Always Assume the Worst Case Scenario
As I am typing this, I am waiting for the approval of a visa application. The approval process normally takes about 1 day to complete. I have been waiting for nearly 3 days and there is still no decision yet. Now I am stressed over the delay where this could have been easily avoided.
I regularly talk about doing hard things, but putting myself in a situation that's unnecessary stressful is not what I meant. This may sound morbid, whatever that I do I should always assume the worst-case scenario. When bad things happen, I will have options to decide. This is not being pessimistic, but risk management.