Your principles are the rules governing your behavior. We hear this a lot from politicians and companies.  Politicians love to talk about family values, and corporations paint them all over their website. You’ll hear words like honesty, integrity, truth, kindness, etc. These are all rules that govern the behavior of the company’s employees or form the basis for how a politician will govern.

Have you stopped to ask yourself about your own principles? What are the rules that govern your decision making and behavior?

Ethical principles are honesty, authenticity, humbleness, kindness, justice. Not all beliefs are moral or right. There is no universal set of principles that everyone subscribes to. Someone else’s actions or conduct may be founded on greed, domination, winning, selfishness, survival of the fittest. Before you work with people, make sure you have a good idea about their value system and the foundation for their decision making.  Principles matter when the pressure is on.

In sports, there’s a theme: Slow down and don’t force it.

It’s like hitting a tennis ball, swinging a golf club, surfing a wave, swimming freestyle, snorkeling or cycling.

Slowing down is counterintuitive because we think speed means power, so we end up rushing. The truth is that speed is nothing without control.

The next time you are feeling short of time in the morning. Instead of rushing through an exercise routine and doing everything half-ass, pick three things and do them slowly and with maximum power. Maybe it’s one backbend, one warrior pose, and ten push-ups. That’s all. Three things done correctly, with your full attention will be more beneficial than ten things done in a rush.

“A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.” — Albert Einstein

Calmness and modesty are character traits of fierce warriors. It’s strength, not a weakness.

It takes discipline and practice to remain calm when everyone else around you is restless and panicking.

Living a modest life in the age of consumption means looking for fulfillment in giving and service to others.

Take a breath, chill and wake up every morning with the intention to serve.

p.s. Smile first thing in the morning and pick something you are thankful for. It’s an effect starting block for the morning routine.

The right amount of skepticism means that you are humble enough and experienced enough to admit that there is never 100% certainty in an endeavor. Too much skepticism will paralyze you by thinking only about what could go wrong.

Be an optimistic realist.

The answer is in the dirt. The devil is in the detail.

Go deep on stuff and the answers appear. If you are too high level then you won’t break through. Don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none.

Going deep is a differentiator and is underestimated. Simplicty appears on the other side of complexity.

“The closer you get to real matter, rock, air, fire and wood, boy, the more spiritual the world is.” – Jack Kerouac