In this paper, I propose a framework to analyze ordinary acting from an action-theoretical perspective that focusses on the first person as agent and creator of their very own everyday life. My first thesis is that any plausible theory of ordinary acting has to explain three salient features of everyday life: everyday life is shaped by experience and education; it is produced through repetition and internalization; it is characterized by stable expectations and certainty in acting. My second thesis holds that Quill R Kukla’s notion of embodied stances can be used to develop a more specific notion of stable embodied stances to understand how people navigate their ordinary lives. Stances are embodied strategies for interacting with the world, shaped by experience and education and ingrained through repetition. These stances form stable patterns of action which allow people to perform actions without effort and with a sense of certainty. My third thesis is that we should differentiate between two paradigmatic types, habits (quasi-automatic stances) and routines (more complex, knowledge-based and intentionally controlled stances). Finally, stable stances do not limit individual freedom but enable it. Individuals can consciously shape their lives by choosing which stances to develop and by reviewing established stances.