My First Principle: Live in Reality

I have started to put together a list of principles that I plan to run my business by. I firmly believe it's possible to run a business that gets results without needing to sacrifice the wellbeing of yourself or your employees. After all, It would be very awkward if I burnt myself out running a business dedicated to helping people handle burnout. :)

My first principle is to Live in Reality. What does that mean? How does someone not live in reality? To me, it's about making sure that all of your decisions and choices are grounded in facts. If you are already working 45 hours a week, should you take on a project that will add another 20 hours to your week? No, that's just not realistic if you want to make sure you stay sharp. This may seem like common sense but I'm sure most of us have run into managers that don't seem to grasp this concept.

Why is this my first principle? I think it serves as the foundation for everything I do. If you don't make your decisions based on reality then you are setting yourself up for failure.

This principle is primarily based on the idea behind mindfulness. If you're not familiar with mindfulness, a basic definition is "the state of being conscious or aware of something". You need to be aware of reality if you're going to succeed in reality. The first day I do when I wake up every day is go through a short mindfulness meditation to practice living in the moment. That helps keep me grounded and stay in the present moment.

What are your life or work principles? Email me.