A List of Core Values I Live By

Your character is defined by values. And your core values are the result of your behavior. Aristotle said it best: “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”

For example, when you always tell the truth, you become an honest person. It’s as simple as that. And yet, we collectively underestimate the importance of values. We think our values have everything to do with how we are perceived. But that’s not why values matter.

Values have a great impact on our inner world. They define us. They form the foundation of our character. And since you must live with yourself, your values should be one of the most important things in your life.

Mental Models and Making Decisions You Don’t Regret

What makes a good decision? When I ask people that question, I often get answers like: “When the outcome is successful.”

Why is it that we, as a society, romanticize outcomes? Only things and people that succeed are celebrated. Just look at all the articles and books that idolize successful people. And to a degree, that’s obvious. But it’s also misleading. We tend to overlook cases that did not come with a successful outcome. And when we do look at failure, we are often quick to explain why things failed.

In hindsight, we can all look at mistakes and say that it was imminent. But if preventing mistakes is that easy, why are we still make decisions that we regret?

How to Get Rid of The Thoughts That Are Clogging Your Brain

I want to ask you a question. How many hours per day do you think? “I never thought about that.” So, let me get this straight. You’re thinking all the time, and yet, you never think about how much time you spend thinking. That sounds like an addiction to me. I know, because I’m addicted to thinking too.

ü When I eat too much, I can say “I’m overeating. I need to eat less.”

ü When I work too much, I can say “I’m getting burned out. I need to stop working.”

ü When I drink too much, I can say “I need to stop. I need a bottle of water.”

But when I think too much, I can’t just say “I’m overthinking.” I need a different approach to unclog my brain. But the problem is that we don’t consider overthinking as a problem.

Small Habits That Have A Huge Return on Life

Over the years, I’ve adopted many different “positive” habits. To me, a habit is positive when it improves the quality of my life. A lot has been written about forming habits. How hard is? How long does it take? What’s the best way to break habits? How do we adopt new habits?

My experience is that everyone can adopt any habit they want. There’s only one condition though: You need a good reason to make a change (I talk about that in-depth on this podcast episode). And in 99% of cases, the reason to change comes from personal suffering, sadness, and hurt. At some point, you can’t stand your current behavior anymore.

If You Are Reading This, You Are Already Ahead

I recently spoke with one of my students about her challenge to find a new job. Like you, she reads these types of personal development articles. And she invests a lot of time in her own education. After speaking to her, I was convinced she would be an asset to any company that hired her.

However, she didn’t feel the same certainty as I did. “But what if everybody else is trying the same strategies to get a job?” Like many people who invest a lot in their education, she assumed that literally every single other person on planet earth is doing the same. And that her chances to land a great job diminished because of that.

How to Be Productive When Your Life Is in Chaos

In a perfect world, everything is steady. You can make plans that come true 100% of the time. You can anticipate things in advance. But as you and I both know, that’s not how life works.

In real life, a single random (and unexpected) event can suddenly screw up all your plans, goals, and good intentions to make a change. Think of…

ü A family member who passes away.

ü Getting pregnant.

ü Getting into a car accident.

ü A calamity at work that causes bankruptcy.

ü Falling in love.

Unplanned events can disrupt everything. I’ve experienced that several times in my life. And there’s nothing you can do to prevent unexpected events.

Did You Fail at Something? Good—Do Something Else

Do you have plans, goals, ideals, or outcomes that you want to achieve? And do you get frustrated when things don’t go according to plan? If so, I want to share a simple, yet powerful idea with you in this article.

I learned this from Jocko Willink’s book Discipline Equals Freedom. The idea is very simple. Jocko believes that complaining when things go wrong is useless.