My Personal Constitution

My name is Robbie. I was 28 years old when I started writing what will be a book or series of blog posts. I have a very good life by most traditional measures and I am generally very happy in my life. That being said I am not satisfied and feel there is a lot I can do to improve my world.

This blog is to track my quest to win at the game of life and try to provide advice and inspiration for how you can win at the game of life too. I don’t purport to be an expert on anything. I’m just trying to figure things out like everybody else.

Perhaps a good place to start is for me to lay out what I believe winning at the game of life is all about. An excellent book called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People gave me the great idea of writing a personal constitution. The constitution is supposed to lay out what your priorities and values are and accordingly your decisions in life should be guided by these priorities or principles. Here is my personal constitution:

Robbie’s Personal Constitution

As a starting premise I think my central goal is to maximize my joy in the moment, maximize my satisfaction with the past, and maximize my prospects for joy and satisfaction in the future. What’s to follow is what I believe will best help me achieve that goal.

Relationships

In general I will continue to nurture important relationships:

1) All those important to me should know that I love them and that I appreciate what they do for me.

2) I will prioritize spending time with them, and make sure that I’m supportive and helpful to them in any way they may need me.

3) I will be considerate and make sure that I continually try to understand their perspective.

4) I will make sure to make a priority of and work towards ensuring their happiness.

5) I will take an interest in and establish a relationship with those important to them, such as their wives and kids.

6) I will make sure to have fun with them.

Wife: I will prioritize finding the woman of my dreams. I should feel lucky each day to have her and make myself completely vulnerable to her. In addition to everything listed above she should be made to feel like she and our children are my number one priority.

Children: For my children, all the above applies and I should also take an active role in supporting them to develop their talents and develop as people. In general I should work with them to ensure their long-term happiness and success.

Professional Aspirations

1) I will make sure that money does not limit me or my family from things that are important to us such as education, summer camp, or exploring the world.

2) I will make sure to achieve one of two things:

a) Make money efficiently in my work so that I can move on to focus my time in other areas.

Or

b) I must make sure that my work is:

i)                Challenging

ii)              I am continuously learning new things.

iii)            I am able to see purpose and meaningful contribution to society in my work.

iv)             I enjoy doing it day to day and look forward to going into work.

3) It is important that those who I work with accurately perceive me to have the following qualities:

a) I am a capable leader that will reliably achieve success. Success is defined by profits or ROI and by nurturing and maintaining a happy work environment.

b) I can function independently. This means that I can be trusted to carry out initiatives and achieve objectives with minimal external oversight.

c) I am dependable. When I say I will do something, I am true to my word.

d) I improve the performance of others around me, both in terms of their skills and their motivation

e) I myself am motivated and driven towards my work.

f) I take a personal interest in the welfare of those around me.

Charitable Aspirations

It is important to me to make a contribution to the world that extends beyond my immediate circle. I have yet to make any real strides in this area but I suspect that this area has potential for creating tremendous happiness and satisfaction.

Cool Experiences and Fun

I wish to pack my life with cool experiences and fun. This means seeing interesting places, trying different hobbies, meeting different people, and also means leaving space in my life for some good quality superficial fun. The importance of this section shouldn’t be underestimated because it’s short.

Other

1) I will keep myself in good physical health to the best of my ability.

2) I will continue to invest in my education and expand my knowledge and capabilities

3) I will make a point to spend my time with quality people and create opportunity for meeting new quality people.

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My personal constitution is just my personal constitution. Everyone has their own set of values and priorities. Leading a quality life is about living consistently with what you feel is important and being able to pursue and achieve what you define as success. This blog is about my quest for a quality life, sharing my views of the world and identifying strategies that can hopefully help others on their journey.