Where are you going?

Recently, I stumbled across the Farnam Street blog. The site is dedicated to self-improvement and leadership. The site’s self-improvement aspects differ greatly from the self-help genre popularized by Deepak Chopra, Stephen Covey, Anthony Robinson, Brené Brown, and others.

Farnam Street wants its readers to think. The quotation at the top of the page describing the blog’s principles is from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”

The blog then enumerates its five principles:

1.     Direction over speed

2.     Live deliberatively

3.     Thoughtful opinions held loosely

4.     Principles outlive tactics

5.     Own your actions

Leaders from an amazing variety of fields find the Farnam Street blog helpful. I encourage you to take a look. Even if you don’t look at the blog, ponder the five principles enumerated above. They represent a stark contrast with how many of use live today and offer a prescription for a more meaningful life and improved civil discourse.