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Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living good life.

Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com.

There's no excuse for being surprised. Fabius was one of ancient Rome's great generals, though he was not the bold, reckless type that usually gets all the attention in history books.

No, he was the cautious type. He was strategic and reserved. He preferred to let enemies defeat themselves more than anyone else.

He was far less exciting the most of his famous counterparts, but without him, Rome almost certainly would have been defeated by Hannibal in the 200's BC.

In the book, On Anger, Seneca draws on Fabius to teach a lesson from war that every citizen and leader in business person should be familiar with.

Fabius used to say that the basis excuse for a commanding officer is, I didn't think it would happen, but I say it's the basis for anyone, thinking everything might happen, anticipate everything.

When the Stoics talk about the exercise of pre-Metitasio Malorum, that's what they're trying to train into you to make sure you're not surprised by the twists and turns of life or by the moves of the enemy because there is no excuse.

But what about Black swans, you say? True Black swans are rare. They have never happened before. That's what makes them Black swans. Most of what we are unprepared for are not those kind of freak occurrences.

Look at Fabius' quote closely, it's about saying, I didn't think it would happen, which means you are already aware of the possibility and have dismissed it.

When that happens, it's not bad luck, it's ego come home to roost. We must keep our eyes open, we must consider all the potential consequences, even the unlikely or the unusual or the unintended ones.

We must be ready. Fortune behaves as she pleases, so do our opponents. Don't be surprised, there's no excuse except that you haven't been doing your work.

I hope you'll check out our pre-Metitasio Malorum, Adalion. I think it's a must have for anyone who's in a position of authority or leadership, who's in the market whether you're a VC or you're an investor, you're on Wall Street.

Wall Street is the kind of thing that I think reminds you to consider all the possibilities, to meditate in advance of bad things that can happen, to have contingency plans, to be prepared, to keep all the parts of the human experience before our eyes and to be ready for them.

Check it out, it's something I carry with me all the time. You can see it at dailystoic.com slash store.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily stoic early and ad free on Amazon music, download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and ad free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.