Stockdale Paradox

James Stockdale is a naval aviator who won the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Vietnam War. In 1965 his plane was shot down and as he ejected from his plane, he only had a few minutes to prepare himself for what would become some of the most challenging years of his life as a Prisoner Of War. 

But James Stockdale wasn’t your average man, he was a practicing Stoic. As he descended to land he recognized that he was entering the world of Epictetus, a major Stoic figure who was a slave and physically disabled that coined many of the wise truths we know Stoicism to be today.

This means that Stockdale knew that he would be captured, tortured, and treated in the most terrible ways humans could ever treat each other. But he also knew all of that was out of his control, and he committed that his captors would never be able to take his inner resilience and freedom.

In order to survive these conditions, Stockdale had to embrace an unexpected paradox. On one hand, he needed to have undying belief that in the end, things would be okay. He needed to maintain hope that he would return to his family and the life he wanted, no matter the odds. 

But on the other hand, he had to be very practical. He knew that being a Prisoner of War would be challenging, and that he’d have to endure years of horrific treatment. He had to accept his current conditions and not deny them because that would do more harm than good.

It’s this unique combination of overly optimistic hope, paired with a practical and painful embrace of reality, that got him through 7 years of captivity. He never broke, defected, or complied with his captors demands to be used for political propaganda. He lived in the virtuous world of Epictetus.

I share this story because while the stakes in our lives aren’t so high, the same principles come out. Maybe you have some things in life that you realize are unlikely to happen. It’s by fully believing it will happen, and accepting the time, work, and sacrifice that comes with making it happen, that you’ll actually be able to achieve it. 

Like James Stockdale, we each have that best version of ourselves living inside of us. We just need to summon the courage to bring them out!