There are many ways to live life. One approach involves the pleasure of following your principles and getting positive results. This approach includes what may sound like a paradox.
Much of the pleasure may come from being true to yourself and following your principles. Then, as a bonus, it can be great if these produce positive results.
Looking at your own life, can you think of a situation when you followed elements of this approach? This could have been in your personal and professional life.
You may have done this when helping a person, teaching a class or doing a creative project. You may have done it when tackling a challenge, managing a crisis or doing another activity.
What was the specific situation? What was the feeling you got from following certain principles? How did you translate those principles into action? What happened as a result to taking these steps?
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
People who follow this approach often aim to do their personal best in situations. Sometimes this involves recognising that different people have different approaches to life.
Some people follow their principles
and don’t worry about prizes
Some people aim to keep following their principles and do not worry about the prizes. They aim to do what they believe in, pursue a spiritual path or follow certain guidelines.
This does not mean that they do not work towards achieving specific goals. They may aim to perform well in sports, pitch for business or work to build a more peaceful world.
Such people focus on what they can control, however, rather worry about what they can’t control. They continue to do their best and perform fine work. They recognise that achieving the ultimate goal, however, may be influenced by forces beyond their control.
They often follow The Dalai Lama’s approach to worrying about things they can’t control. He said:
If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry.
If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.
Some people only
worry about getting prizes
Some people spend a lot of their time worrying about getting prizes. They worry about whether or not they will get promotion, gain status or be seen as successful.
Some can become captivated by prizes. A person may feel that everything will change if they win a golf tournament, get promotion or win a lottery. They may find, however, that the prize captures them.
Certainly some things may change, but some will remain the same. They may get more opportunities, but they will still be the same person. They may need to learn how to use the prize rather than let the prize use them.
Some people become addicted to getting more plaudits. They focus totally on getting the next win, sometimes at the cost of their family or health. This can create a feeling of neurosis that may create collateral damage for themselves or other people.
Some people follow their principles and,
as a by-product, don’t worry about prizes
Some people follow their principles, keep doing fine work and, as a by-product, also get prizes. The real prize for them, however, is following their principles each day.
Some sports coaches take this path. They encourage their players to keep following the agreed principles rather than worry about the scoreboard. Bill Walsh, the American Football coach, explained this in the following way.
Keep following the standards of performance and the score takes care of itself.
Such people believe in aiming to be the best they can be. They also believe in enjoying the journey as well as reaching the goal. At the same time, however, sometimes it can also give pleasure to get positive results.
Let’s return to your own life. Can you think of a situation where you may want to follow elements of this approach? It may be one where you will get pleasure from following your principles and also get positive results.
You may want to follow your principles when helping a person, doing a project or leading a team. You may want to take this path when playing a sport, building a business, tackling a crisis or doing another activity.
If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to complete the following sentences.
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