Principles - The Rules that Determine Outcomes (RDOs)
I wish I had known about the power of principles, which are the rules that determine the outcomes of our actions.
Every day, we take action after making thousands of decisions. It wasn't until I was 30 years old that I learned about principles. This is one of the most important lessons I have learned, and it has changed how I live my life.
Stephen R. Covey wrote a book in the late ‘80s titled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In this book, he teaches the concept of principles, which are never-ending truths. These truths determine the outcomes of our actions. We can choose our actions, but principles determine the outcome.
The best examples of principles are natural laws. Suppose I decide to levitate in the air. I prepare myself, tell everyone what I will do, then lift my feet off the ground, and BAM! Of course, I fall because gravity is the principle at play that determines the outcome of my action. I decided to levitate, but gravity determined that I would fall.
I like to refer to principles as rules that determine outcomes, or RDOs for short, because that is precisely what they are. Throughout this post, I will use the terms principles and RDOs interchangeably.
The example of an RDO we just used was gravity, which is self-evident. But there are RDOs of human behavior, relationships, fitness, mathematics, and many other areas of our lives. If we begin to make our decisions by intentionally aligning them with RDOs, then we will make much, MUCH better ones. As we age, our lives get more complicated, and decisions become more challenging. When you understand RDOs, your decision process begins with the question, "What is the RDO at play here?"
Here are some examples of actions and RDOs:
If I start my adult life taking out credit cards and many loans, the RDO that will determine my outcomes is compound interest.
If I tell tall tales or lie to my friends, they will not believe or trust me.
If I do not hydrate well and then play soccer, run track, or play football in the hot sun, I will dehydrate and possibly cramp or even have kidney damage.
If I am a girl and play hard to get, the boys will be more interested in me than if I chase them (and vice versa).
She will feel stressed if I don't provide for and protect my wife.
When we’re young, we establish independence and want to make our own decisions. I made many of these decisions before I understood RDOs, and they were almost always WRONG. No matter my decision and action, there was almost always an RDO that determined the outcome. So, before deciding, look for the RDO, then align your decision with that rule.
Principles and RDOs are also fundamental and essential to know for another reason, which we will discuss in an upcoming post.
