Principles

Life’s Principles

1 Embrace reality and deal with it

Think of your life as a game, and each problem you face is a puzzle. By solving the puzzle, you’ll discover a gem in the form of a principle that will help you avoid the similar problem in the future.

1.1 Be a hyperrealist

Being hyperrealistic helps you choose your dreams wisely and then achieve them.

Getting more out of life isn’t just a matter of working harder at it. Working effectively is what matters.

1.2 Truth — or more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality — is the essential foundation for any good outcome.

Most people fight seeing what’s true when it’s not what they want it to be. That’s bad because it is more important to understand and deal with the bad stuff since the good stuff will take care of itself.

1.3 Be radically open-minded and radically transparent

The more open minded you are, the less likely you are to deceive yourself — and the more likely it is that others will give you honest feedback. If they are “believable” people, you will learn a lot from them.

It can be difficult to be radically transparent because it exposes you to criticism. It’s natural to fear that. Yet if you don’t put yourself out there with your radical transparency, you won’t learn.

Don’t let fears of what others think of you stand in your way.

Imagine how much efficient the world would be if instead of hiding what they think, people shared it openly. (Talking about people’s opinions of each other and of how the world works.)

Embracing radical truth and radical transparency will bring more meaningful work and more meaningful relationships. But it does takes time.