What determines the outcomes of our life?
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Let's be honest. There are a hundred things in our life that are not under our control. We do not control some of the most important things in life. We cannot control the outcomes of our life. We cannot control how people will respond to us. We cannot control how much money we make. So on and so forth. This is reality and it is humbling.
Well, maybe we play a part in controlling some of the things mentioned above. But then, it is a limited part. And a lot of it is down to how we go about doing them in the first place.
And the way we go about trying to control some of the things in our life is by our principles.
Principles control the outcome of our life.
Too hard to believe? Let me give a few examples.
If you constantly eat fatty food, you will grow a mid section that is fatter than anything you would have ever seen.
If you constantly complain about things, you'll never realize that a solution can be around the corner because complaining is all you will ever see and do.
If you do not develop your mind with constant learning, your mind will eventually lose its edge.
And the list goes on and on.
What is a principle?
A principle is "a natural law, like gravity. It is different than a value. Values are subjective. Principles are objective."
--- The 7 habits of highly effective people, Dr. Stephen Covey.
One of the most interesting things that I've read is this: If you want to be the farmer who harvests his corn in September then you better have planted seeds in April.
If the farmer tries to do everything in September, would it work? Of course not. He cannot forget to plant in spring, laze off all summer, and work hard only during the fall. A farm is a natural system that is governed by its own set of principles. And so are human beings.
So are you.
Whatever we plant, we harvest. What we plant consistently overtime, eventually yields a return that is exponential.
If given the choice, I would rather have a penny that would double in value every day for 31 days, rather than $1,000,000 in my pocket. Most people would go with the second option, which represents overnight success. I would go with option one because I have learnt that there is no overnight success. It is usually a lot of sleepless nights and early mornings, and hard work that goes into being an overnight success. And the majority of the growth happens at the very end.
Today's generation is obsessed with the moment and fast returns. Investing and working hard consistently over a period of time is often mocked at.
Getting back to the penny example, imagine it doubles in value every day for 31 days. On the 31st day, you will have $10 million from a penny (You can do the math). The growth is on an exponential curve. It may seem small at first, but they become big over time.
Likewise, when you first start a habit, it may seem very small. But over days, weeks and months, it becomes major.
Here's a example from life. Imagine that you spend $10 a day for a cup of coffee. Now $10 times 365 days is $3650. Lets multiply that with 5 years, and its a staggering $18,250. You get the picture. Your habits are important. They can cost you or work for you.
Here is a personal example from my life. I go to the gym consistently. In the first few days, I hardly noticed any difference. But I went consistently over a week, and I found that it became a habit. After 4 weeks, I started noticing differences in my body and mind.
After 12 weeks, everyone started to notice.
Small things become big. Always.
This has been my personal experience, and I advocate it to anyone who asks me about how to go about doing something.
That is the power of habit. Consistency is key. And habits are governed by principles.
I believe that life is a preparation. This is why everything we do matters.
Principles are like gravity. They are always in control and we cannot escape them. The way we behave with our friends matters. Treat someone coldly, and over time, they will become cold to you. Be careless with someone, and you will get it back in kind. The way we save or spend money matters. The information we put in our mind. The things we put in our body. They all matter.
If trash goes in, trash comes out. Bad behavior begets bad behavior in return.
It was a scary feeling to imagine that nothing was going to be under my control. But learning that my principles control the outcome, I have had a mind-opening experience. I can learn and apply the correct principles. And with that, I can predict the outcome of my behavior. And I become the sculptor of my path. My destiny. I choose what affects me and how it affects me.
One of the greatest lesson I've learnt is that I will do my best and not worry about the outcome. The principle of doing my best will take care of the outcome. If the outcome is not what I desired, I still know that I did my best because of my principles.
Learning that principles control the outcome, I have become conscious and purposeful about them. I practice them everyday.
Everyday is training. Everyday is an improvement. Everyday is a small victory.
Everything is a principle.
I got the idea for this post while reading this book: Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the Future It is an extremely thought provoking book, and you should read it too.
The cover image is from my wallpaper images collection from over 10 years ago. I cannot attribute a source to it.
If you like my work, please comment, upvote and resteem. For similar posts like this, do check out the links below. I blog on travel, photography, life, in varying degrees of humor and sarcasm. I'm sure you'll find something of interest.
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Very sound advice. I think I will resteem this.
Thank you, @stillwatersart! I appreciate it!
That's some great advice. Gonna read that book. ;)