The Metaphor of Stoic Archer

Action vs Outcome

7 min readDec 3, 2024

Have you ever wondered why games are so addictive? Sure, the dopamine-reward system, the escapism games provide, challenge and competition, immersive stories, and settings are all excellent reasons. However, there is one strong reason that is often overlooked.

The real world is overly complex, with an endless number of variables. Games, on the other hand, always operate with significantly more limited rules and parameters. Everything is easier in a game. It is easier to play. It is easier to predict where things are going. It is easier to analyze your options. It is easier to foresee the consequences of your choices.

Now, back in real life, every time we make a decision, every time we choose a course of action, the outcome is hidden from us. We can calculate the odds and probabilities, hire experts and gurus, consult scientific methods and religious rituals, and yet we cannot access the future. We simply don’t know. We won’t.

When you play a game, you have a pretty good idea about what you should do to succeed. This is the gift of limited variables. It takes us away from the anxiety-inducing uncertainty of our lives. In the real world, you make an educated guess, an informed decision, and you may still fail miserably. Or you may make a choice others will question, and yet, due to a trick of fate, happenstance, or just luck, you end up with a favorable outcome. Life is strange like that. Both these outcomes make for good, memorable stories. Unfortunately, they also blur the line between an ACTION and an OUTCOME. Which is fine if you are playing a game. It is fine in an isolated and controlled environment with limited variables. In life, however:

Action does not equal Outcome.

You may take the right action, but achieve bad outcome.

You may take the wrong action, but luck gets you to success.

It is, therefore, important to disconnect Action from Outcome.

ACTION — is something you CAN control.

OUTCOME — is something you do NOT control.

The ancients knew a thing or two about conveying a complex concept in a laconic form. Brief. Crisp. Clear.

Enter the Stoic Archer. This is a metaphor the Stoics used to illustrate the point I am making — separating action from outcome.

Think about being an archer. You take good care of your bow and arrows. You have trained long and hard, improving your archery skills and training to be strong enough to draw the bow and hold it for as long as needed. You learn to account for the distance, the wind, and the lighting. You practice concentrating on your shot despite the external noise and intrusive thoughts; you learn to regulate your breathing so as not to disturb your shot. You shoot hundreds of arrows, adjust, and shoot again.

Finally, the day has come when you have to do the shot that counts. You raise your bow, line up your shot, and release the arrow. YOU MISS. Badly.

The thing is, as soon as the arrow is released, it is no longer in your control. The arrow will go where it will go — with all kinds of variables (direction or speed of the wing changing?) influencing its path.

Does the outcome — the miss — invalidate everything the archer does before the shot? Of course not. Everything the archer did was designed to increase the odds of a successful shot. All the steps taken were necessary to achieve the archer’s objective. And yet, the arrow missed the target.

The main point of this metaphor is the importance of separating action from outcome. Action — may be the right action, but the outcome may still not be what was desired. And that is ok. You may be a world-class archer. Your technique may be perfect. You may have hit the target all the previous times when it mattered and still miss this time.

Stoics emphasized that the archer:

should seek to execute the shot to the best of his or her ability
should optimize everything possible up to the moment of the shot
should aim to achieve complete concentration
should not worry too much about hitting the target
should recognize that the outcome is unpredictable and out of control
should base self-worth and self-esteem on the actions undertaken, not on the outcome

Results matter, of course. But you need to learn to accept the results, whatever they are, and realize that what counts is your mastery of the skill — what you can control.

The Stoic archer metaphor is attributed to the Stoic philosopher Antipater of Tarsus (2nd century BC). He used this analogy to illustrate the Stoic principle that while we can control our intentions and efforts, the outcomes remain beyond our direct control.

Get Rational Badger’s stories in your inbox

Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.

Remember me for faster sign in

Later, the Roman philosopher Cicero (106–43 BCE) incorporated this metaphor in his work De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On the Ends of Good and Evil), attributing it to the Stoic statesman Cato the Younger. Cicero writes:

“Take the case of one whose task it is to shoot a spear or arrow straight at some target. One’s ultimate aim is to do all in one’s power to shoot straight, and the same applies with our ultimate goal. In this kind of example, it is to shoot straight that one must do all one can; nonetheless, it is to do all one can to accomplish the task that is really the ultimate aim. It is just the same with what we call the supreme good in life. To actually hit the target is, as we say, to be selected but not sought.”

This metaphor encapsulates the essence of Stoic action: we should do our best to act in the best way possible. However, once the action is undertaken, the outcome can be influenced by an infinite number of variables outside our control. We should, therefore, focus on doing our duty to the best of our ability, accepting that the final results are subject to external variables.

“Impatience with actions, patience with results.” — Naval Ravikant

I love this quote by Navikant. It is quintessentially Stoic and a great way to explain the Stoic concept of dichotomy of control — a central concept in Stoicism. We first saw it introduced by Epictetus in his Enchiridion. It refers to the distinction between two categories of things:

Things within our control — our thoughts, our choices, our decisions, our attitudes, our actions and reactions.
Things outside our control — other people’s opinions, actions, and feelings, OUTCOMES of events as well as our actions, anything and everything that happens around us

Stoics recommend we focus on what we can control and try not to be disturbed by what lies beyond our control — the only way we can have peace of mind. This is why we should avoid tying our happiness to external things. This is a useful way to reframe challenges and traumatic events and is key to Stoic resilience.

Here are a couple of examples:

You are traveling to another city. The journey will take an hour by plane or 8 hours by car. You decide to take a flight to arrive sooner. Your flight is delayed for several hours — that does not mean your decision was wrong. Just that circumstances outside your control (weather conditions, the pilot’s health, technical problems with the plane, etc.) interfered. Realize your ACTION was correct, even if the OUTCOME was not what you desired.
You are to attend a job interview. You prepare as best as you can and deliver a knockout performance. But you are not selected. Your ACTION — your preparation, punctuality, demeanor, your answers — is in your control. The OUTCOME, however, depends on who the other candidates are, how well they perform, the interviewer’s mood and mindset, and so on.

Take the right action, and accept the outcome with equanimity.

The dichotomy of control is a practical tool for managing stress and anxiety. Recognize and let go of concerns over uncontrollable factors, and you will free your mental energy to focus on what truly matters — your own actions and attitudes.

Among other things, this is how you build confidence. Not the “fake it till you make it” type of confidence. But true confidence. The confidence that comes from preparation, training, and mastery of skill. That is how you win in life. Seek to be a good writer rather than be recognized as one. Recognition will follow skill — it is just a matter of time. Seek to become someone deserving of love, as opposed to wanting to be loved. We should focus on what we can control rather than what we desire. Calmness and inner peace follow. The more we concern ourselves with things outside our control, the more we are affected and become anxious.

In fact, this is one of the most prominent criticisms of the Stoic philosophy that Stoicism wants us to focus on preparation and effort and ignore the results. But the Stoics don’t say that at all. They teach us that since results are not guaranteed, focusing on what is in our control puts us in the best position to achieve the desired result. It is a paradox, but if you want to maximize your chances of getting something external, the last thing you need to do is put your focus on that.

Or, as Tom Cruise’s character says in The Last Samurai:

I believe a man does what he can, until his destiny is revealed.

So, let go of the arrow. Let go of your worries, anxieties, and fears. But do your homework first.

If you liked this read, check out my home page for articles about philosophy, learning, self-improvement, literature, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and more. Here are some you may be interested in: