My 13 Guiding Principles For Life

Articulating my guiding principles has helped me make better decisions in stressful situations. I formulated the first version of my guiding principles a few years ago. Since then, I’ve kept them top-of-mind by revisiting them a few times each month. Once in a while, I add new ones to this set and archive ones that have become second nature to me. I also change the wording as my goals and I evolve from my experiences.

Each of these principles has a back story but in the interest of keeping this post short, I will stick to expressing the core insight.

Here’s my current list —

1. SECOND-ORDER EFFECTS
   Spend more time thinking about 2nd and 3rd order effects of my decisions and actions.
   I want to spend more time considering wider effects of each decision I make. I want to build a stronger habit around this so that I have more confidence in choosing the right course of action and end up making decisions that work better over the long-term.
2. SELF-EVOLUTION
   Take active control of my evolution.
   I want to change myself intentionally in specific areas of life each year by being on the look out for related mental models, and first principles. By asking people and myself key questions I invariably find something worth incorporating in my life.
3. APPRECIATION
   Never miss an opportunity to appreciate openly.
   I want to continuously remind myself to find things worth appreciating. It deepens my appreciation for life and I feel good about creating a bit of positive energy in the universe. I also want to give myself the space to feel the happiness settle in.
4. INTENTIONALITY
   Stay in touch with my intentions. Invest the most of my daily energy in things that are truly important.
   I strive to spell out my goal for the current moment, the current day, the month, and the year. By visualizing the immensity of the universe and the relatively short time-span of human life, I can realize that it isn’t worth being lazy or investing a significant amount of my energy, attention and time in things that are not important to me. It’s important to do daily prioritization and reassessment of smaller goals.
5. RESPECT
   Feel an authentic sense of respect for every person I interact with.
   Never hurt someone’s dignity. By being respectful, I feel better about myself and make others feel acknowledged and heard. I make them feel good about themselves as well.
6. POSITIVITY
   Compete to be the most positive person I know.
   There are way too many people who focus on the negatives. This does not mean to avoid being critical and identify potential problems. Just doing it in a way that feels empathetic and constructive. I want to make adding value and encouragement my differentiation. I want to be critical when necessary.
7. IMPACT
   Be ever more passionate about maximizing my impact. Consider both short-term and long-term impact.
   …in the lives of people I know well, the one’s I don’t know well and the one’s who can use my help the most. Passion is infectious and it helps in maximizing my impact. Being thoughtful about what I wish to stand for and knowing what I stand for has helped me become more impactful.
8. THOUGHTFUL COMMUNICATION
   Think calmly before committing energy in speaking every single word.
   Words rule the world. The ripple effects caused by words can spark the emergence of an amazing new universe or incite a violent storm that makes everything wretched and soggy instantly.
9. RELATIONSHIPS
   Cultivate deeper relationships.
   Invest energy, time and attention in building strong bonds. Even as an introvert, choosing social activities with people I admire and appreciate over alone time more often has made my life a lot more rewarding. Being social is its own reward in life.
10. TRAVEL
    Travel often to change the routine, and experience different cultures.
    Visualizing Earth’s enormous size, the variety of its cultures and geographical features is my favorite pastime. Taking it to the next level involves getting out and traveling more. Our brains are wired to enjoy being in different situations, exploring and experiencing newness in the environment from time to time.
11. BEING PRESENT
    Give my full attention to one thing at a time. Maximize magic moments. Calm my mind and body by focussing on my breathing.
    I strive to be fully and calmly present. I intentionally avoid doing multiple things at once because I can never give my best to two things at a time. Life is a collection of moments; aiming to create and experience more magic moments and maximize the value of each one seems useful. Doing several things at once or trying to control things outside my Circle of Influence causes restlessness. I enjoy returning to breathing to reset my mind and become fully present. I focus on breathing slowly, gently and rhythmically.
12. MORNINGS
    Take control of my mornings to take control of my day.
    A moment expands to become an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year and eventually a life. A day is an extremely important currency in life and a carefully considered, well-spent morning is an easy way to increase the likelihood of making a valuable day happen. MY mornings include a few of these—Meditating, exercising, prioritizing, visualizing, writing, playing a musical instrument, drinking warm tea, or priming myself with something positive and inspiring.
13. FOOD, SLEEP, MOVEMENT, and RELAXATION
    Invest time, attention and energy in the 4 keystone practices of healthy eating, sleeping well, being physically active, and opting for mental relaxation.
    Whenever I go off balance, investing in these 4 habits gets me back on track. I am investing in learning more about them. I started with eating simply prepared foods, and eating addictive sweets only as occasional personal rewards. I intentionally bike to work to ensure I move enough everyday. I try to select relaxation activities that don’t feel like a waste of time afterwards.

This list of principles helps me take control of how I evolve. I want to be aware of where I am headed. I want to live by my principles and adapt them constantly. I believe I’ll find solace in times of distress and a clear sense of direction in life from this north star.