I

April   9th

TEST    YOUR    IMPRESSIONS

“From   the very    beginning,  make    it  your    practice    to  say to  every   harsh   impression, ‘you    are an

impression  and not at  all what    you appear  to  be.’    Next,   examine and test    it  by  the rules   you

possess,    the first   and greatest    of  which   is  this—whether    it  belongs to  the things  in  our control or

not in  our control,    and if  the latter, be  prepared    to  respond,    ‘It is  nothing to  me.’”

—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION,    1.5

n an overly quantified world of policies and processes, some are swinging back in the other direction.
Bold leaders will “trust their gut.” A spiritual guru will say that it’s important to “let your body guide
you.” A friend trying to help us with a difficult decision might ask, “What feels right here?”
These approaches to decision making contradict voluminous case studies in which people’s instincts
have led them right into trouble. Our senses are wrong all the time! As animals subjected to the slow
force of evolution, we have developed all sorts of heuristics, biases, and emotional responses that might
have worked well on the savannah but are totally counterproductive in today’s world.
Part of Stoicism is cultivating the awareness that allows you to step back and analyze your own
senses, question their accuracy, and proceed only with the positive and constructive ones. Sure, it’s
tempting to throw discipline and order to the wind and go with what feels right—but if our many youthful
regrets are any indication, what feels right right now doesn’t always stand up well over time. Hold your
senses suspect. Again, trust, but always verify.