Finding Your Cape – Principles

Previous posts in this series:

Leading on from the first post in this series, before we get in to superpowers, first we are going to explore the foundation of what makes us who we are – our principles…

Introduction

Your principles are the rules you have accepted as true, and choose to live your life by.

Now you may not have consciously accepted these rules (some may have been imparted on you when you were very young and could not cognitively appraise them), and you may not always live in alignment with these rules. Either way though, they do exist in your mind.

How you acquired these rules, and how you use them as a yard stick to judge yourself is something I have explored in the Creating Congruence tool.

Now we are going to take a look at these rules so you can check if you still agree they are true.

Virtue

First though, lets just explore the concept of virtue. It is a concept touched on and highly spoken of in lots of religions and philosophies. Being virtuous seems to bring with it a mental state of contentment, composure and clarity.

What does it mean though?

To be virtuous is to act in alignment with the moral code you have defined.

Now you could choose to borrow a code from somewhere else like a religion (e.g., the ten commandments or a philosophy (e.g., the Stoic virtues), or you could choose to define your own principles that you have tested and validated to be true yourself.

While adoption may be easier, acceptance of second-hand knowledge without first qualifying the why we are accepting it degrades our confidence in your own ability to think rationally and so undermines our self-esteem. Even if it sounds like a good idea, we should always rationally validate what we accept to be true.

This is what we will do now.

What is Important to You?

So let’s begin to surface what your principles are…

I suggest you grab a pen and paper and make some notes. Don’t overthink it, don’t judge it, just write what you feel. Here are some big questions to ponder, try writing out the headings then list out 3-5 items under each:

What do you stand for?
What matters to you?
What behaviours do you value in others – behaviours?
- What is it that these behaviours create/do?
- What do you think drives these behaviours

Can you think of anything? Is this easy, is it hard?

If this is the first time you have thought about this, then I am guessing you found it hard to think of things, and you kept wanting to judge what you were thinking before you allowed yourself to write it down.

If this was all a bit easy, then congratulations to you. I will then ask some bonus questions:

When did you accept each of these things to be true?
Why?
Can you simmer down each of these sentences in to as few words as possible while still retaining the meaning you intend?

You see, these principles when established in your mind, form a solid foundation upon which your vision of life can be made to manifest. Taking on this work to sure up these foundations while possibly a difficult and challenging process will pay dividends in the long term through the catalytic effect is has on the manifestation of your authentic self.

My Principles

This is an excerpt from a previous post…

Throughout my life, I have learned and experienced quite a bit. The thing that drives and motivates me from day to day is the excitement that I am going to learn and experience even more.

When the thirst of a curious mind is quenched, it feels good.

I have found that my own rate of growth and development has increased over time. Not quite exponential but certainly more significant than a linear relationship.

The reason for this increase in growth over time is the effect of positive feedback loops. Loops that are created when we make decisions which create behaviours and questions which empower us to make more decisions…

I have always yearned to simplify the complexity of life. Aiming to identify the simplest set of rules and choices that lead to a happy and fulfilling life.

I will now share with you the conclusions I have drawn from my journey so far. Think of these as 5 principles that you can use to guide your decisions and identify the right choices:

Prioritise increasing vitality
Be the change
Speak sincerely
Establish equilibrium
Embody compassion

I find these principles when applied to life, create a resonance that I can feel deep to my core. They have enabled me to discover more about myself and the world around me, and have empowered me to apply myself authentically to living. To live on purpose.

Partnered with the key skills outlined in the getting ready for action post, they are behaviours which when practiced help you arrive in to the present moment. The only moment which truly exists and the precise location of happiness.

If you want to find out more about these principles, then check out this post: 5 Principles for Success.