One rainy wet day while on the bus, Gretchen Rubin asked herself, “What do I want from life, anyway?” She answered, “I want to be happy”, yet she spent no time thinking about her happiness. In an instant, she decided to dedicate a year to her own personal happiness project. Then, she wrote a book about it.
This book is next on my list! I have a birthday coming up so might drop some hints to the family. I follow Gretchen’s podcast (which I seem to talk a lot about here), and on Oprah Winfrey’s podcast, I came across one of Gretchen’s most ambitious, fun and helpful tasks. It is writing your own set of personal commandments. They aren’t resolutions or goals, but underlying principles you try to live your life by.
It took several months for Gretchen to finish her list and was very useful to have them clearly identified in her mind. I like this idea of creatively and consciously checking in and figuring out your core values, something that isn’t a priority in 2018 for most people. This is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while. Is it due to religion having less of a place in people’s lives? More on this in the future.
I’ve decided to make my own list of personal commandments that will help me be true to my best self.
Gretchen’s were:
Mine are: And these may change depending on if I think of something more fitting for me upon reflection. There aren’t resolutions but fundamentals I try to live by. I don’t follow religion (unless Rubinism becomes a religion) so I don’t have accountability for my actions. Hopefully, by following these I’ll remember to just be a better person, check in with myself to make sure I’m living by my core values.
So….The list above took me 10 minutes to write. I’m definitely going to chop and change it because this is my personal doctrine, so I’ve to think about it more, this is serious stuff you guys! Accepting that it’s okay to take time to think of my personal fundamentals is perfectly fine and part of the process of figuring out my authentic self.
Ones to remember are phrases that other people have left you. There are definitely a few points on my list that I’ve heard from others. Remember to pick yours on what is true for you.
Do you have any good quotes you’d like to share in the comments below?
Share this:
