Premeditatio Malorum: Picture the Fall, Then Pack for It (My Risk Management)

Kev climbs into the cannon. He has pictured every way this could go wrong. He takes the shot anyway. Nailed it.

thatBB dictionary

risk management;

(noun)

Picturing every way it could go wrong, then taking the shot anyway. Works better with a parachute.

What premeditatio malorum actually means

Premeditatio malorum is Latin for the premeditation of evils. The stoics did it on purpose: before a trip, a speech or a hard conversation, they pictured what could go wrong. Not to scare themselves out of it, but so nothing would catch them flat-footed. Most people stop halfway. They picture the fall, feel the dread, and call that preparation.

What would a stoic do?

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, Letters 91.4 (trans. R. M. Gummere)

Kev did the first half perfectly. He sent his mind forward and saw the fall in high definition. Then he skipped the half that matters: packing for it. Picturing the fall only helps if it changes what you bring. Otherwise it’s just watching the crash twice.

Try this: picture it, then pack for it

1. Picture the fall, specifically. Not "it might go badly". Name the exact way: the no, the bug, the empty room.
2. Pack one thing for it. A backup plan, a saved draft, a friend on call. One real parachute per fall you pictured.
3. Then take the shot. The point was never to stay in the cannon. Prepared people still launch.

Picture the fall, pack the parachute, and go. meow meow, kev

Keep reading: How to bounce back after failure · Planning as procrastination · Marcus Aurelius on getting out of bed · Why preparation is quiet · Taking calculated risks