personal values

He believed a handshake agreement among gentlemen was sufficient and regularly did business with no written contract.

It’s very easy to think that something’s wrong with you, when in fact, you’re just not in the right environment. To overcome self doubt, define three or four of your core values. Mine are expression, enthusiasm, connection, and curiosity. Everything you do—every task you complete and every relationship you build—should be rooted in that core. The m... See more

Here are three ways to learn about your values: (1) ask yourself how you believe in treating a certain person in your life, and to try to answer using adverbs or adverbial phrases. (2) examine your emotions, asking what each emotion says is important to you. (3) examine your plans and choices for reasons, and to keep asking “why” until the reason g... See more

Values — like policies, plans, and goals — are heuristics to help us avoid an infinite calculation each time we want to act. Instead of calculating in each conversation, at each moment, what to reveal and what to conceal, a person adopts the general value of being honest, by default. So, values are a form of knowledge about what works in general, o... See more

Values are ideas that guide us in action. In this, they are similar to plans, goals, fears, intentions, policies, etc, and the like. All these are ideas which guide us in action. Among these ideas, values alone concern the manner of our actions, rather than the consequences (as with plans, goals, and fears) or the mere fact of their performance (as... See more

A “life of meaning” is simply one in which one’s particular values are tested, extended, and expressed.

I don’t believe in 50 friends. I believe in a smaller number. Nor do I care about society events. It’s the most senseless use of time. When I do go out, from time to time, it’s just to convince myself again that I’m not missing a lot.