Personal antifragility is the mindset and ability to benefit from whatever happens to you (especially if negative events).

If you cultivate this mindset, almost nothing can stop you from doing what you want. You thrive on obstacles and adversity. You also do not need to predict and worry since you trust nature in giving you what you deserve.

To instill this mindset, here are the 9 principles to adopt:

1. Always look for challenge, growth, and pain

You want to be like the hydra that grows stronger (a new head) for every challenge. Therefore, the ideal state is not a comforting paradise, but an environment where you get stronger. You should always feel a little bit confused.

2. When in doubt, remove. Don't add

By removing what is no longer serving you, whether material belongings, beliefs, identities, and habits, you get the benefits without potential side effects. To be personally antifragile, you want to constantly get rid of what is fragile in you, i e what does not like chaos.

3. Be both extremely safe and risky (The Barbell Strategy)

Rather than compromising you should go for both extremes. In finance, you want to invest in extremely safe assets on one hand, and very speculative on the other. For personal productivity, you want to be reliable while at the same time getting lost in your unplanned time (and find the newest breakthroughs). More about the Barbell System here.

4. Do not set goals and expectations, adjust to the present reality instead

As I argued here, and here, internal standards make you fragile since you can either succeed or not. Do what is best at the moment and reach unexpected places.

5. Prepare to benefit from the worst scenario

Besides #3, you should also embrace redundancy. Have margins of safety in case a rare event happens. If you can benefit from a crisis while others do not, you are in a much more valuable position.

6. Love imperfect action and small errors

Most people don't get started because they have too high standards. But if you are ok with a clumsy start and adjust after feedback, you will go so much faster. No need to wait.

7. Trust nature and do not intervene

Resist the urge to micromanage your results and check in too often. Let things happen instead by trusting that nature is favorable for you. Do your work and then let go since whatever happens is the best for you.

8. Criticism is a good sign

Especially relevant on the internet. If you get unhelpful comments, be happy. They are destroying themselves while propelling you forward. Also called inverse iatrogenics when others help you by trying to harm you.

9. Value practice over theory

Aim for simple rules of thumb to guide your actions instead of trying to understand the world. It is only by doing (and relaxing) that you understand what is truly working. After all, the best way to discover the future is to create it.