My Personal Creed

Throughout my whole life I have been given so much, and blessed with so many incredible people and experiences. I have two loving families that I'm a part of, a happy marriage, a good job, a car that works, and so much more. I'm part of a faith that I love and that brings me so much joy. I have so much to look forward to in life. 

For a while now, I have felt that my life has been a little unfocused and disorganized. I've struggled being motivated, and I get distracted easily. I have felt as though I have been living each day without any real purpose. I've wanted something to bring some sort of consistency and some of sort of focus for each day. 

With so many changes happening in my life the last few months, I have felt that it has been slipping out of my control. So I decided to craft for myself a personal creed, or a set of values and absolutes to try and live by. 

This has been something that I have always wanted to do and I first got the idea when I was a missionary in Australia. My mission president told me a story about one of our early church leaders (I can't remember which one) who had their own personal creed that he used to guide his actions and decisions. That night I was inspired to start writing my own personal creed, but I never got around to finishing it.

A few months back my brother Myke, wrote a blog posted entitled Creed (which I was hoping would was going to be about the band at first) and I was again inspired. This simple, but deliberate declaration compelled me to want to take more control of my own life. To live by a code that would steer me in a path of living with purpose. After a few months of pondering, tinkering, and trial and error, I have come up with a personal creed that I feel will help point me in the direction I need in my life. 

My creed consists of 8 core values of which I want to strive to live by. (My idea for this came from the book Delivering Happiness, written by the Zappos CEO, and also from Benjamin Franklin's 13 virtues.) Some of them are tangible things that I can work on improving, while others are more reminders or a change in mindset.  

8 Values and Absolutes to Live By

Live With Transparency 

Be open, vulnerable, and honest. Have real, open, and sincere communication with others, especially those closest to me. Always be my true self. 

“The first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself”  Nelson Mandela 

Be Grateful in Every Circumstance 

Seek to be grateful in every situation of my life. Learn to not complain or make excuses. Appreciate the beauty in my life, even when life is at it's darkest.  

“How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?” Dieter Uchtdorf

Do What I Say I Will Do

Be dependable. Find solutions to problems, don’t be the problem. Be different from the crowd. Do what I say I will do. Take action, and live to tell stories.

“Do or do not, there is no try” Yoda 

Live My Passions

Align my activities with my dreams and passions. Don’t waste my time doing things that do not create value and happiness. Do not mistakes this as not doing hard things, but rather maximizing my time to do the most important things. 

“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”  Nelson Mandela

Seek Happiness, Not Pleasure

Pleasure and lust create momentary enjoyment, happiness creates lasting fulfillment and joy. Identify what brings true lasting happiness, and what brings temporary enjoyment. Align myself with things that bring happiness, not pleasure. 

"Your Short Term Desires Are the Enemies of Your Long Term Dreams" Anonymous  

Talk to Everyone

Be invested and interested in people. People are NOT objects. Say hello to the people around me. Seek to do things to benefit the people around me. Every person has a story to tell. Listen to others, and seek ways to to increase my circle of friends.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”  Charles Dickens

Surround Myself with Greatness

I can not succeed on my own. Every day of my life align myself with someone or something that will help me reach success. Find people who I can share my goals, dreams, and desires with that will listen, counsel, advice, and ultimately let me make my own choices. 

“Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.” Edmund Lee

On My Path to Success, Failures Will Happen

I cannot succeed without first failing. Mistakes and obstacles will happen, learn to pivot and move past them. Embrace them, learn from them, and move forward. Most importantly, BE CONSISTENT! 

“Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up” Thomas Wayne

I realized that trying to accomplish 8 things at once would probably be an impossible task, so I decided that I would focus on a different value each month, and then repeat over and over again until I am perfect at each. So pretty much, I will be focusing on these goals for the rest of my life, unless I happen to live till 150, I should be pretty good at them by then. While I don't expect to perfect all of these things in the next months, or even years, I do however, expect to make small improvements in my life that will help bring the focus and purpose I'm yearning for. If you see me, ask me how I am doing at my goals. I need the accountability, plus it means you read my blog.

Now, I think it's time to go listen to some Creed.