Be Prepared

The big benefit of having money in life is not getting a bigger apartment or nicer clothes or fancy restaurant meals, although those things are truly lovely; it's that when a disaster strikes you can spend whatever money it costs to fight it without constantly worrying about the cost.

The big benefit of being organized is not the day-to-day value of having all your emails answered and resting easy that your taxes are done in January, though those things are valuable; it's that when the great catastrophe of your life strikes, you'll have the systems in place to stay on top of it (and also, will have more capacity because you don't still need to finish your taxes).

The big benefit of cultivating equanimity is not being happier and calmer in everyday life, though I'm sure that's delightful; it's that when the moment is brought to a crisis, you are not.

When daily life is bobbing along, as it usually is, it's incredibly hard to keep these things in mind. It's weirdly difficult to keep showing up to the literal and metaphorical gyms of life – the exercises and practices to get better at being good – because even though the day-to-day benefits are clear and meaningful, they're somehow not motivating enough to keep us putting the work in.

But I think this is a mistake.

The reason to get good is not that you need to be good day-to-day; the reason to get good is that when you need to be good, you'll need it badly and you'll need it yesterday.