In the year 170, at night in his tent on the front lines of the war in Germania, Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, sat down to write. Or perhaps it was before dawn at the palace in Rome. Or he stole a few seconds to himself during the games, ignoring the carnage on the floor of the Colosseum below. The exact location is not importan

It’s far better to seem like a downer than to be blindsided or caught off guard. It’s better to meditate on what could happen, to probe for weaknesses in our plans, so those inevitable failures can be correctly perceived, appropriately addressed, or simply endured.

A CEO calls her staff into the conference room on the eve of the launch of a major new initiative. They file in and take their seats around the table. She calls the meeting to attention and begins: “I have bad news. The project has failed spectacularly. Tell me what went wrong?” What?! But we haven’t even launched yet . . . That’s the point. The CE

could make the products it made. In fact, Jobs was pushed out in 1985 because the board members at that time felt that Apple’s foray into consumer products was a “lunatic plan.” Of course, they were wrong. Jobs learned to reject the first judgments and the objections that spring out of them because those objections are almost always rooted in fear.

Where the head goes, the body follows. Perception precedes action. Right action follows the right perspective.

The path of least resistance is a terrible teacher. We can’t afford to shy away from the things that intimidate us.

“Man proposes but God disposes. ”

energy. Death is not one of those things—it is not in our control how long we will live or what will come and take us from life. But thinking about and being aware of our mortality creates real perspective and urgency. It doesn’t need to be depressing. Because it’s invigorating. And since this is true, we ought to make use of it. Instead of denying

so many of us spend so much time looking for the perfect solution that we pass up what’s right in front of us.