I am quite a stoic person and stoicism is about 2000 years old. This word is not used quite often. It means a person who is calm and almost without any expression of emotions and acceptance of whatever is happening. That does not mean I follow stoicism, it was just to put things in context.
Ancient stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius regularly conducted an exercise called ‘premeditatio malorum’ which means premeditation in evils. The purpose of this exercise was to imagine the negative things that could happen in life. They would think what it would be like to lose a job, to get severely injured and sick or about loss of reputation in society and things like that. The logic was that when we imagine these things before hand then we are better prepared to face them if it happens in our life- sounds quite logical.
Most of us are focused on getting success and happiness and whatever that is good in life. We generally don’t like a negative person and even don’t like to discuss negative things. Many might not agree to it due to preconceived notion but for this reason we are not good enough to manage failure in life. We don’t want to think about what if things went wrong tomorrow. A glaring example is the pandemic. Life was going smooth for us and suddenly the lock down, loss of jobs and a total change is lifestyle which we were not prepared to handle. We never expected such a situation so we were not prepared to deal with it.
This is a way of thinking where you consider the opposite of what you desire and want. It is a crucial skill that is not to be underestimated. This inversion of thought can be a powerful tool where we focus on the problems and roadblocks. It is like asking what not to do than asking what to do. Here in read cash I have seen many writing on how to write an article. One of the points would be the title should be catchy. So instead of writing a title as ‘Motivation’ if we write ‘motivation is overvalued’, it will catch the attention of the reader. This is an example of what I am saying here.
If you ask the question ‘what type of people you like’ and ‘what type of people you don’t like’? The answers will be antonyms but the purpose will be solved in understanding what your requirement is.
In our work place this can be used. Suppose your business is about innovating then you can ask ‘How to make the company less innovative’? The answer will throw up a set of answers which you will focus on avoiding. In a marketing business you can ask ‘how to alienate a customer’? The different point of views will give you a road map of pitfalls to avoid. The purpose and the outcome remains the same only the approach is changed. The focus is on finding what doesn’t work for you.
Imagine you have an important project which will take 1 year to complete. Now imagine you are at the end of that 1 year and you have to explain to your boss why the project failed or why it could not be completed in time? The answer will tell you the reason why you failed in the project even before you start that project.
If you are shifting from one house to another then you can use this in a different way. Instead of asking what items you want to get rid of, you can ask what items you want to keep.
In our personal finance also we can use this. Overspending is a common problem we face each month. This creeps in the form of unchecked shopping and spending habits. When we want something we should ask can I do without it now, rather than trying to justify why I need it now. We focus more on how to earn more money rather than how not to lose or waste money.
The best thing is that it can hit at your most deep rooted belief. Most of the world believes in God but what if there is no God. If you are the judge and you have to hear the argument about its existence and non existence for you only. It can be a good mental exercise. What if you are a believer and you own argument disproves it. This way you can question whatever you cherish the most.
Negativity has its utility too.
I understand that what you have explained is correct. Thank you again