I hope you enjoyed the New Year, Fresh Start challenge and at least implemented one thing. Once again, I wish you a very Happy 2022!
I was chatting with a friend just before Christmas and she was telling me she felt quite optimistic about 2022. She hasn't had an easy ride in the last few years, to say
the least, and I admired her optimism. My answer was a quiet if somewhat cynical, "um".
I thought last year could be what I was willing to make it so I felt hopeful but January 2021 was shockingly dramatic for me and, naturally, I was feeling cautious about
2022. I started planning and visioning quietly as if to prevent some 'wreck-the-year monster' from waking up when it dawned on me that I had it all wrong.
You see, we often plan and cross our fingers, hoping that it all goes smoothly, right? So it is no wonder that we get knocked out when things go wrong! I realized that
if I took into consideration some of the things that could go wrong now, then maybe this year I wouldn't get knocked off my course as much.
There will always be events that we haven't anticipated (... a pandemic for instance!) but we can work generally on building a pre-catastrophe resilience. Looking at our
life's circumstances, we could imagine a few worst-case scenarios, maybe imagine a rough recovery plan for them but, definitely, prepare psychologically for them.
Things we can predict:
- If you have a job, you might lose it or lose a contract, perhaps not get the promotion you expected.
- If you have a home, it might get accidentally damaged and suddenly be in need of serious repair.
- If you have projects in the pipeline, people might let you down or resources might disappear.
- If you have loved ones, they might get ill or even die.
- If you are taking exams, you might get disappointing results.
Now think of situations that are personal to you, what could go
wrong?
I believe that just having the awareness of what could go wrong in our life can help us build a more resilient mindset and point us in the direction of a couple of
things that we actually should do to be ready if or when bad things happen.
This is what the Stoics called: premeditatio malorum.
“Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all problems, and we should consider,
not what is wont to happen, but what can happen.”
— Seneca
There is nothing sinister about doing this. If you live in an area where storms, tornadoes or earthquakes are likely to happen, you have prepared for them. It really is
the same thing and by preparing, we are readying ourselves to face the fear induced by the event rather than be paralyzed by it. Fear and other feelings of distress can't be avoided, just like unwanted events, but they can be managed.
You and I know that we can find the strength to face difficult events because we already have, but I just want to learn to be even stronger and not suffer
as much emotionally. Nassim Nicholas Taleb thinks that we should become antifragile and actually benefit from volatility and shock. It seems like a crazy idea but when you think about it, it is a very interesting one to consider. Can we decide now that whatever happens in our life or in the world this year, we trust that there will be "post-traumatic growth"? If we do that, we become someone who "transforms fear into prudence, pain into information and mistakes into
initiation".
With a mindset geared up for the unexpected, we can welcome the good things with greater joy. If only for that reason, I think worst-case scenarios might be a welcome
addition to our New Year's resolutions and planning.
Still, I send you my best wishes.
