Today I am going to talk about the tenets, or guiding principals, I have collected throughout the years and have brought me success in business and life. I have been fortunate enough to work on successful products and services for a range of markets from law to fintech. Throughout that time I have grown successful partially due to great leadership, and partially due to my insatiable curiosity, learning from other successful people.
For some time now I have been collecting these “tenets for prosperity” as I call them. Guiding principals in how I want to live my life, and do business. In total there are eight. This is part one of a two part series.
This is something I am sharing to inspire others to create some rules around what they believe in. Having a set of rules, or principals, as a shining light to aim for, gives us a competitive advantage.
Without rules, or tenets we can allow our emotions to get the better of us. We’ll have inconsistent messaging with colleagues and family. Worse, we all stand for something, and without writing them down we may have blind spots or areas of our lives where we could be doing better.
You have tenets, whether you acknowledge them or not
Experiences in your life have made you who you are. That is unique. Nobody has the same experiences you do. Nobody has experienced the same pain, or prosperity as you. This shapes who you are for better or worse. Defining tenets that you stand by moves you in the direction you want to be in life. Here are some of mine. Feel free to use these to inspire your own, or outright take them as is.
- Be authentic and honest
- Integrity is everything
- Strive for perfection
- Be curious
Being authentic and honest means saying things rooted in truth. Being straight-forward with people is refreshing. It also means I am honest about my strengths as much as my weaknesses. Being candid about what I need to learn. I also need to balance my optimism with realism.
I believe in having high standards for myself, my companies, and those I surround myself with. Adhering to those high standards, or living them, holds me accountable for my actions.
I believe in perfectionism but do not see it as necessary for success. It is worthy to be the goal to strive for perfection from the inception of a product, service, or goal. It cannot be achieved all the time, but I should work my hardest to make something great. When I work on a project I’ll pause throughout and ask, “Is there an opportunity to make something better?” Friction to get to perfection comes from three facets. Time, resources, and money. For an organization, they’re better off overcoming that friction. Committing to move from mediocre, or good, to great can make all the difference.
Fostering curiosity for myself, and others around me feels vital to success. I have a desire to learn, try and experience new things. The root of innovation is curiosity. Throughout my career I have mentored individuals at all sorts of parts of their journey. I’ve learned to cultivate curiosity in them — where they are. It takes energy and time, but it’s also what I look for when hiring.
That’s it for this week! Next week we’ll cover the other four. What do you think of these tenets?
Update
Aug 5, 2023
Part 2 is now available here.
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