Be Prepared

The end is also the beginning.

Sep 19, 2025

"A wise Prince, therefore, should pursue such methods as these [mental training, studying, intense practice & physical exercise], never resting idle in times of peace, but strenuously seeking to turn them to account, so that he may derive strength from them in the hour of danger, and find himself ready should Fortune turn against him, to resist her blows." - Niccolò Machiavelli

Back in medical school, we used to have OSCEs- whereby our professors would assess and refine our clinical skills by giving us various random clinical scenarios, simulated or otherwise, to prepare us to gather information quickly, diagnose and manage patients on the spot- as would happen in real life. You had to be prepared for anything your seniors would throw at you. Preparation, by for example mirroring cases with your friends, would give you the necessary confidence and composure when tested. If not- you’d fail.

And it’s in this underlying philosophy of a doctor’s training that draws a parallel to life as we live it.

See, everything you have and love can fall apart. The business you’ve built, the partner you’ve trusted, the friends you thought permanent, the family you lean on- any of it can fail. The bubble can burst in a moment. And that’s the truth of life. Nothing is guaranteed. Ever. And if you aren’t prepared, the shock will undo you. But if you are- if you’ve rehearsed the fall in your mind, if you’ve lived ready- you can endure the rupture and rise from it stronger than before.

You’ve already been tested. You’ve walked through loneliness. You’ve endured mockery. You’ve carried criticism on your back and heartbreak in your chest- wondering how you’ll survive this beautiful yet dangerous ocean of life. You’ve failed, fallen, and stumbled, and yet you kept moving. That history is your insurance. If you bore those wounds with confidence, you can bear the next. And you don’t just endure- you rise with a strategy. You position yourself so that the next blow doesn’t dismantle you, so that you get back up quicker, so that wasted time and needless emotion don’t drag you down and the people who depend on you.

Because the world is change, and change is war. And in that war, the weapon you carry can’t be hope- hope is not a strategy; you rise back up through discipline. Through wisdom. Through courage. At your worst, you don’t spread yourself across low-value pursuits, don’t cling to cheap relationships, don’t scatter energy on distractions that won’t matter tomorrow. You cultivate patience. You commit to the necessary, to doing what is worth doing well. You build yourself into a person of value, knowing that good fortune meets you halfway when you’ve already prepared to meet it on its terms.

That’s why you train to make do with less. That’s why you practice solitude. That’s why you embrace discomfort instead of escaping it. When negative emotions press on you, you don’t run- you learn to bear their weight. You refuse to be seduced by luxury, refuse to soften under comfort. You don’t place trinkets above your own mind. Your worth rests not in possessions but in resilience, not in appearances but in substance. You grow by stripping life to what is essential and standing firm against every unnecessary excess.

And even then, you prepare for ruin. You accept the possibility that you could lose everything in an instance. But you remind yourself: if you lose wealth, you won’t lose dignity. If you fall, you’ll rise hungrier. If you’re stripped of comfort, you’ll refine your character. Poverty doesn’t shame you. Failure doesn’t break you. Each obstacle only deepens your ambition, electrifies your will, and augments your hunger. You meet disaster not with despair or complaints, but with readiness- as if the universe itself were instructing you, programming you, lifting you into something higher.

Because the end is also the beginning. Out of the chaos comes creation. When you’ve lost everything, the embers that glow from the ashes give you hope- pleasantly opposite from what your imagination dimmed out. As long as you’re in it, you can handle it. You learn that loss is often a doorway, a brutal hand that pushes you into a better room. If you walk into that chaos with love, with composure, with confidence- if you promise yourself to meet events at their level- you’ll transform them.

And yes, the worst may happen. The business may fall apart. The lover may leave. Friends may desert you. Family may betray you. But all of these are outside your control. What remains- the only thing that ever remains- is your character. That is the immovable constant. You may not control what others do, but you control your perspective. You control your actions. You control whether you waste away in complaint or stand in strength. You choose whether you’ll despair or whether you’ll exude love, abundance, and endurance. You choose whether you’ll fall silent and pity yourself or keep learning, iterating, helping.

The rest- the outcome, the timing, the unfolding- you leave to the gods. But by then, you’ve already won. Because you built yourself into the kind of person who can lose everything and still rise.

That is the art of living when the worst happens.

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P.P.S: Most people loved the series on How to Deepen Your Friendships, Part I, Part II & Part III. Also check out the practical entries on How To Deal With Toxic People, How to Process & Overcome Grief & How to Prevent and Overcome Burnout. Happy reading!

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The Stoic Manual

Be Prepared

The end is also the beginning.

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