Nothing happens to the wise man against his expectation, nor do all the things turn out for him as he wished but as he reckoned – and above all he reckoned that something could block his plans. And then he would go over in his head (or in writing), the things that could go wrong or prevent it from happening: a storm could arise, the captain could fall ill, the ship could be attacked by pirates. They even had a better name: premeditatio malorum (premeditation of evils).Ī writer like Seneca would begin by reviewing or rehearsing his plans, say, to take a trip. But like all great ideas, it is actually nothing new. Today, the premortem is increasingly popular in business circles, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and the Harvard Business Review. No one wanted to consider what could happen, and the result? Catastrophe.

If only more people had been thinking worst-case scenario at critical points in our lifetimes: the tech bubble, Enron, 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, and the real estate bubble might ave been avoidable. What once impeded action advances action.īad companies are destroyed by crisis. To ignore what disturbs or limits others.To choose to see the good in the situation.There are a few things to keep in mind when faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Probably what they’ve always done, and what you are doing right now: nothing. What if embedded inside it or inherent in it were certain benefits – benefits only for you? What would you do? What do you think most people would do? That thing you dread or secretly hope will never happen. This obstacle – this frustrating, unfortunate, problematic, unexpected problem preventing you from doing what you want to do. What you want are real strategies to help you with your problems, so that’s what this book is going to be. But I also understand that you live in the real world, and you don’t have time for a history lecture. I think Stoicism is a deeply fascinating and critically important philosophy.

The obstacle is the way stoicism