Honor your systems

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
James Clear

In democracy we talk a lot about honoring the Constitution and respecting our democratic institutions.

But what about our “personal constitution” as humans? Do you have one and do you abide by it?

What are the daily actions and inactions we consciously have in place to keep our lives flourishing and prevent chaos and misery?

And what are the personal values behind these actions? How well do we prioritize the things we say are important to us?

And what about our personal “institutions”? Our life systems.

Your systems are the structures you put in place to consistently ensure you live the best life possible in line with your values.

Look at the country level. You have so many critical systems like:

Then you have laws to support these systems like:

When a country is broken, it means that one or more of these systems are failing. Thanks to things like corruption.

The most successful countries have great laws and powerful systems that work.

The constitution is sacred and respected. Corruption is low and the various ministries function properly.

In the same way if you want to be successful, you need to have laws and systems that work.

Systems/habits and laws:

Sanitation: Brushing your teeth, flossing (gotta do it!), regular baths
Security: Having a good password manager (digital), installing a video doorbell in your home (physical)
Finance: Budgeting
Food: Eating your fruits and vegetables, drinking enough water, etc.

And what are the personal values powering these laws:

Without them your life tends towards entropy, uncertainty… chaos.

With them you have stability, predictability, order, peace.

To keep your life in check, you must treat these systems like your personal constitution.

They are your rule of law, transcendent values to be obeyed.

Don’t obey people. Obey values.

And the more you treat these values with uncompromising seriousness, the easier it gets to obey them over time.

Wanna go to the gym but it’s raining? Um, okay. Go.

Time to floss but you hate it? Yeah, it’s time. Start.

When you do something despite the conflicting negative emotions, you’re sending a crucial message to your subconscious:

This is important.

Important enough to override your natural tendency to seek comfort.

The next time it gets a bit easier. And easier. Habits stick.

Take it gradually. If you’re new to fitness you can’t expect to deadlift 200 pounds or run a 5K.

Start with something so stupidly easy that you’ll feel dumb if you don’t do it.

Lift 5 pounds. Take 5 steps. Just show up. But you have to do something.

With lots of consistency you will adapt to the system and accept it as a core part of life.

You no longer have to think about whether you should do it. You just do it. It’s what you do.

It’s an established system now.

It keeps your life in balance in the “background”.

You have space to focus on exciting creative activities and discovering life.

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