How Are You Living?

Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! A beautiful new opportunity is before us…lets seize it!!!

 

I have a rhetorical question for you; how are you living?

 

I want to share a few excerpts with you all from Think This, Not That: 12 Mindshifts to Breakthrough Limiting Beliefs and Become Who You Were Born to Be by Dr. Josh Axe. The excerpts I am going to share come from Mindshift 9: Turn Off Opinions and Turn On Principles.

 

“…the importance of principles, which are defined as “a foundation law or truth from which others are derived.” To review, values are personal and changeable and need virtues to prop them up; virtues are unchanging and form the highest level of character; and principles are systems of beliefs and practical ways to live out virtues.”

 

“Listening both to everybody and to nobody will lead you down the wrong path. The secret is to listen and follow wise leaders who have had the best results in their businesses, their finances, and their relationships.”

 

Let me ask you again, how are you living?

 

“Author Napoleon Hill wrote, “Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by ‘opinions’ when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking.”

 

“An unprincipled person is like a captain trying to steer a ship without navigation, lost at sea. Without any truth or standards to guide them, they lack wisdom. Without wisdom, they make poor choices. Making poor choices reinforces poor character. Consider how you might end up living if you have no code of honor. Without abiding by the principle of the Golden Rule, for instance, what standard would you follow? Would you treat people according to how you feel on any given day? Would this change depending on whether you’ve had your coffee that morning? Unprincipled living results in unpredictable behavior. Unprincipled people are untrustworthy.”

 

“Deep thinking doesn’t come from memorizing formulas or regurgitating facts. It comes from knowing how to think for yourself and applying that knowledge to your life.”

 

How are you living? Are you living a principled life or are you living life based on the opinions of others? Or perhaps it is feelings, not principles, that determine how you will live each day.

 

Dr. Axe offers what he refers to as “the top ten [principles] that have added the most value to my life.” I want to share them, along with a little excerpt from the section on it to help you understand what is meant. And this would be a really good time to recommend that you get this book…it is phenomenal!!!

1.     Recognize the wise by their results.

“Think of people as fruit trees. Good trees produce good fruit. Rotten trees produce rotten fruit.”

2.    Model those who are wise and virtuous.

“Find mentors – in person, in books, and online – who can teach you principled thinking and living in the most important areas of your life. Stick with their direction and ignore the opinions of the unprincipled.”

3.    You reap what you sow.

“Don’t sow into people who aren’t hungry for growth; you’ll just be giving something valuable to someone who is going to waste it. When you sow your seeds (time, talents, and treasure) on good soil (hard working people), you can reap a big harvest in your faith, fitness, family, finances/work, and free time.”

4.    The word is mightier than the sword.

Be mindful of what you say. Consider words a sword of truth. Use your words wisely, and wisely choose which ones you listen to.”

5.    The greatest of all is the servant of all.

“Making success and achievement primarily about yourself is the fastest way to become a failure.”

“Consider this principle activated in marriage. Contrary to popular opinion, the primary goal is not for your spouse to make you happy but for each of you to serve the other.”

6.    Find the truth.

“There are significant differences between my/your truth and the truth. My truth will make you as comfortable as possible. The truth will force you to change. My truth is dependent on what will make me feel good right now. The truth leads to a better outcome in the long run. It takes wisdom and courage to find and fight for the truth. Don’t seek to discover your truth; act with wisdom and courage to uncover the truth, which leads to life.”

7.     Iron sharpens iron.

“The company you keep directly impacts the person you become. Surround yourself with people who make you better, raise your standards, and help you transform into the person you were created to be.”

8.    We are what we repeatedly do; therefore, virtue is a habit.

“You become the virtue that you practice consistently.”

9.    Be the change.

“When we don’t make a difference in our own life, we can’t expect anything to change. Rather than judging others, we need to listen and learn and do things virtuously as we lead our families and teams.”

10.                    Love (agape) wins.

“The principle love wins means that, no matter what the situation, acting with love is the best response. As we discussed earlier, this love (agape) is not a romantic love but a sacrificial love in which you fight for and will the good of another. You do everything in your power to help the person succeed by sacrificing and sowing your effort, time, and resources.”

How are you living? My sincere hope and prayer for each one of us is that we will live principled lives.

 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!

 

Kev