Principles / a work in progress

Principles I try to live by.

Ray Dalio’s Principles left a deep impression on me. The idea that a set of governing principles could help me make difficult decisions with greater consistency and intention—almost like a personal operating system—was very appealing. That line of thought also helped inspire the name of my blog, From First Principles ↗.

These are ideas I try to use in work and life. Not all of them are original: some came from books and people I admire; others became clear through experience. I also don't claim to have followed all of them throughout my life—the list will always be a work in progress. I write them here to hold myself accountable, but I hope you find them useful, too.

  1. Strong opinions, loosely held

    I try to form a point of view and stand behind it. However, when someone challenges it with sound reasoning, I try to remain radically open-minded, listen, and change my mind. Better evidence or reasoning should win, not ego.

  2. Take pride in the craft

    I want to be proud of what I make. For me, that means caring about the details, maintaining a high standard, and taking responsibility for what I build, including the unglamorous work that remains after the exciting part is over.

  3. Treat others as you would like to be treated

    I try to offer people the same dignity and respect I would hope to receive from them.

  4. Think in terms of compounding

    I am not sure why this is not taught widely enough in schools. Wealth, knowledge, relationships, reputation, health, and craft all seem to compound. I try to favor long-term accumulation over short-term rewards. The returns can look small at first, which makes consistency difficult, but over time they can become much larger than any individual effort would suggest.

  5. The world is more malleable than it appears

    I remind myself that many systems, rules, and conventions were invented by ordinary people; they are not laws of nature. I can always challenge them and work to change them. Nothing is beyond question.

  6. Advaita, and an extension of it

    I am deeply moved by Advaita Vedanta and its view that beneath our apparent individuality is one consciousness, of which we are all expressions. From this view, the world of separate identities, successes, failures, and outcomes is māyā—meaningful in everyday life, but not the deepest reality.

    Influenced partly by Wallace Wattles’s The Science of Getting Rich, I make my own extension from this belief: I assume that what I want to accomplish is always possible, as the world is a projection of the one consciousness I am part of. This is not a claim about Advaita or a universal law. It is a kind of useful false confidence—enough to act before the evidence says I should be confident.

  7. Take the next step

    Things that look impossible have often become possible when I have stayed with them long enough. I know what the summit looks like and usually know what the next step is, but I rarely know every step along the way. That's okay.

Last updated September 2026.