No. 11
Principles for Life & Work
Dear Self,
When the way grows heavy and unclear, return to this. These are your principles.
Be Kind
Kind is not soft. It carries weight. It demands patience when you’re empty, generosity when you’d rather hold back.
Kind acts with ease, like nature. A tree offers shade without effort. Kindness gives freely.
Kind steadies the noise. It creates calm, space to breathe, a reminder: no one moves alone.
Kind leaves others lighter—not dazzled, not remade, just better off than before.
When you forget kindness, you become efficient but hollow.
In practice:
- Meet people where they are, not where you wish they were
- Remove friction
- Give more than you take
Be Brave
Brave moves despite fear, without waiting for perfect conditions or certainty.
Brave seeks truth, even when it stings. It sees clearly, not wishfully.
Brave stands for something real. It picks battles carefully but does not back down when principles matter.
Brave grows at the edges where comfort ends. Safe teams manage change; brave teams create it.
Brave ships before perfect. Fear asks “what if it fails?” Brave asks “what if it matters?”
When you forget bravery, you shrink into consensus and call it wisdom.
In practice:
- Choose clarity over politeness
- Act with conviction, adjust with humility
- Challenge assumptions, including your own
- Lead people toward outcomes they cannot yet see
Be Honest
Honesty isn’t decoration. It costs: comfort, applause, ease.
Honest speech cuts through fog—no hidden motives, no half-truths.
Honesty respects intelligence. It gives the full picture, letting people decide for themselves.
Honesty owns its limits. I don’t know is not weakness but the seed of trust.
When you forget honesty, you may win today but lose tomorrow.
In practice:
- Say only what you mean
- Reveal limits, don’t pretend past them
- Admit mistakes and ignorance without disguise
Final Note
How and why matter as much as what.
When you’re lost, ask: Am I kind? Am I brave? Am I honest?
Then the way will appear.