Method 3: Practice imaginative premeditation The final take on premeditatio malorum is to imagine a situation you wouldn’t want to happen as if it’s actually happening. This approach is similar to imaginal exposure, a type of exposure therapy used to help people overcome their anxieties.

Before you settle on your choice, you should also be sure that the exposure is doable for you. Ask yourself: How hard will the exercise be for you on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being super easy and 10 being next to impossible? If your answer was 3 to 5, then great! This seems like an exercise you’re likely to accomplish while still pushing your

Method 2: Premeditate on others’ adversity. Now we’re shifting gears. So far this week you have focused on your own experiences. Today we’re expanding the power of premeditatio malorum to internalize the reality that you may be subject to unexpected misfortunes that happen to others.

the Stoic premeditatio’s goal is to loosen our attachment to external events in general, from something as simple as breaking your favorite cup (to use Epictetus’s example from Week 3) to the death of a loved one. Since you’re only doing this for a day, we do not recommend starting with a serious situation.

Whenever you encounter something unfortunate happening to someone else, whether it be in person, on the news, or on social media, take a moment to remind yourself that it could happen to you as well.

Method 1: Plan for things to go wrong. We’ll start this exercise by writing out a few plans for the day. Then we’ll assume that what could go wrong will.

Method 3: Practice imaginative premeditation The final take on premeditatio malorum is to imagine a situation you wouldn’t want to happen as if it’s actually happening. This approach is similar to imaginal exposure, a type of exposure therapy used to help people overcome their anxieties.

Even though the Stoics thought the mind was our most valuable asset—it’s the most sophisticated and important tool we have at our disposal—they did not neglect the body. In fact, as Epictetus’s teacher Musonius Rufus suggests, the mind (or “soul”) and body work together, each influencing the other, for good or for bad.

This exercise, like many future exercises in this book, is bolstered by a technique called implementation intentions, which are a well-studied, effective way to increase the chances that you will remember to do something in a specific situation.1 Instead of intending to do something, tell yourself under what circumstances you will do it.