A Series of Conversations

Jim Rohn maintains (correctly, i think) that before you can make any change in your life, you have to investigate what he calls your "personal philosophy;" your view of the world, your view of life, your view of what's important. In his book The Five Major Pieces To The Life Puzzle, where he outlines the five principles that he thinks "have remained unchallenged in their capacity to produce life-changing results" throughout the ups and downs of his life, he starts with just this step.

As Jim points out, your philosophy affects your habits, your habits then affect your behavior, and your behavior affects every aspect of your life, including how successful you are. So, because i think too much, that of course led me to wonder what principles have been with me throughout my life.

A good place for me to start looking at the issue was on the top of the main page of my Shikoku Pilgrimage web site, where i have quotes that rotate every time you load the page. Each quote is there because i strongly believe in its truth and because it points squarely to how i view the world; how i view a correct approach to living in the world.

Even more important, though, is that with all the many thousands of quotes i have collected over the years, it is these eight that have always been at the top of that page. I have thought about adding more from time to time, but have always decided that the new quote just didn't add anything significantly new to what i was trying to say, so didn't add it. These eight, then, must come close to forming the core of my beliefs?

When i list them out here, it seems that they can be divided into five categories.

- Know yourself. Believe in yourself. Deny yourself. Be humble.

- What is important is not the destination, but the act of getting there. The Path itself is the goal.
- The journey of one thousand miles begins with one step.

- Our lives are shaped by our expectations, not by our accomplishments.
- The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

- Do not search for the footsteps of the masters of old, search for what they sought.

- Always aim for the ultimate. Never look back. Be forever mindful of others. Keep your eyes always set on the Way.
- Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.

In short, the categories could be labeled:
- Who is it that is searching?
- Where are you going and when do you set out?
- What are you looking for?
- What are the pitfalls on the trail?
- How far do you take the search?

In a series of conversations with myself, i'm going to look at these quotes and try to be a little more specific about what they mean to me; to be clear about what they are saying to me and how they have affected the choices i have made in my life. If Jim is right, and your "personal philosophy" governs your life choices, what do these quotes say about who i am and the choices i have made? What do they say about why i am where i currently am in this life? What do they say about the choices i have to make going forward?

As guides, i'll use two very famous philosophers: Horton, who correctly points out that "it's just a straight plummet to certain death," and McDodd, who, when he said "Look at the wind! What do you think that means?," correctly pointed out that what we take for granted in our lives isn't at all clear to us when we investigate them carefully.

Hopefully, the results of the conversations will prove interesting (to me).