modern terms, this is a process goal. The Stoics did not focus on the future outcome (a happy life) but on the process in the present moment (living with areté) that should ultimately lead to the wished outcome. This focus on the process is what makes us, as aspiring Stoics, ultimately responsible for our own flourishing because we’re in control of that process. While the outcome can be prevented by external events, the process and our intentions are completed in the present moment and cannot be prevented by anything outside our control.
