The following statements are to be assumed to be within a society. In a society, there are rules and structures that have been created in order for human beings to live next to human beings they don’t know. Rules and structures within societies can change. I value societies where you are able to live and interact with other human beings without being afraid of the other because there are consequences to actions not looked at kindly by society. In the world we live in today, there are no countries that fit this ideal, but there are societies that have done this better than others.
I value ideas and associated behaviors that promote human flourishing. I want people to live up to their potential, feel the progress towards bettering one’s life, and have a sense that they are here for a reason.
I value honesty and integrity. I’m honest so you know that what I say is what I mean, even if that means I have to backtrack and adjust what I said (I only solidify my thoughts by thinking out loud or by writing, so usually that means I think out loud and edit as I go while talking with others). I live with integrity, knowing that what I’ve done is to the best of my ability so I can look at myself in the mirror and be happy knowing I didn’t compromise my values.
Paraphrase from Tom Bilyeu: “All that matters is how you feel about yourself when you’re by yourself.”
I value getting knowledge, acquiring skills and learning. Knowledge allows you to understand more things, which allows you to have more options. Acquiring skills allows you to engage in the world and provide things of value to others, and also yourself. Learning is how you gain knowledge and acquire new skills.
“Learning means: Same condition. New behavior” - Alex Hormozi
I value understanding human behavior, all the good and all the bad. It’s better to operate in the world where you think people are 50% genetically programmed, and 50% brought up by environment. If someone is straight up evil when they are a baby, no amount of social programming can change the fact that they are evil. You can only push the baby to harness that evil energy to somehow benefit society, else they slowly wreck the society you live in.
I value long-term thinking and actions that benefit everyone in the long term while acknowledging in the short-term, there may be some pain. There are lots of associated behaviors and actions that can cause a lot of short-term feeling good, but in the long-term, causes immense trouble and problems. First-order consequences are easy to spot. Second-order consequences are a little harder to think about. The rest of the order of consequences are way more difficult to imagine, but that’s where the exercise is most useful when thinking: “What is the worst thing that this can spiral into, and how can we mitigate this?” Sometimes in life, it is better for something to be unfair for all, than to make things fair for a few.
Caveat
After reading awareness, I am reminded that what I actually want to be in free, free to do whatever I want where I don’t harm anyone else. One thing in Awareness that is said is that society is fake, and I completely agree with that. If I were to live in a society where I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I would not care about society at all because everything is a social construct. Unfortunately for me, not many people are aware of this, and I have decided I will do my best to live as long as possible, as healthy as possible, so I have to care about societal things.