As I’ve written elsewhere, in general, principles are a set of if/then rules for life. On one hand they can almost be thought of as a law of nature, but in the context of this page, they are the rules I follow in order to stay aligned with my core values.
Sadly, it is one exercise I haven’t taken the time (yet) to systematically go through. I know I have some principles, but how best to organize and present them… not sure (yet).
Let’s see if we can list some off the top of my head…
- Never stop reading
- Guard your boundaries with your life - learned this one the hard way 🙁
- Oxygen mask rule - put on your own mask before helping anyone next to you - prioritizing self-care isn’t selfish - if you are not healthy, you can’t take care of anyone else
- Unexamined life ain’t worth living - regularly do the work of reflection and introspection
- Unplanned life ain’t worth examining - be intentional with where to are putting your energy
- Make space - find time to be bored - balance isn’t simply doing less; it’s being intentional about when you are busy (and by all means, run as fast as you can) and when you create space for thoughts/ideas to simply emerge.
- From The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
- 1: Be Proactive
- between stimulus and a response is a gap - in that gap is our freedom - in that gap is where we always have a choice in how we respond ⇐ Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning
- Be Intentional in whatever you are doing
- Take responsibility for what you are doing
- 2: Begin with the end in mind
- 3: Put first things first - stay focused, stay intentional, do what’s most impactful
- 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood - active listening - if you want to influence others, before you do anything else let them influence you by taking the time to understand what they need, where they are coming from, what they are trying to express - and after that… don’t forget that whatever you need others to hear, you need to be able to express yourself as well.
- (4, 6 and 7) - in the context of the book, they are a great read for anyone. The ones I listed are the ones to which I come back to in my mind word for word on regular basis.
- 1: Be Proactive
- Build systems & structures - people don’t rise to the level of their goals and aspirations; they fall to the level of their habits and systems - I believe that to be true about all people and first and foremost it is certainly true about me.
- Journey is the destination - everything we all do is a journey, we start where we are and we try to get to elsewhere. That’s life. While some might focus on “getting there” aspect, what brings me joy is the process of the journey itself