Insights from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was a stoic philosopher and emperor of Rome from the year 161 to 190 and said to be the last of the five good Roman
emperors.
During his 19‐year reign, Marcus faced considerable hardship ‐ war with barbarian tribes, a hostile takeover attempt by a close ally, an
incompetent and greedy stepbrother as a co‐emperor, an economy on the verge of collapse, and the death of several children.
Marcus Aurelius relied on a collection of ancient stoic practices to cope with hardship, manage stress, and remain a posed, effective, and
beloved leader ‐ here are three such stoic practices:
Praemeditatio Malorum
"Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill‐will, and selfishness." –
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus routinely rehearsed interacting with people who made him feel stressed. Paradoxically, simulating
stress allowed Marcus to experience less stress throughout the day.
Praemeditatio Malorum, which is Latin for “Premeditation of Adversity,” is the act of imagining and accepting
a troubling event; not thinking of ways to avoid an undesirable outcome but accepting an undesirable
outcome has occurred and learning how to cope.
The key to stress management is convincing your mind you can cope with any situation. By imagining a worst‐case scenario has come true
and rehearsing how you’ll deal with the fallout, you convince your mind that you’ll handle any outcome.
If you're about to give a presentation, assume it's already gone badly and now you need to deal with the embarrassment and shame that
you feel. As those feelings wash over you, you’ll realize it sucks, but you're still alive. An hour after the presentation, the stress will be
greatly diminished; a day later, you'll have moved past it, and a month later, you'll have completely forgotten about it.
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the
present.” – Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Reframing
When you encounter a troubling situation, reframe the situation as an opportunity to practice virtue.
Virtue is derived from the Greek word ‘Arete,’ which means ‘excellence of character.’ If you're not sure which
virtues to practice during the day, imagine a person you admire, alive or dead, and ask yourself, “Which
character traits do I want to emulate?” I often imagine Winston Churchill and set an intention to practice
steadfastness and decisiveness, or I consider my favorite college professor and aim to express the virtues of
curiosity and humility.
At the start of Meditations, Marcus created a long list of traits he admired in family members and mentors. Later Marcus concludes, "In
human life there is nothing better than the virtues of justice, truth, temperance and fortitude to attain complete self‐satisfaction
(paraphrased)"
The next time you encounter hardship, select a virtue you admire in others and wish to develop in yourself. Reframe a stressful situation as
an opportunity to accelerate the development of that virtue in your life and become a person others will admire.
“Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: not ‘This is misfortune,’ but ‘To bear this worthily is good
fortune.’” – Marcus Aurelius
Stoic Explaining
“The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for
what they are.” – Marcus Aurelius
The human mind is like a great Hollywood director ‐ it's great at adding drama to events and making situations
seem dire. When we encounter a setback, it's natural to use vivid emotional language and describe the
situation as “devastating,” “horrible,” or “terrible.” It's natural to jump to a dire conclusion and assume “I’m
doomed” or “Everyone will think I’m an idiot for letting this happen.” Dramatic and dire descriptions
unnecessarily amplify stress.
If we learn to strip away emotional language when describing a problem and talk about the problem like a scientist or a robot, only talking
about the facts and never making untested assumptions, we can manage stressful events with grace. If you've just delivered a poor
presentation to your boss, don't tell yourself, “Damn, that was awful, my boss probably thinks I'm an idiot. I'll never get that promotion.”
Drop the emotional baggage, and just stick to the facts: “That wasn't my best performance.”
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”
‐ Marcus Aurelius
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