11 maxims of strong personalities
What is a maxim? The answer is simple — it’s a rule or a principle worth living by.
Why does anyone need maxims? Because without them, you risk spending an empty and meaningless life without any control.
A life in which there are no maxims leads nowhere. As Brian Tracy aptly put it:
“You look like an alcoholic who wanders from bar to bar without any sense.” — Brian Tracy
Each of us needs a set of rules, because otherwise we will have to spend a lot of time making a decision, even the simplest one. Let me present to you a list of maxims I believe that are worth living by.
#1 Absorb what is useful, Neglect the useless.
Obvious, isn’t it? But most of us don’t think about such things.
Analyze the past week, how many useless things have you done? How long did it take? It could be spent on developing new skills that would bring you closer to something meaningful. This is the basic maxim of the Jeet-Kun-Do method, created by Bruce Lee.
Be an “advanced thief”. Steal useful and great ideas, write them down in your notebook, reread them before going to bed. And then, when the time comes, use them as a basis for creating something better.
Every time you make a decision or encounter something new, ask yourself the question: “Is this useful or useless?”. It seems obvious, but it is almost always ignored. You can’t imagine how positively this maxim will affect you after a few weeks. By gradually increasing the percentage of useful experiences, you invariably change your life.
#2 Your brain is constantly being reprogrammed.
Therefore, we must make sure every time that it works in an optimal mode. One second, it gives out good ideas, and the next it becomes influenced by cognitive distortions which renders it noticeably ineffective.
Negative thoughts affect the poor functioning of the brain, they force it to go the wrong way. Therefore, do not harm yourself intentionally, be aware of negative thoughts and get rid of them, so as not to lower the quality of your most important tool — Thinking.
#3 Life is short and you will die soon.
This is a fact. At first it’s scary to think about it, but after a while this thought becomes liberating. You begin to feel more free and happy, knowing that you need to appreciate the allotted time.
Death is the ultimate liberator. It is impossible to say anything about death except that it will certainly happen. Come to terms with this thought and think about how to effectively live the time given to you.
#4 Your life is the sum of the stories that you tell yourself.
All personal experience is subjective. Reality is difficult to prove subjectively. You can look at the rock together with a friend and agree that you see a rock. But this is not reality. This is a consensus reality.
The key fact is this, our lives are perceived the way we want it. And no exceptions to this fact. All the great philosophers, psychologists say the same thing, change your perception and you will change your life.
You’re life is 10% what happened to you, 90% how you see it — (Not sure who said this, let me know in the comment if you know.)
Any event is just there. It is your responsibility to interpret it in a way that is beneficial. Interpretation is an internal dialogue that we conduct every second. We can be aware of it at every moment and correctly direct it, or we can give up and drown under the waves of negativity. Learn to consciously manipulate your thoughts. The philosophical teaching of Stoicism is based on this skill.
#5 And this too will pass.
When King Solomon realized that all his power and unimaginable wealth alongside his wisdom and mental fortitude were but fleeting things. And he felt that one day he would be nothing but dust. He made a gold ring with the phrase “this too shall pass” engraved. This ring had the power to make a happy man sad, and a sad man, happy.
The philosopher Heraclitus said that the phrase from Solomon’s ring was his maxim. He also said that change is the only constant. Everything is changing.
Remind yourself of this when you suffer, complain or struggle with depression. But not only then! Remind yourself of this when everything is too good, especially then. Prepare for the worst. All this will help you avoid stress.
#6 Life is a series of decision-making.
If time is the most valuable resource. Willpower can be put in second place.
Napoleon said: “Nothing is more difficult and therefore more valuable than the ability to make a decision.”
And it’s true. Willpower, attributed to the prefrontal cortex, is the ultimate tool that is used in decision-making.
Napoleon correctly believed that most people do not like to make decisions perform any kind of mental efforts, because in some sense it is unpleasant and to some extent, painful.
Empty people waste this important resource thinking about what clothes to buy and what kind of show to watch. They don’t use willpower to create something that will change their lives and the lives of others.
#7 There is a law of compound interest. Follow it!
The law of compound interest on a simple example: you save a certain amount every month (say, $ 100), invest it at 5% in a bank and after 20 years you become, if not a rich man, then a person with money to spend. Sounds tempting. But there are a lot of pitfalls here:
- You have to do this for a long 20 years.
- Due to inflation, the resulting amount may be much less than it is now.
- The bank may burst.
Thus, compound interest is a good plan, but only in theory (if you’re not lucky).
However, applying this to gaining experience is much safer. Here are the advantages that experience gives:
You will learn much faster if you know a thousand things. If you know logic, history, programming, memorization process, speed reading and much more, then you will be learning faster and easier.
The brain creates associations, so even when you encounter the unknown, you get to the bottom of it faster. Creating associations — this is your compound interest.
If you already have experience in any field, your brain aims to see connections that others do not see. Ideally, you need to have associations in dozens of spheres, but a few will be enough for a breakthrough.
The more you know, the more often you are inspired.
“A new idea comes suddenly and quite intuitively, but intuition is nothing but the result of an earlier intellectual experience.” — Albert Einstein.
#8 Consistency leads to success.
Positive results stem from a reasonably crafted process that works consistently over a long period of time.
Michael Jordan didn’t become a legendary basketball player overnight. He achieved this by investing thousands of hours, training day after day, developing strengths and eradicating weaknesses.
The same can be said about any successful person. They have created their daily routine that corresponds to their desired result — and adhere to it constantly. For some of them, even illness is not a reason to rest for a few days.
#9 Do today what others will not do, so that tomorrow you can do what others will not be able to.
It’s simple! Start working and developing yourself as early as possible so that you can reap the fruits of your efforts later. While others were sleeping, you were working.
Sometimes life is very hard. But this is temporary. An easy life cannot challenge you and will not make you better. Whereas hard work will pay off 100% if you approach it wisely.
#10 Work to the limit
Constantly remind yourself that you should not put things off, you should absolutely not sleep more than you should and be lazy. Nature itself has established the capabilities of your body — do not rest more than you need.
Animals easily perform their task in nature. But people are constantly confused, what is my goal? what is my purpose? These question are not so easy to answer, but one thing is certain! Work as much as possible in different fields and sooner or later the answer will come by itself.
#11…
You have any Maxims you like to add on this list? Share it with us. Is there a rule of life that you wholeheartedly believe in? Write it down in the comments and let everyone know what is your maxim.
And as always, many thanks for reading.
Before you go, check out this awesome article about 10 Key Stephen Covey’s Principles About Life at Gallery of Thoughts.
