You are in trouble

I’m going to give you a peek behind the curtain.

For the last 3 years, I’ve been writing online. 

It catalyzed when my Dad passed away. 

He was a very powerful figure in my life. Extremely principled both spiritually and physically. 

So much so that I blank slate adopted his beliefs.

When Dad died, there was a belief vacuum. I couldn’t lean on his experience, wisdom, or knowledge anymore.

I was my own man. So, what did I believe? What were my guiding principles? 

That’s when I started writing. 

It started small. Just a journal entry every time a relevant thought would hit the back of my brain, I’d write it down.

Eventually, I got into writing long form blog posts. Then I discovered Tim Denning on Medium which introduced me to Twitter/LinkedIn and then I was off discovering Justin Welsh, Dakota Robertson, Tim Stoddart, etc.

Long story short, I’ve discovered my passion and I’m going to be writing for the rest of my life. 

To that end I’m working on a book.

It’s about optimalism and will be structured around developing guiding principles for your life by introducing each of my found principles through stories. 

So, to open the kimono, here are my guiding principles. 

I’ll be expanding these in later posts. 

If any strike your fancy, reply to this email and I’ll hit those first.

Without further ado, my principles:

• Be humble

• Be optimistic

• Live timelessly

• Track everything

• Gamify everything

• Simplify to the max

• Be actively grateful

• Tolerate uncertainty

• Never stop growing

• Seek out discomfort

• Question everything

• Believe in something

• Stay in fighting shape

• Live with intentionality

• Say no more than yes

• Work hard; never retire

• Dress like James Bond

• Don't do small boy stuff

• Be nice, but aggressive

• Never give away power

• Always test assumptions

• Focus on 1 thing at a time

• Travel as much as possible

• Treat everyone with respect

• Stay hungry and stay foolish

• Stay curious, and be teachable

• If it isn’t an absolute yes, it’s a no

• Don’t make money off my hobbies

• Lead with compassion and empathy

• Give authentic compliments unsolicited

• #1 priority: be responsible for my family

• Be the man in the arena; default to action

• Keep control of my mind to control my life

• Be the most valuable person in my network

• Build systems and products that help people

• Think in terms of decades and use action goals

• Seek out critical feedback and accept it graciously

• Don't listen to anyone that is not where I want to be

• Resist doing what is acceptable just to be accepted

• Think before you speak. And listen more than you talk

• Always ask, "What would this look like if it were easy?"

• Remember that my time is limited, cherish every moment

• Always choose quality over quantity, especially in experiences

• Focus on what I can control and don't worry about what I can't

• Help people when they need help, not when I'm ready to help them

• Find the counter-intuitive comparisons in life; they make the best stories

• Take anything in my life that doesn’t contribute to my goals and cut it the f*ck out

• Speak up for people when I see them being mistreated; don't stand for mistreatment

• Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity

Talk soon,

Swanagan