22 Principles

I turn 22 this month.

In honor of each year I’ve spent in this world, I’ve written one principle that I’ve either realized as truth (as can be perceived), or that I’ve dedicated myself to living by. Usually both.

Here they are:

1. Pay full, complete attention to the task, person, or situation at hand.
2. If said task, person, or situation is not worth your full attention at the present moment, remove yourself.
3. Build habits, learn things, and create works at the edge of what is known and familiar, not where everything’s new.
4. Be pleasant to live with—as much as is possible within you.
5. Let nothing you think, say, or do be without clear intention.
6. Learn all you can, wherever, whenever, and in whatever way you can.
7. Teach all you know wherever, whenever, and to whomever you can.
8. There are no speed limits to most things in life (except the ones you set yourself).
9. Maintain a 1-touch rule with everything—except people.
10. Cut costs on everything except for what (and who) matters to you.
11. Create every single day.
12. Don’t give in when faced with those tiny, tiny choices.
13. Entertainment for entertainment’s sake is never worth your time.
14. Plateaus are catalysts for exponential growth, if consistent action continues to be taken.
15. Play chess in all areas of life—not checkers.
16. Identity lags beliefs about 1-2 years, while reality lags identity 2-3 years, on average.
17. Find out what the compounding returns are on everything, and reposition thoughts and actions accordingly.
18. Lack of easy external stimulation forces you to put effort into having fun.
19. Let thankfulness be the default thought in your mind and the constant state of your heart.
20. Treat each person as if God thought they were worth dying for.
21. Everything is frequency, from the substance of solids to the states of our souls.
22. When you come across people who strike a deep, rich chord within you, take note and take heart.
23. Bonus: Experimentation shows you where you could go; mastery (over time) takes you there.

I’m curious to see how these would change over the next few years.

Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me by reading this. Peace.

P.S. Thanks goes to Joseph Lam for the idea. Read his list of 25 core beliefs here. (His post was written 4 years ago. I’m excited to see if there’d be an update this year 😉 )