Use this daily practice to forge a strong mind and find calm in an uncertain, complex world.

1. Riding a raft down white water rapids, a
master has no more control over the water
than you do. The difference is that a master
is in control of being out of control.
- Werner Erhard

2. I can only control the mayhem
that I create around me.
- Hannah, Girls

3. Worst Case Scenario
(working title)

4. A daily journal
What is it?

5. You’ll learn to expect the
unexpected.
Why should I use it?

6. In everyday situations, we want to be calm, but instead
we end up anxious.
- What if I get fired?
- What if I get rejected?
- What if I look stupid?

7. Stoicism, a philosophy practiced
thousands of years ago, can help
strengthen us against the worst that
fate throws at us.
How? By mentally adjusting to the
worst, and realizing it’s not so bad.

8. & the more you
practice, the more
resilience you build.
use it
every
day!

9. a few old ancient stoic
examples

10. “Set aside a certain number of days,
during which you shall be content
with the scantiest and cheapest fare,
with course and rough dress, saying
to yourself the while: ‘Is this the
condition that I feared?”
- Seneca

11. Seneca understood that possessions
make us worry about downside. What
if I lose all this stuff? So he took his
own stuff away, and realized it wasn’t
that bad.

12. another one

13. “When you wake up in the morning,
tell yourself: the people I deal with
today will be meddling, ungrateful,
arrogant, dishonest, jealous and
surly… But to feel anger at someone,
to turn your back on him: these are
unnatural.”
- Marcus Aurelius

14. Anger usually stems from
expectations clashing with reality.
How other people act, is totally out of
your control, so it doesn’t make sense
to get upset about it.

15. How it works

16. Do this one simple
thing.

17. Every morning, assume the
worst possible thing will
happen that day.

18. Today I might lose..

19. Today I might have to deal with:

20. In the evening, check
what you wrote.

21. Did it happen?
YES NO

22. That’s it.

23. After using this journal for a while…
You’ll learn to expect the
unexpected.

24. * Like losing all your stuff.
* Or dealing with a difficult colleague.
And it won’t be that bad.