Principles over Symptoms, Priorities, and Quiet Courage

Happy Sunday Friends and Hello from Point Mugu, California! I’ve been traveling for the last 19 hours and I’m writing this from my phone’s intermittent 1 bar of LTE. It’s a whole new challenge to enjoy and rise to!

Here is 1 quote I’m musing, 2 Ideas, 3 of my favorite things from the week, and 1 question. If you find it useful or interesting, please feel free to forward this along to some friends or others!

One Quote I’m Musing

Live a life in “harmonious accord with each man's guiding spirit and the will of the one who governs the universe.”

-Zeno

I was on a walkabout to frame my thoughts ahead of an interview panel last week. I was thinking somewhat about what kind of questions I’d be asked, what my responses would be, etc. I came to the conclusion that the questions and answers didn’t matter.

What?

Hear me out! The studying and practicing to answer to expected questions feels kind of like treating symptoms instead of the actual illness. If you don’t understand the illness, you are unlikely to understand the problem, and unlikely to come to a successful solution.

Like the analogy, my mind coalesced around four guiding principles that I resonate with strongly with: Observe, act, persist, and endure. I wrote them down in my traveler’s notebook while I walked. I wrote down my feelings and my own definition of them.

• Observe: See things for what they really are; without coloring them by our assumptions and feelings about them.
• Act: Do what we can. Do what is right. Have a plan (even if it’s small steps).
• Persist: Exhaust all options and entertain new ideas or perspectives.
• Endure: Keep going, seek help. Bear what we must.

It was as if just pulling those in stole most of the weight and pressure of needing to answer the panel’s questions. And while I was in the hot seat, most of it felt pretty natural by tying all of the questions (symptoms) to those principles.

Now, I won’t say these specific principles are the ones for each of you, but constructing them based on the exercises I’ve been putting forth lately proved a process that I believe will work for anyone to build their own set.

I hope you’ll try it out!

If you do, drop me a line and let me know how it went!

Two Ideas From Me

1. We all have many competing priorities. When we have others in our charge, their priorities go in the stack also. When you receive a “No” to a request, it usually means “Not right now”. Don’t take it personally, ask again later or find a better time later to engage again.
2. Courage isn’t always loud. Often courage is the quiet decision to try again.

Three Favorite Things From Others

1. “When one teaches, two learn.” - Robert Heinlein
2. “Your body adapts to what you eat.Your mind adapts to what you consume.Your soul adapts to what you love.What you feed yourself today is who you become tomorrow.” - James Clear
3. “The first draft of anything is shit” - Ernest Hemingway

One Question

Do you need to focus in or zoom out? Do you need to put more effort in or let it go?

The key is knowing which you need to do at the given moment.

Shoot Me Your Feedback!

What did you like? What else do you want to see or what should I eliminate? Any other suggestions? Just send a tweet to @erichaupt on Twitter and put #SundayMusings at the end so I can find it. Or, [email protected] for long form email.What did you like? What else do you want to see or what should I eliminate? Any other suggestions? Just send a tweet to @erichaupt on Twitter and put #SundayMusings at the end so I can find it. Or, [email protected] for long form email. Have a wonderful week,

I’ll see you Sunday.

-e