“We are all warriors. Each of us struggles every day to define and defend our sense of purpose and integrity, to justify our existence on the planet and to understand, if only within our own hearts, who we are and what we believe in.” – Steven Pressfield
Do you have a list of rules you live by? You should.
Whether we are aware of it or not, each of us lives by a set of thoughts, ideas, values, and perceptions – our personal code. Your code guides everything you do each day, from the way you judge yourself and others, to how you define “success.”
This matters for two reasons:
1. If you don’t intentionally create your code, it probably won’t accurately reflect what you want it to. You’re effectively leaving your life – your legacy – up to chance.
2. Your happiness and fulfillment in life depends on your ability to live authentically in line with your inner code.
If you haven’t taken the time to sit down and iron out what you want your life to be about, and what kind of person you want to be – you need to do that now.
A lot of us have good intentions, but until you start living intentionally, your best intentions will often fail to come to fruition.
That’s why you need a set of rules.
This is How You Live A Meaningful Life
Rules To Live By
The “rules” you develop will become your personal code of conduct, guiding how you live your day-to-day life. An interesting thing happens when you actually sit down and write your rules out: it produces a new level of commitment.
If “respecting others” is on your list, then dangit, you treat others right, whether you feel like it or not. You try to demonstrate respect in every interaction that you have with others. And even if you have a bad day and treat someone poorly, you don’t try to cover it up or blame other people or circumstances.
You own up to it and do what you can to make things right. I believe everyone should have a list of rules that they live by. It provides a sense of direction and helps you make sure you’re acting like the kind of person you want to be.
How can you make your own list?
First, imagine what you want people to say about you after you are gone. I don’t mean to get morbid on you, but it’s important to think about what kind of legacy you want to leave when you are no longer on this earth.
How do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be the person who others remember as, like, whatever? The kind of person who watched a lot of Netflix and stared at their phone when they could have been engaging in a remarkable life?
Hell no. You want to be remembered as someone who lived a life of purpose. Who pushed their limits and did everything they could to make the world a better place.
So what kind of words would you want others to use when describing you?
Passionate? Honest? Patient? Present?
After you come up with a few words, turn them into action statements:
1) Be honest with those around me, even if it means risking personal gain
2) Live passionately for what I believe to be right
3) Whenever possible, put others before myself, using my strength to help improve their lives
4) Be in the moment, focusing on the what is happening right in front me
This is just an example, so don’t feel like you’re limited to four. But you want to keep this focused. Once you have your list of rules, make sure you refer back to it often to make sure you’re living the kind of life you want to live.
Take time to reflect: Am I leaving a legacy that I am proud of? Am I doing what I can to become the best version of myself, and by extent, make the world a better place?
If not, refocus and get back on track.
Conclusion
Most people don’t give a lot of thought to how they live their life, they just let it happen naturally and hope things turn out well. But not you. You’re different.
You know that a live well lived is crafted intentionally. Now go out there and live your code.
Photo credit: Unsplash.com
