#105: The Pain before the Rise
Happy Easter
👋 Hey, Leo here! Welcome to The Antifragile Leader. Each week, I explain the concepts needed to lead through uncertainty. Subscribe to get every issue in your inbox.
Hey Friends,
Good morning and Happy Easter,
Welcome to the 105th edition of this newsletter.
This day has always carried more meaning than just tradition. Beyond the symbols and rituals, Easter is a story of rebirth through suffering, of renewal after everything seems lost.
And that story isn't exclusive to religion — it's written into nature, into history, and into every life that dares to evolve.
Reinvention doesn't begin with a vision board or a perfect plan.
It begins in the ashes.
It begins when the old you cracks — under pressure, under failure, under truth.
“No great thing is created suddenly.”
— Epictetus
Stoicism teaches us not to avoid discomfort but to understand it — to hold it, to learn from it, and to let it shape us.
Even Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic emperor, warned us not to chase perfection or wait for ideal conditions. He wrote:
“Don’t go expecting Plato’s Republic. Be satisfied if you make even a little progress.”
— Marcus Aurelius
In other words, be patient with your becoming.
Trust the slow rise.
Because the real work happens quietly, below the surface, where resilience takes root.
So maybe Easter is a reminder:
That the pain you’re going through isn’t the end — it’s the middle.
That breaking is part of building.
That which dies in you today might just make space for who you were meant to become.
Take a moment this morning.
Breathe.
And ask yourself — what part of me is ready to be reborn?
Wishing you stillness, strength, and the courage to rise.
PS: Not many of you know this about me, but I am an art fan, and I even spent my first 8 school years in an art school. So, from now on, I will put in each newsletter a painting that is related to the subject of the newsletter in one way or another. For the first edition, a piece from my favorite classical painter, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), or simply Caravaggio.
Recommendations:
“Dismissed” movie (“Clasat” in Romanian) is a movie co-directed by one of my long-time friends, Horia Cucuta, that won the “Best Romanian Movie” award at last year’s Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). I just saw it in a private screening this week, and I loved it!
The topic interests me a lot lately: are we designing technology, AI in particular, within an ethical framework? Also, how far will a company go to secure its profits?
The movie will be available on this website, only between the 24th and 27th of April for 29 RON (the price of a latte in some places in Bucharest), and I invite you to watch it and support Romanian artists.
PS: Both the movie and the trailer have English subtitles too.
Talking about AI, the “AI 2027” is a plausible scenario from a nonprofit comprised of renowned AI experts and futurologists forecasting the future of AI. While I think the scenario is quite plausible, it’s not one for the faint-hearted.
I’ve been listening to the “A History of the World” by Andrew Marr before going to sleep lately. While it’s quite long, it’s really enjoyable, and you shouldn’t miss it if you’re a history buff, like me.
Thanks for reading.
If this spoke to something inside you, share it with someone who’s in the middle of their own reinvention.
Someone who needs to hear that falling apart isn’t failure — it’s often the beginning of rising stronger.
Stay Antifragile,
Leo
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