Now & Then & Etc

Do you know who you are and what you want to do in life? If not, or if you only vaguely know, it would benefit you lots in the years to come, especially if you’re young, for you to determine now what is most important to you: your Unifying Principles. Knowing them early, reviewing them regularly, and using them in your planning will chart your actions for decades—and greatly increase the chance that you will live you.

Know thyself; do thyself.

Take time to determine your principles. Because planning per principles will significantly influence your life, it’s important to take the time, think lots, and craft them well. During my thirties I took two years of Sundays to determine mine. Here’s how that happened:

When stationed in Newport, Rhode Island with the Navy, I would bicycle every Sunday for two hours, even in the winter, alongside a New England coastline, looking at the rocks, waves, and sky. I had lots of time for solitary meditation (one tends to find oneself solitary when bicycling in New England in December), and I’d contemplate life, time, and being—the things we all ponder when we find ourselves by ourselves in a quiet spot in nature.

Afterwards, I’d settle into a warm coffee shop to enjoy a hot latte and a berry bagel smeared with honey cream cheese. In that coffee shop—nature inspired, endorphin stimulated, and caffeine buzzed —I would think about and learn about what drives me, what makes Michael go, and I’d pen those realizations onto 3 x 5 index cards. It was important to get each principle in blue and white before me, on its own card, to see it real, and I’d work on just one principle each Sunday.

The next Sunday I’d rewrite the principle to get the words simpler. Eventually I’d be satisfied that the words clearly expressed my thoughts, and so I’d progress to the next principle and card until, after two years of rewriting (it takes time to learn the inner you), I’d derived seven principles—each with its one- or two- sentence description—that synopsized me.

In later years I’d review my principles monthly, but with time my edits became less as the wording more accurately portrayed my truths. Now I review my unifying principles twice a year (or whenever I need to refresh myself as to what’s really important), and I use them to inform my plans and actions.

=====================================================================

My Unifying Principles:

EXPLORE & ENGAGE LIFE
Explore and Engage enthusiastically life, nature, the world (local and far), and ideas.

FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS
Love my wife, be kind to her, support her, and listen to her. Explore life and the world with her, and date her regularly.

Family and Close Friends—engage and benefit them; make time; be a good husband, father, grandfather, and friend; create optimum situations for you and yours; communicate habitually; help them when needed

Casual Friends—be kind and considerate; engage in ballroom dance, pickleball, playing cards, dinners, visits, and walks.

FOCUS (on or two skills, to get good at them) and DEDICATE
Advocate for the environment.- Write and speak about habitat, biodiversity, environmental ethics, and stewardship. – Volunteer. Preserve and restore habitat for many species and for your children and grandchildren.

Write and speak about health care cost control (a 2023 addition).
     (This is still mostly aspirational as I’ve not done much of it yet, and some of my principles—such as the ideals of husband/wife relationship—are continuous works in progress.)

Be a good freelance writer-speaker, both for advocacy and to know your thoughts
– Study.
– Clear thinking and communication.

Some helpful maxims:
– “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23).
– Aim higher” (Regina Brett, Be the Miracle).
– Live life with passion (Bon Jovi).
– Be brilliant in the basics and master your job (Jim Mattis, Call Sign Chaos).
– Shine light and bear fruit (Jesus).

PHYSICAL WELL-BEING
Work out, eat healthy, maintain a good weight, get sleep, have a health maintenance schedule, and be smart in your choices.

GROWTH
Pursue intellectual, artistic, and social growth. Read, write, and speak. Explore the being of God and the mind of man. Do dance and guitar for fun.

PEOPLE
Treat people with dignity and respect and be a positive influence.

GRACE
Get out into God’s nature. Serve, give back, and volunteer at church. Be grateful for God’s many blessings and pray every day.

MONEY-SMART
Twice a month review health, finances, and maintenance of the house, truck, and van.

Study, plan, save, and invest (be finance- and tax-wise) to facilitate your other priorities.

==================================================================

Know Thyself; Do Thyself
EFFPGPGM (the first letter of each principle) is the mnemonic I use to keep my principles in front of me as I’m drafting projects and to-do lists. EFFPGPGM spells me.

You’re spelled differently. Your letters (your principles), if regularly reviewed and acted upon, will determine the goals you set, the decisions you make, and the course you chart.

To evolve a principle into reality, I paste it to the top of a project list (for example: “Family Project” or “Physical Well-Being Project”), and then, during monthly or quarterly reviews of projects, I create goals and action plans. From these big picture and subsequent detailed reviews spring daily to-do lists. Knowing my letters syncs my to-do’s with my wanna be’s and transmutes intention into accomplishment.

Well-thought-out principles can write your life. Let’s look at one as an example of how knowing you translates into doing you:

For me, E means “Explore and Engage enthusiastically life, nature, the world (local and far), and ideas.” Because of E, I, a sailor in Rhode Island, contemplated how I might explore for real, and, after having free-thought options, I wrote on my to-do list: “Call the Navy assignments-person and ask for a posting to Italy.”

I called, I went, I explored, I ate pizza. But my forays into the pizza-eating world wouldn’t have occurred unless I hadn’t already downed lattes and bagels at a New England coffee shop after many chilly but inspiring bike rides—and then written in blue and white that soul-searched letter that has directed me to explore and engage local and far ever since: E.

Unifying Principles Apply in All Phases—and They Interweave
A satisfying surprise was learning that unifying principles, if well thought out, fit in all of life’s phases; they hold up over time and place. How each principle is executed, however, changes with physical, geographical, and financial situations.

When acting upon the Physical Well-Being principle during my thirties, I road biked long distances. But in my slower and ache-ier (ache-ier is a real word for me these days) sixties, Physical Well-Being translates into walking an hour a day, dancing, or playing pickleball.

To consider the Focus principle and how it can change with different phases of life, focusing on one or two skills and getting good at them during my middle-aged productive years as a surgeon meant a disciplined study of medical journals and it meant regularly attending continuing education courses. Now, in my older-aged productive years as an environmental advocate and health care cost control advocate, it means volunteering with local conservation groups and contributing to health care cost discussions and actions. Studying the art of writing and speaking adds to the tools in the toolbox that I need to do advocacy.

The other welcome surprise when living my letters was learning that they multitask and support one another. For example, when doing E-Explore in a national park, I’m with my wife (F–Family), in God’s nature (G-Grace), and I inform (G-Growth) my environmental knowledge. When I journal about the experience or I write an article or speak about it, I’m writing and speaking (F–Focus).

EFGGF—five letters that intersect and cross-link. But you would expect that in a mix of qualities that churn inside you, wouldn’t you?

What’s inside of you? Bring out what’s important and put it in front of you.

Determine Your Unifying Principles
This New Year, instead of saying “I wish I may, I wish I might,” and having those words fade into the noise of the year, consider writing your Unifying Principles. What’s important to you? Seeing them before you (in blue and white or digitally), and then reviewing them as you draft your plans, will set your direction, actions, and future. Think hard about your principles and craft them well—for you’ll find that, over the years, in doing them they are what your life becomes.

Know thyself; do thyself.
Have a good year and a good life.

MRM