Whenever something doesn’t go the way you wanted it to go, remember this: life’s unfair.
Not everything is going to work out the way you want it to work out. Yet, for some reason, we constantly deny this fact.
As a result, we're constantly shocked and taken back whenever something doesn't go the way we thought it would go.
But if every obstacle and setback you face comes as a constant surprise to you, you're not only going to be miserable, you're going to have a much harder time accepting it and moving past it.
In life, the only guarantee is that things will never go as planned. So the only way to mitigate these setbacks and the negative emotions we feel towards them is through anticipation.
When you learn to anticipate in advance what your obstacles will be, you can then take preventative action to overcome them.
So, instead of constantly being taken by surprise, you can try to envision what could go wrong and plan in advance before you decide to even start.
In the book “Meditations,” the Stoic Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, for example, said that he would start each day by writing in his journal,
"Today, the people that you face will be…” and then listing basically every negative trait he could possibly encounter in the course of a day.
Then, once he did that, he would prepare how he would act whenever that situation came.
Marcus Aurelius would say, “Now that you know this, don’t take any of it personally and try to understand why people might act this way and forgive and love them for that .”
So do what Marcus Aurelius did and start each day off by preparing for the day’s obstacles ahead.
By anticipating every potential obstacle you will face and then planning on how you'll react to each of those obstacles is how you'll be able to overcome any emotional roadblocks you face throughout your day.
Doing this morning exercise may seem pessimistic to you, but it's not. In fact, it will make you an even more happier person.
As billionaire investor Charlie Munger says, “I’ve spent my entire life preparing for the worst and it’s made me happier .”
Why? Because the person who has rehearsed in their mind beforehand of what could go wrong will never be caught by surprise.
The person ready to be disappointed won’t be. They won’t be as likely to get discouraged. Instead, they’ll have the strength to endure it.
With anticipation, we can endure. We are prepared for failure and ready for success.
Thanks for reading!
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