Some impressions are not difficult to judge. For example, yesterday you got into an accident and had whiplash. Clearly you cannot go back and avoid that accident (you can take no action) or not have whiplash (change the outcome). So, it is pointless to keep worrying about it. It doesn't make anything better. You can take no action and the outcome is not under your control. It is nothing to you.

Sometimes, both action and outcome are under your control. For example, you are angry at someone and you are about to say something hurtful to the other person, but you know that if you say it, it will only make things worse and won't make the situation any better. Do you have control over the action? Yes. As a result, you don't say it and so the outcome is also under your control. What about something hurtful yesterday? It not under your control. But what you think about it today is under your control. It is easy to judge such impressions. But other impressions are hard to judge because we are led to believe that many things that are not true are actually true. 

• Suppose you train for a competition. You are very good at it. In fact, you are far superior to any of the other competitors. Is winning then under your control? 
• You are concerned about your heart health. You eat properly, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and exercise regularly. Is not having a heart attack or stroke under your control? 
• If you treat your spouse right and love them dearly, there is no way they will ever leave. Is this under your control? 

We generally behave as though these things are under our control. Or believe that they are 'somewhat' under our control. This makes people think of three categories or a 'trichotomy' of control. But this is a misunderstanding. The outcome is fully under your control or it is not. 

When we believe that the outcome is under our control, we set ourselves up for disappointments because it is not really under our control. 

You may object. You may say that even if you cannot be certain of the outcome, you can increase the chances of achieving your desired outcome. But that doesn’t change the dichotomy of control. When you believe that you have partial control, you have complete control over what you can do to possibly influence the outcome; but no control over the outcome itself. 

When the ancient Stoics were talking about the dichotomy of control, they were talking about the outcome of our actions, not actions themselves. Outcomes are always either under our control or not under our control. Actions, on the other hand, are sometimes fully under our control (for example, getting upset about possibly missing the train), partially under our control (I can walk faster so I don’t miss the train), and at other times not under our control (the train that has already left the station). The trichotomy of control is based on the confusion between actions and the outcome. Let us look at the above situations more closely. 

When an outcome is not under our control, actions leading up to the outcome may be under our control to varying degrees. 

• I missed the train. It has already left the station. 

Action – I can do nothing to bring the train back.
Outcome: Not up to me. 

• My exam is next week. I am not well prepared, although there is still some time left. 

Action – I can do something, but not much.
Outcome: Not up to me. 

• I am participating in a sports competition. I am good and have plenty of time to prepare. I will continue to train until the last day. 

Action – I can do a lot. 
Outcome: Not up to me. 

All these situations have one thing in common. Whether the actions are up to me or not, the outcome is not up to me. Even if I have done something millions of times before, and am still capable of doing it now, such as crossing the street, the outcome is still not up to me. I may trip and break my foot, I may have a heart attack in the middle of the street, or I may be run over by a car. So, I take care when I cross the street (action that may be under my control) but, despite this, I can be run over by a car driven by a drunk driver running a red light. The outcome is not up to me. 

So, you can see that, no matter how much (or how little) action is under your control, the outcome is not under your control because it depends on externals. It is a simple dichotomy. But your actions are – and always will be – under your control. You can use you power to act to influence the outcome, but not be certain you will achieve it. So, the outcome is nothing to you. But there are actions that would increase the chances of reaching your outcome. This is under your control. And we act as we learned in the previous training session. 

A Stoic looks at every situation and realizes that if the outcome depends on others or outside events, it is not guaranteed. But many situations (but not all) have a component of things that are under your control. Acting on what is under your control will not guarantee the desired outcome, but it will increase the probability of its happening. 

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