Cicero's Archer: Aiming Well and Letting Go of the Outcome
Introduction
In his work On Ends, Cicero places in the mouth of a Stoic character, Cato, an image that has become one of the most useful in the entire school. Imagine an archer who wants to hit a target. His task is to do everything in his power to aim well: choose the bow, practice, draw the string carefully, and aim in the right direction. But once the arrow leaves the bow, it is no longer up to him. A gust of wind or a sudden movement of the target can knock it off course.
For the Stoics, the conclusion was clear: the archer's true goal is not hitting the target, but doing everything within his power to aim well. Hitting the target is something desirable, something to be preferred, but it is not what defines whether the archer did his job well.
Your job is to draw the bowstring well. What the wind does with the arrow is not yours.
The blog already has an article on the dichotomy of control. This one focuses on its most practical consequence: how to set goals that depend on you, without losing ambition.
Internal and External Goals
Philosopher William Irvine, in A Guide to the Good Life, develops the archer image through what he calls "internalizing your goals." His example is a tennis player. If her goal is to win the match, she is setting a goal that does not depend entirely on her: her opponent might be stronger, the wind might shift, the umpire might make a bad call. If she loses, she will feel she failed.
But if her goal is to play to the best of her ability—prepare thoroughly, stay focused, execute her game plan—she sets a goal that is genuinely up to her. She can achieve it even if she loses the match. And paradoxically, focusing on what she controls usually increases her chances of winning, because anxiety over the outcome no longer steals her attention.
Sports psychology reaches a similar conclusion using different vocabulary: it distinguishes between outcome goals (winning, qualifying), performance goals (improving a personal best), and process goals (executing a technique well). Many mental training programs recommend keeping attention on process goals during competition.
The Outcome as Information
One consequence of the archer image is that the outcome stops being a verdict on your worth as a person and becomes information instead. Marcos Vázquez, in Invicto, gives two clear examples:
- The athlete who loses. If every defeat crushes them, they won't get far. If they use it as information to prepare better for the next competition, each defeat brings them closer to their best level.
- The salesperson who hears "no." If every rejection frustrates them, they will eventually quit the profession. If they analyze each interaction objectively and ask what they can improve, rejection becomes part of learning.
Disappointment after a bad outcome is natural and doesn't need to be suppressed. What changes with the Stoic perspective is how long it lasts: the distress fades sooner because attention quickly returns to what can be improved.
How to Reframe Common Goals
To apply the archer image, simply ask yourself before any goal: what part of this is up to me? Then reframe the goal around that part.
| External Goal | Internal Goal |
|---|---|
| Get the job | Prepare thoroughly for the interview: research the company, rehearse answers, arrive well-rested |
| Lose fifteen pounds in three months | Follow my meal plan five days out of seven and train three times a week |
| Make my partner understand me | Express what I need calmly and clearly |
| Win the race | Execute my race plan and hold my target pace |
| Get my book published | Write five hundred words a day and submit the manuscript to ten publishers |
The external goal does not disappear: it remains the target you are aiming at. But the daily measure of success becomes the internal goal.
Doesn't This Lower Ambition?
That is the most common objection. If all I care about is aiming well, won't I stop trying to win? The Stoic answer is no. Cicero's archer does not aim half-heartedly. He does everything in his power to hit the target, because that is precisely his task. The only thing that changes is where he places his sense of success and failure.
In fact, internal goals usually demand more of you, because they leave no room for excuses. Winning can happen by luck; preparing well cannot. Someone who sets internal goals cannot blame the wind if they didn't draw the bowstring properly.
When the Outcome Matters Deeply
There are situations where the outcome carries serious consequences: an exam that defines a career, a medical treatment, an interview for a badly needed job. In those cases, the image of the archer does not ask you to fake indifference. It asks for something far more useful: pour all your energy into preparation—which is what you can control—rather than burning it up in anxiety over what you cannot.
Afterward, if the outcome is not what you hoped for, you can feel the disappointment and, at the same time, recognize that you did what was yours to do. That awareness does not erase the loss, but it keeps you from piling guilt on top of it.
Common Mistakes
- Using the idea as an excuse. "It wasn't up to me" doesn't hold water if you didn't do everything that was up to you.
- Setting vague internal goals. "Do my best" is too blurry. Spell out the specific actions that make it up.
- Ignoring the outcome completely. The outcome is valuable feedback for adjusting your preparation.
- Confusing acceptance with resignation. Accepting that the wind is not up to you does not mean stopping practice in the wind.
Conclusion
Cicero's archer does everything possible to aim well and lets go of the rest. Today, pick your three most important goals and, next to each one, write its internal version: the concrete actions that are up to you. Over the next month, measure your progress by those actions rather than the outcome. At the end of the month, review both: how well you followed through on what was up to you, and what feedback the outcome gave you to adjust your next shot.
References
- Cicero. On Ends (De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum), III.22.
- Epictetus. Enchiridion, 1.
- Irvine, W. B. (2009). A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. Oxford University Press.
- Kingston, K. M., & Hardy, L. (1997). Effects of different types of goals on processes that support performance. The Sport Psychologist, 11(3), 277-293.
- Vázquez, M. (2019). Invicto: Logra más. Sufre menos. Fitness Revolucionario.