The big take-away from the event for me was this set of six principles, which I’ve recapped below:
1. Anger, Forgiveness: If someone behaves in a way that is unjust orinsulting to you — view it as their problem, not yours. That way, youwon’t react with anger, won’t feel the need for revenge and can keep moving on in your work.
2. Non-Attachment to Outcomes: Just focus on your performance and on doing your best — don’t get attached to the outcome. All outcomes can be good.
3. Learning Orientation: Focus on professional development rather than career development. Emphasize the learning opportunities that each situation can provide.
4. Humility: Success comes only partly from your own doing — a lot comes from external factors and from other people’s doing. If you realize this, you’ll keep your pride in check.
5. Making Others Successful: Very little can be accomplished purely via one’s own effort. So focus on making others successful. This will inevitably come back and help you in life.
6. Staying True to Yourself: Don’t wilt to popular pressure and do something that conflicts with your values or convictions. You only work with other people for a limited time, but you have to live with yourself a long time.
These principles are in fact very much in line with what I've observed in “great achievers” such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. In my experience, cultivating such principles isn’t only a matter of intellectual buy-in, but also of diligently training your mind to respond to day-to-day circumstances with the right thoughts.
What do you think of these principles? Can you envision truly putting these into practice in your own life? And for those who attended the event — any other memorable moments you’d like to share?
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