Si vis pacem, para bellum
If you want peace, prepare for war
Si vis pacem, para bellum
- Vegetius, 4th century Roman writer
If you want peace, prepare for war. This wisdom was independently derived across many cultures, from Roman generals to Sun Tzu, all reaching the same conclusion: as a head of state, the goal is to create peace so your people can thrive. The best way to do that is to deter your enemies with preparation for war. Thus, in order to thrive, you need to first prepare to survive.
The paradox is that to get something you want, you must prepare for the opposite. There are two reasons for this:
External benefits: The common interpretation — peace through deterrence. No one wants to go to war with a nuclear power because the cost is mass death and destruction of their own people. No one attacks an MMA fighter because they will get their ass kicked. Strength changes the calculus for parties considering an attack.
Internal benefits: The second, less-obvious reason is that having a weakness to external events is paralyzing, whether conscious or subconscious. If you are not confident you can handle the worst that life throws you, then you will never be able to take the risks required to become the best. Whatever you are fearful of will eat you alive until — or unless — you face it, silently guiding all of your decision making.
While this concept originated in the context of societal warfare and zero-sum games, the wisdom holds true in modern times too for a slightly different reason. External deterrence is still valuable today, but the real insight is that our modern world is largely positive sum and thus our battles are overwhelmingly internal. The war we must prepare for isn't a fight to the death, but a fight against our own doubts, fears, and limitations that prevent us from thriving in a world of abundance. Whatever your dream is, if you are not prepared for the failure scenario, then you’ll never be able to take the risk required to have a chance of your dreams. Thriving requires risk taking. And risk brings failure. It may not come today, or this year or next, but at some point you will be tested. Are you able to manage that battle? The solution is simple: prepare for war.
The way to prepare is through discipline — repeatedly practice until your failure case is not scary anymore. If you are worried that you can’t find a job if your business fails, develop so many skills that you don’t need a job. If you are scared of being criticized by others, speak publicly until it’s a habit. To achieve any dream, you must prepare yourself for what happens when things don’t go according to plan. Discipline can be physical or mental — in either case it is the preparation that creates belief in yourself for when things go wrong.
Over the long term, the person who wins is the person who knows they are ready for adversity — whether that is a high-pressure situation or the bouncing back from being fired from your job. It doesn’t mean you will win in any given moment, but it does mean that you’ll win over the course of a lifetime of moments. The bad news is that there is no shortcut to building your survival muscle. The good news is that your survival muscle is a function of one thing: your will to build it. The world will throw you curveballs. When that time comes, it can be your first swing or your millionth repetition. To truly thrive, you must know you will always survive. Si vis pacem, para bellum.