Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast. On Friday, we do double duty not just reading our

daily meditation, but also reading a passage from the Daily Stoic. My book, 366 Meditations

on Wisdom, Perseverance in the Heart of Living, which I wrote with my wonderful collaborator,

translator, and literary agent, Stephen Hanselman. So today, we'll give you a quick meditation

from the Stoics with some analysis from me, and then we'll send you out into the world to

turn these words into works.

How to handle a bad call.

At the Super Bowl in 2015, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll made a decision that will

be remembered in sports history for decades. With 26 seconds left in the game in the

Seahawks down by four, they had the ball on the New England Patriots one yard line. Instead

of handing the ball to the running back, Marshawn Lynch, the best running back in the NFL

at the time, Carroll called the passing play on second down. The Patriots intercepted

the ball and they won the game. The headlines called it the worst play call in NFL history,

and the dumbest call in Super Bowl history, and a terrible Super Bowl mistake. Carroll

would, of course, disagree with this Monday morning quarterbacking, believing that was

the right call based on the numbers and his experience. But there is no disputing that

the play did not work. So the more interesting question is, what did Carroll do next? How

did he respond to this brutal media onslaught?

In short, he owned it. I told those guys that's my fault totally, he said after the game.

And then later, when given the chance to pass off some of the blame to his offensive coordinator,

Carroll refused saying, I made the decision. This is what a leader does. They make the

best decision they can with the information they have fully aware as the Stokes would

...