It’s Always Going To Be One-Sided

New year, new systems. Right? This is the time when we should look at the messier parts of our business and think there's gotta be a better way, and there is. Streamlining your communications is one of the quickest and easiest system upgrades you can make, And that's why today's episode is brought to Quo, is brought by Quo. That's q u o, the smarter way to run your business communications. Quo is the number one rated business phone system on g two with over 3,000 reviews, and it's built for how modern teams work. And that's why over 9,000 businesses from big companies to little ones use quote to stay connected, professional, and reachable. Your entire team can handle calls and texts from one shared numbers so stuff doesn't get dropped, nothing gets missed, and the customer gets taken care of. Plus, it's easy. Calls, text, voice mails, transcripts, and contact details all live in one clean view, and you've got it all at your fingerprints. Make this the year where no opportunity and no customer slips away. And you can try Quo for free, plus get 25% off your first six months when you go to quo.com/dailystoic. Quo.com/dailystoic. Quo, no missed calls, no missed customers. Welcome to the Daily Stoic podcast designed to help bring those four key stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. It's always going to be one-sided. You think this is new? That the other side lies, that the other side doesn't play fair, that the cheaters seem to get ahead? Talk to Cato who lived in a time where elections were literally bought and sold by huge bribes. Talk to Rutilius Rufus whose reward for not being corrupt as the governor of Asia was being brought up on charges of corruption and convicted. It's always been a dilemma. Why should I be honest when no one else seems to be? Why should I play by the rules when others are visibly breaking them? Why should I be respectful or kind or fair when nobody else is? Well, the stoic answer here is twofold. One, because that's the only thing you control, and two, because you prove them right when you discard your principles. In fact, as Mark Sibelius said in Meditations, this is really the only way we can be harmed. We let the actions of others affect our character. This thing that you signed up for, being a person of virtue, was never promised to you as a path to success. No one ever said it was the ideal strategy for politics or business. No one ever said it was the better end of the bargain. But you know what it is? It's a way to live with yourself. It's a way to keep yourself from being sucked in and degraded the way that a more flexible person would be. It's a way to be good even in bad times. As I say in Right Thing Right Now, …