It is estimated that AI will contribute over $15 Trillion to the Global Economy by 2030. Human authenticity will become more and more important as time goes on. So here’s something personal from me. 12 principles I believe in that I hope are useful to you ↓ 1 - Live by principles. The “Life Principles” section of Ray Dalio’s book “Principles” is the best part of any book I have ever read. With every page turn, something new struck a chord with me. Principles vastly improve your decision-making. The quality of your life is largely determined by the quality of your decisions. The value of principles is, therefore, clear. Principles allow you to deal with things you know, things you don’t and everything in between. They are the operational guidebook for your actions. “Principles are fundamental truths that serve as the foundations for behaviour that gets you what you want out of life. They can be applied again and again in similar situations to help you achieve your goals.” - Ray Dalio 2 - It is not what happens, but how we respond that matters. Many things happen that we have no control over. Other people, the weather, the government. The list goes on and on. The only things we have direct control over are our thoughts and our actions. It is these things that we should be focusing on. Control the controllables. Accept the uncontrollables. Make your thoughts and actions as high-quality as possible. Cultivate a feeling of acceptance for everything that happens that you have no say in. Circumstances are outside of our control. How we react is in our control. Regardless of what happens, you will forever have the power to make a good choice. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” - Marcus Aurelius 3 - A body that is functioning well makes everything better. Priorities are often difficult to get right. We have many wants and needs and it can be challenging to know which to go after. Having said that, an easy top priority is your physical health and fitness. Without this, you have little else. A body that is functioning well produces the most far-reaching benefits of anything else I have experienced. Energy. Confidence. Feelings of well-being. Good mental health. Being pain-free. Living for a long time. Who wouldn’t want these things? "No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training...what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable." - Socrates 4 - Optimise for inner peace. In the same way the body needs carefully looked after, so too does the mind. Keeping the body in great condition will be a huge help with this, but the mind is complex. Our brains are millions of years old and they are not built to make us happy. They are built to keep us alive. This ensures the continuation of our species. This leads humans to be very good at focusing on negative things and fairly poor at noticing positive things. This is something we can change. Be appreciative, accepting and grateful. Write things down. Breathe. Meditate. Gain control over your mind. Combine this with Principle #2 and you will have the best asset one can have; A calm, present and clear mind. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” —Lao Tzu 5 - Do what is exciting. Deciding what to do with our time can be difficult. Deciding on the direction we would like our life to go is even harder. While pursuing happiness is noble, it can be difficult to tell how something will make you feel until after you have got it To me, we need another option. There are many great ways of deciding where you want your life to go. Doing the opposite of what you don’t want and finding your Ikigai are two such options. Yet, the simplest approach is to do what excites you. Something you can’t help but obsess over. The thing that gets you up in the morning. Pursue that. “Excitement is the more practical synonym for happiness, and it is precisely what you should strive to chase. It is the cure-all.”- Tim Ferriss 6 - Always learn and be curious. The value of curiosity continues to amaze me. Curiosity is the spark that lights the fires of learning and personal growth. It is that all-important first step. When we are curious, we are open to new knowledge, perspectives and ideas. It guards against a fixed mindset and a lack of personal growth. When we are curious, we learn much more. This is what unlocks the doors of lifelong personal development and creates many positive virtuous cycles. The result of all this? Life becomes a rich experience. This is something worthwhile in my book. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” — Anthony J. D’Angelo 7 - Knowledge only becomes useful when it is applied. Acquiring knowledge is great. Applying knowledge is far superior. Having a wealth of wisdom is a good goal, but if it hasn’t led to anything worthwhile, is it worth it? Learn things with the intent to apply them to your life. Act. Then iterate on what you did through things you have learned. Finally, act again with the new learning applied. Develop protocols for yourself. This is the path to improvement. “The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” - Herbert Spencer 8 - Choose to be around people who energise you and make you feel good. We humans are tribal animals. We are social beings. Who we associate with has a huge impact on our quality of life. Energy is the key here. After an interaction with a group of people think, “Did that give me energy or did that drain my energy?” If it gives you energy, spend more time around those people and have more interactions like that. If it drained you, ask yourself why that might be and continue your search for energising interactions. “With the right vibes and the right people, it's easy to create something magical.” - Dinah Jane 9 - Simplify. We live in the age of information. There is a near-limitless amount of material out there. It is very easy to add complexity and new layers to topics. In my mind, the great skills moving forward will be synthesis and simplifying. Being able to take complex, multifaceted ideas and make them concise and understandable. Keeping things simple is great for mental clarity as it stops us from being overwhelmed. Often, the most elegant solutions to things are the most simple ones. Ask yourself, “How can I keep this simple?” “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” — Leonardo da Vinci. 10 - Reduce importance and expectations. In my experience, two things will almost guarantee stress, overwhelm and unhappiness. 1. Deeming everything in your life as really important. 2. Always having high expectations. Doing these things pretty much sets us up for things to go poorly. We need a simple mindset shift. Almost everything is not as important as it seems in the moment. Take a deep breath. It will be ok. Reduce your expectations to more closely match reality, without being overly pessimistic. These will act as a mental safeguard against undue negativity and free up space for welcome positivity. “Life isn't as serious as the mind makes it out to be.” - Eckhart Tolle 11 - Strive for Personal Evolution. We are where we are because of Evolution. It has brought humanity to this point. A process of constant iteration and change in an attempt to make things better. This is what I think we should strive for as individuals. Be constantly improving and evolving. Staying stagnant is not an option. Make your life your passion project and put yourself in the best position possible to leave the world in a better place than you found it. Evolve. "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." - Charles Darwin 12 - Craft your ideal lifestyle: Whatever you want out of life is entirely yours to decide. There is just one thing to remember. If you are not intentional about pursuing what you want, it is incredibly unlikely that you will get what you're after. You have to orient yourself towards the things you want. Become the person you want to be. Build your lifestyle from the ground up so you live the life you desire. You've got this. "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."—George Bernard Shaw That's all for now. I hope you found something in this post that was valuable! Have a good one! - Adam P.S. I have a newsletter that goes out every Saturday. I write about fitness, physical performance, habits and anything else I have found useful and worth sharing. It's free! You can sign up here if you would like to try it out ↓

@thejimshields In this case, whatever happens, we can look back with pride.

@thedeshudson And take lessons from the past into the present and future too.

@Harryevansfit Almost no downside to simply getting started.

@ItsAndraz Very few downsides to muscle - whatever we do in life.

@thedanielaros I actually have quite a few on the go at the moment! I am enjoying The Science of Self Control by Menno Henselmans and Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan.

@SahilBloom Makes the world a better place if nothing else.

@thedanielaros The best trade of all time. Years if not decades of hard-earned wisdom condensed down for us in something we can consume in a matter of hours.

@ThalesGray Action is the best cure for uncertainty.

@TomHughesx Managing both well is such an important skill.

@BorekHanus Nothing really great was ever achieved by spreading ourselves too thin.

@ItsAndraz And others will respect us too.

@PhilMaerz Did some incline treadmill walking and EMOM kettlebell swings today.

@Arman_Officialx Sleep is much easier when we are cool.

@UDAY_USD Glad to hear that!

@digiarpit I agree Arpit.

@teewriter_ Such a great habit.

@thedankoe This is why it's important to have a project to work on as you so often say. It grounds us in something real and to act as positive context for anything we learn.

@emilov_cc This is what's great. When we focus on adding to the world, we get back from it what we want for ourselves. Win-Win.

@ItsTibor And the more we perform the correct actions, the more we contribute to this new, positive identity.

@ItsTibor That's a great thing to do.