The People Following Their Life Principles Approach

There are many ways to live life. One approach is to find and follow your principles. It is then to try to express these in the various situations you meet in your life.

Imagine that you want to follow elements of this approach. You can start by brainstorming and then settling on, for example, the three principles you want to follow in your life. Bearing these in mind, you can then be calm and aim:

To clarify how you can follow these principles in a specific situation;

To click into action, be fully present and aim to follow these principles in the specific situation;

To return to your centre, refocus on your principles and then clarify how you can follow these in the next specific situation.

Imagine that you want to follow this approach in your own way. If you wish, you can focus on the following themes

You can clarify your principles

As mentioned earlier, one approach is to start by brainstorming the principles you want to follow in your life. You can then settle on, for example, the three key principles you want to follow.

Different people will obviously focus on different principles. Here are some of the things that people write when exploring these themes.

My Principles

I want to encourage people in my life and work … I want to continue to have a sense of gratitude … I want to care for my loved ones … I want to create enriching environments in which people grow.

I want to use my strengths to help people to succeed … I want to build pioneering things that show people a better way … I want to pass on knowledge that people can use to shape a positive future.

I want to make full use of the talents I have been given … I want to do my best during my time on the planet … I want to give people positive memories for life … I want to die feeling at peace.”

You will, of course, have your own set of principles. Here is the exercise on this theme.

You can clarify how you can follow
your principles in specific situations

Let’s assume that you have settled on the principles you want to follow. You may then aim to pursue these in different situations.

These situations are like different boxes you go into during your daily life. You may be aiming to encourage a person, help a customer, lead a team, tackle a challenge or do another activity.

Imagine that you will be going into a specific situation. You may start by clarifying the results that both you and the other parties – such as a person or group of people – want to achieve.

You can take time to prepare properly. You can rehearse how you follow your principles and manage any challenges. You can then go into the situation, be fully present and do your best to achieve the desired results.

You will, of course, prepare in your own way. If you wish, however, here is one framework you may want to follow.

There is one key point that it can be worth bearing in mind. You may find it useful to clarify your expectations and what you can and can’t expect to happen in the situation.

You will always do your best but there will be some situations where you can expect certain responses. Sometimes there may be positive responses, sometimes there may be neutral or other responses. Bearing this in mind, it can be useful to explore:

The positive things that could happen in the situation;

The neutral or other things that could happen in the situation.

Let’s look at one example. Imagine you are about to embark on doing some work for a particular organisation. Bearing in mind organisation’s culture, there may be both pluses and minuses involved when working with the organisation.

Looking at the situation from your side, you will aim: a) to focus on what you can control; b) to rehearse properly; c) to do your best in the situation.

Looking at the situation in perspective, however, there may be things that are beyond your control. It is important to bear these factors in mind when judging how things went in the situation.

Imagine that you have rehearsed what you want to do. You can click into action and be fully present. You can then aim to follow your principles and do your best to achieve the desired positive results.

You can clarify what to
do if things go off-course

There will be many times when things work well. There may be other times, however, when you may get thrown off-course. How to manage such situations?

One approach is to buy time to think. You can then ask yourself some of the following questions.

What is happening in the situation? What do I want to happen? What are the real results to achieve? How can I do my best to achieve these results?

Imagine that have bought time to think and have settled on the strategy you want to pursue. It can be useful to rehearse what you are going to do next. You can then move into action and aim to achieve the desired results

Let’s assume you have done your best in a specific situation. The next step will be return to your centre.

You can relax, recentre and refocus on your principles. When appropriate, you can then look ahead and rehearse how you can follow your principles in the next situation.

You can clarify the pluses and
minuses of following your principles

People who follow their life principles keep returning to their inner compass. They are more likely to live in what the existentialists call good faith. They are also more likely to, over the long run, feel a sense of peace.

There are, of course, both pluses and minuses involved in following your principles. These include the following.

The Pluses Are:

You may find the principles provide an internal compass you can refer to when making decisions;

You may feel at ease by doing what you believe in and following principles that serve you well in many situations;

You may find following the principles produces tangible benefits – such as feeling you have done your best and delivering success.  

The Potential Minuses Are:

You may find following the principles can mean making tough decisions and sometimes losing out on short-term gains;

You may find other people criticise you or reject your efforts for following these principles;

You may sometimes fail to follow your principles and feel you have been untrue to yourself.

Let’s return to your own life and work. Imagine that you want to follow elements of the life principles approach. If you wish, try tackling the exercise on this theme. This invites you to do the following things.

Describe the principles you want to follow in your life;

Describe the specific things you can do to translate some of these principles into action.

Describe the specific things that may happen as a result of taking these steps.