In sports, you want to get to the outside of your defender. In life, it’s better to get outside—to get fresh air and sunshine.

And so it goes with decision-making too. 

When we had Annie Duke on the podcast recently—about her book How to Decide—she kept using that phrase: Getting outside. Getting outside your biases. Getting outside the immediacy of your problem or the situation. You don’t want to be stuck inside, metaphorically or literally. You want to break out and break free…so you can really see and think.

It’s also what the Stoics advise. Marcus Aurelius referred to taking “Plato’s View.” He wanted to get up and look from the 10,000 foot view. He wanted to see life, see what was bothering him, see what other people are doing with perspective. He wanted to get to the outside.

Why?

So he wasn’t so biased. So he wasn’t so frustrated. So he didn’t make it into something more than it needed to be. So he was blinded by it. So he could make better decisions. 

This is what we need to do as well, in sports, in life, in our thinking, in our choices. Get to the outside. Don’t be trapped inside. Get perspective. 

P.S. You can listen to our full interview with Annie Duke here on The Daily Stoic podcast, which is about to eclipse 50 million downloads worldwide! Thank you to everyone who has listened. And if you haven’t already, please subscribe!