Life Principles

 

Here is a really great list of “principles” by Nabeel Qureshi, a visiting scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. As I now have two adult children living under my roof, I think often of what they and others in their generation need in order to go out into the world and be happy and successful. Qureshi’s list is a good one for me to add some commentary on. So here are a few reactions from selected items:

 

21.        You are probably too risk-averse. Write out the worst things that can happen, realize they’re not that bad, then take the leap. 

Our children have been through so much life stress that they are reflexively risk-averse. Which is understandable, but the extreme version of this is a small existence, where you never put yourself out there, which means you never grow or learn or soar. See also #2, # 14, #40, #46, #52, and #62. For Qureshi to have so many variations on the same theme agrees with my belief in the importance of accepting your risk aversion but learning how to take the leap anyway. 

 

11.        Always be high integrity, even when it costs you. The shortcuts aren’t worth it. 

Truth is (and I would argue always has been) somewhat fluid, trumped by trust when it comes to developing your reputation and getting things done. Of course, the best way to engender trust is to tell the truth. To me, that’s what it means to have integrity, is to do what you say and never compromise on that. Life is full of opportunities to fudge this, and there is no more important lesson in the midst of that than to stay the course.

 

28.        At some point in your life, work on a startup, or at least a thing driven by a small group. Small group energy is amazing. 

For many, this lifestyle is not sustainable. But I think the point still holds, to take a chance at some point in your life where you and a small group of like-minded people are singularly focused on something. So much good comes from that. Do not miss a chance to do something like this at some point in your life.

  

49.        Figure out what gives you new ideas, and make sure you incorporate that into your routine. For me this is talking to people, tweeting, writing in my notebook, long conversations with friends (especially late night or while walking). For other people this is showering, baths, long walks, runs, etc. Make sure you “harvest” these ideas too, i.e. write them down somewhere so they don’t get lost. 

What makes us human is that we are creative. Indeed, with the unending progress of AI, ideas are what are valuable. So knowing yourself well enough to know how you come by ideas, and having intention to put yourself in those places, is paramount.

 

 59.        There’s a lot of alpha in being willing to do “menial” work (take notes, send out agendas, order pizza, manually inspect raw data, whatever). Beware over-delegation and being too far from the details. 

Our kids are not only digital natives but social media natives, so they only know an existence in which their entire lives and that of those around them is carefully curated. Which means everything is perfect and effortless and meaningful. Ah, but most of life is not those things. Indeed, in order to do perfect and effortless and meaningful, you have to do a lot of grind. That grind is necessary, and it is not just a necessary evil that you would forgo if you could, but there is something about the journey of so many steps that builds you up in a way that sheer talent or dumb luck cannot.