Wilson Mitchell

My Mission and Guiding Principles

I went through the exercise of making a personal mission statement and tenets to guide my life a few years ago. I started by just making a long list of things that are important to me. Then I wrote some tenets based on themes I saw. Next, I wrote my mission statement based on aspirations on the list. Then I wrote principles to tell myself what to do based on those tenets and my mission. There was a lot of going back and forth and editing during that process too!

I try not to get too hung up on the difference between tenets and principles or any overlap between the two. However, I do think it is useful to explain here why the two are separated. I consider tenets things that I hold to be true, while principles are rules to tell myself how to approach situations.

I try to update them every 3-6 months or so. It’s easier to make decisions if I can tie them back to these principles. Plus, if I find myself making decisions in the opposite direction, I can ask myself why and amend the principles or at least consciously make an exception.

This is the kind of person I am and the guiding principles for my life right now. If you don’t like it, convince me of an improvement you think I should make! If you don’t think my actions demonstrate this, call me out and suggest a way I can stay on track more closely. I can’t guarantee that I will implement all of your ideas, but I will treat them with the respect they deserve and carefully consider them!

Mission Statement

I will gather enough success for myself that I can inspire success in others. Helping others is an important goal to me. Also, no one is successful without a little help from others. So if I am to expect help, then I should be willing to give it. I will be an active player in the favor economy.

I will make the decisions that I believe are correct at the time, not follow them too far down the rabbit hole if they are not working out, and avoid feelings of regret when they fail. I opt to learn from the experience and trust that I made the best decision given the information at the time (or if I didn’t, then I will analyze why I made the wrong decision and create a mechanism to avoid it in the future).

I will go forth and show the world the product of my creativity, ideally bringing them new experiences. It’s not possible for everyone to like what I do, but I will give them a reason to like or respect it (and not forget that a large amount of people like it even if the most vocal are those who dislike it).

I will be a role model that someone could look up to. I will inspire other people to adopt some of my habits, if and only if they think they’re necessary. The key is to inspire people through my own actions and offer insight into why I think I am able to those things, not tell them what to do or pretend my habits are the best for everyone.

Principles

Do what is right for you

It is important to consider others’ needs and wants, but do not fall into the trap of thinking their needs and wants are more or less important than your own. This is your life, no one else is going to look out for you as much as you can. Sometimes though, doing things for others can be the right move for everyone’s sake.

Try to have empathy or genuine curiosity in different viewpoints

Being able to see the situation from different points of view and understand what someone else might be feeling or how they might react can help inform my decision of how to act and makes for a more well-informed decision. When their viewpoints differ significantly, have a genuine curiosity in why, this makes the conversation much more productive.

Insist on high standards

Doing things to my own standards is what makes me happy. Others’ standards may sometimes be necessary to follow, but in the end what makes me feel good is meeting my own.

Strive for originality, but stand on the shoulders of giants

There is something beautiful about creating something brand new. It feels good to have a sense of ownership of that idea and to bring new things into the world to help everyone else. However, it is often the right choice to use what others have built as a starting point in order to do that.

Trust your instincts

For the most part, I have proven myself to have good instincts. While they may not always be right, it is important to consider them the best choice when no better information is available.

Form habits to achieve long-term goals

Habits are often the easiest way to continue doing something right and can even be leveraged to kill bad habits (by replacing the behavior and keeping the reward the same). This is really powerful and helps me keep on track for longer-term goals.

Apply what you read

Reading and thinking about concepts is important, but to truly understand and take it to heart, you need to apply it. If you’re serious about learning something, use it in some way, if only a simple little project that will not matter or a made-up sentence. Even better if you can form a habit around the new concept.

Regularly reevaluate choices

It’s easy to see a path forward, take it, and never look back. Often that is not the right way, I need to plan for and stop at pre-determined checkpoints and think whether the path I am currently on still is the best path. This basically means being purposeful about your priorities, even if you don’t know they’re perfect. It is fine if you realize they aren’t on track and change course. Often, the only way to see the successful approach is by getting your hands dirty. Go in, flop around a bit, and you’ll better shape your vision and priorities.

Be wary of being results-oriented

Results that rely even partially on chance are often misleading. Just because the outcome was bad, it does not mean that the decision/action was bad (in fact, it could have been the best decision given the information at the time). Don’t be too upset about bad outcomes.

Find and understand the abstractions

Rather than memorizing facts/concepts, look at the big picture and see how the rule works in general. This can be helpful as well as just being interesting.

Be willing to admit you do not know or do not have enough data

It is important not to pretend to know everything. It is better to simply say you do not have enough data to know either way. Often the other side does not have data either. At first this feels like weakness, but it actually comes off quite strong when you take ownership and circle back with a well researched answer.

Learn in public and teach others

When learning new things, try to write about them or get that information out into the world in some way. You may have a unique take on it or have made your own tricks up along the way without realizing. It reinforces your knowledge, allows positive critique and correction from others, while building your personal brand as an “expert” who knows deeply about the subjects you share.

Tenets

Identifying with emotions is a choice

Calmness is always there underneath. You can choose to look past the thoughts of emotions going on at the time and realize that they are just thoughts, they are not you.

Making no mistakes can still lead to failure

Especially when chance is involved in some way, just because you make all of the right decisions, it does not mean you will succeed. Recognize this and don’t blame yourself when unnecessary.

Good health enables everything

Without good health, it is hard to make other goals happen. Not only in obvious ways, but also it provides extra energy for even more accomplishments.

Habits are the most powerful long-term tools

Routine is often the easiest way to continue doing something right and can even be leveraged to kill bad habits (by replacing the behavior and keeping the reward the same). This is really powerful and helps me keep on track for longer-term goals.

Application drives learning

Reading about things and even thinking fairly in depth about them is great, but the best way to take something to heart and benefit from it in daily life is to do exercises and apply the concept.

You are your own best advocate

It is important to consider others’ needs and wants, but do not fall into the trap of thinking their needs and wants are more or less important than your own. This is your life, no one else is going to look out for you as much as you can. Sometimes though, doing things for others can be the right move for everyone’s sake.

Humility

It is important to be able to admit when I’m wrong. It can be very difficult, but it often leads to better learning experiences and not alienating others. When wrong or disagreeing, be genuinely curious about the other side.