Before Things Go Wrong
The Stoics had a phrase for it: premeditatio malorum.
It means this: think ahead about what could go wrong, not to scare yourself, but to prepare yourself.
It sounds heavy. Almost pessimistic. But it is neither.
Not to induce anxiety. To reduce it.
If you were a sailor, you would not head out to sea assuming calm water forever. You would know storms exist. You would know equipment breaks. You would know fatigue sets in. And you would decide ahead of time what you will do when the weather turns.
Not if. When.
That same principle applies to goals. Especially the ones that matter.
Vision Is Necessary. Response Is Essential.
Most people are taught to visualize success. Picture the outcome. Imagine the finish line.
That part matters.
But it is only half the work.
The other half is this question:
What will you do when things do not go as planned?
Because they will not. Not cleanly. Not consistently. Not without interruption.
If you are pursuing a fitness goal, you will miss workouts. You will get sick. You will have weeks where motivation disappears. You will have days where the plan feels impossible.
If you are working on nutrition, there will be social events. Stressful weeks. Emotional eating. Days where you say you will start again tomorrow.
None of that means you failed.
It means you are human.
The mistake is not that these moments happen. The mistake is not thinking about them until you are already inside them.
Plan Your Response Before Emotion Takes Over
Premeditatio malorum is not about obsessing over worst-case scenarios. It is about deciding, calmly and rationally, how you will respond before emotion and chaos enter the picture.
Ask yourself now, not later:
What will I do after a terrible day?
What will I do when I miss a workout?
What will I do when I eat off plan?
What will I do when I am exhausted or overwhelmed?
What will I do when life pulls my attention somewhere else?
If you wait to answer those questions in the moment, you will answer them emotionally. You will negotiate with yourself. You will catastrophize. You will be tempted to quit altogether.
If you answer them in advance, you act instead of reacting.
That is power.
Fitness Is Not Built on Perfect Weeks
Progress in training is rarely linear. Strength does not come from flawless execution. It comes from returning after disruption.
The lifter who succeeds is not the one who never misses sessions. It is the one who shows up again after missing them.
The same applies to nutrition. One off-plan meal does not undo progress. Giving up because of it does.
Premeditatio malorum reframes failure. It removes the surprise. When you expect disruption, you stop interpreting it as a verdict on your character.
You stop asking, “What is wrong with me?”
And you start asking, “What is my next best action?”
Needing Help Is Part of the Plan
There is a passage from Meditations that captures this perfectly:
“Don’t be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you’ve been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?”
This is not weakness. It is realism.
If your plan assumes you will never struggle, never falter, and never need support, it is not a plan. It is a fantasy.
Real planning includes accountability. Coaching. Structure. People who help you get back on course when you drift.
Not because you are incapable. Because you are human.
Life does not unfold cleanly for anyone.
Goals are not achieved because the world cooperates. They are achieved because people decide how they will respond when it does not.
Premeditatio malorum teaches you to respond before the storm arrives. To act with clarity instead of emotion. To keep the goal in mind when life happens, not just when conditions are perfect.
Do not let perfection, or the lack of it, stop you from making progress.
This is your life. This is how it happens for everyone.
Not because everything goes right.
Not because the world never crumbles.
But because of how we choose to respond when it does.