there as she as she says on
the flight I was basically about as
helpful as a sack of potatoes but so
when you get that offer what do you do
your ego wants to say no I don't want
that opportunity it's not on my terms
it's offensive that's probably what I
what I might have done it at a certain
point in my life but what does it mean
Earhart do she says yes and the reason
she says yes is this idea of thinking
with your stick forward that what what I
need is a just a tiny opening to put my
foot through and so she does the flight
she becomes a celebrity despite her
minor role in the thing and about five
years later she's able on her own to do
the first female solo transatlantic
flight and becomes a world-renowned
aviator and so it's it's this conquering
of the ego that allows us to see
opportunities where others might have
seen an offensive offer or something
that wasn't good enough for us
and so Epictetus is saying again first
tell yourself what kind of person you
want to be then do what you have to do
for nearly in every pursuit we see this
to be the case those in athletic pursuit
first choose the sport they want and
they do that work and that's what Amelia
Earhart does thanks for watching please
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