Principles & Anti-Goals
What I refuse to optimize for, the principles I won't compromise, and the razors that cut through complexity.
Anti-Goals: What I Won't Optimize For
The traps I'm learning to avoid. Still working on these daily.
The Empty Victory
Collateral damage of single-minded success. Win the career, lose everything else. Covey's warning about unbalanced life centers.
Analysis Paralysis
Side effect of perfectionism. Endless planning, zero shipping. The builder's curse.
Values Under Pressure
Collateral damage of growth. Principles that bend when tested weren't principles at all.
Life Razors
Simple rules that help me avoid the traps above
Clear Yes or R&D
If it's not an obvious yes, it's either a no or needs exploration. Eliminates most decisions instantly.
Ship to Learn, Don't Learn to Ship
Stop researching. Start building. Real feedback beats perfect theories every time.
Balance All Centers
Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual - neglect one and the others suffer. Covey was right.
Principles Are Non-Negotiable
Values compromised under pressure weren't really values. The test comes when it costs you.
Five Types of Wealth
Covey's lesson: balance all centers or face the empty victory. True wealth is multidimensional.
Sovereignty over your calendar and energy
Quality connections and trusted networks
Clarity, curiosity, and creative capacity
Energy, health, and embodied presence
Resources that enable choices
Time ⏱
Sovereignty over your calendar and energy
Time Sovereignty
My calendar as operating system—how I prune.
Social 🤝
Quality connections and trusted networks
From Rolodex to Resonance
Nurturing weak-tie serendipity.
Mental 🧠
Clarity, curiosity, and creative capacity
Strategic Solitude
Strategic solitude in a Slack world.
Physical 🏃
Energy, health, and embodied presence
Beyond Standing Desks
Standing desks are table stakes; here's the upgrade.
Financial 💶
Resources that enable choices
Enough vs. Vanity
Enough number vs. vanity number.
Still Figuring This Out
These principles are a work in progress. What traps are you learning to avoid?
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