Qualities are just single word descriptors. Single words can be unfamiliar, arcane, or ambiguous, and each of these attributes will add obstacles that make it harder for you to act like the person you describe in your life plan. The more details you have, the easier it will be to understand and apply how and why the person described in your life plan would act in every situation. In order to provide greater detail, you will enumerate a list of principles for each desired quality in your life plan.
Principles are generalized descriptions of behavior. Rules are derived from principles and describe specific behavior in specific situations. Principles are less specific, and give general guidance across a broad range of situations.
A good resource to help you enumerate principles is to look up the quality in the dictionary. Dictionary definitions tend to be formal and precise. Rewrite the definition in your own words, aiming for a single sentence. If you can think of several different aspects of the quality, or if it’s too tricky to fit your own definition into a single clear sentence, split your definition into separate sentences.
Each sentence you form should be worked over until it is short and plain. To finish the process of decomposing your quality into principles, rewrite each sentence as if it were a description about yourself.
Here are some examples of possible principles for the quality “I am honest”:
- I do not lie.
- I tell the truth.
- I live according to the truth.
- I seek to know more about the truth.
You’ll notice that these principles do not describe specific situations, but provide general guidance.
As you write your principles, make sure you are writing as if you already possess them. Do not describe the principle as something you will be, but something you are. Don’t write about what you are trying to do or will do: “I’m trying to quit smoking,” but say: “I don’t smoke.”
From day to day, remember your principles and use them as a way of indicating what you should do in situations where your rules do not specifically apply.