Core Principles
Personal Responsibility
The adversity you face in life may be out of your control, but you are entirely responsible for how you respond to that adversity.
There’s no guarantee that ceasing to blame others for all of the things that have gone wrong in your life and actually doing something about them will immediately change everything for the better and solve all your problems, but I can tell you that the opposite is the surest guarantee that you won’t change anything.
Pursue Excellence
Whatever you do, strive to do it better. This is not a simple one-off affair, but requires a conscious effort to dedicate oneself to the goal of continually improving one’s skill, expertise, and experience.
This is not to say that one should fall down the rabbit hole of perfectionism. After all, perfect is the enemy of the finished. Rather, one should be able to complete a project, accept whatever faults may occur (personal responsibility again), and endeavor to surpass previous efforts.
Don’t aim for perfect, just aim for better. I’m not going to lie, it’s going to be hard work. But the results are more than worth it.
Rights are Granted, Privileges are Earned
Many writers more talented than I have expounded at length on the rights that have been granted to us as intelligent human beings. Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, that sort of thing. These are not things that are in question (or at least, they shouldn’t be).
Privileges, on the other hand, are earned. And like pursuing excellence, it’s something you have to continually work at (see a pattern here?). If you consistently behave in a manner that demonstrates to your fellow human beings that you are someone that can be relied upon, or are trustworthy, or just generally pleasant to be around, you will likely find yourself rewarded with privileges commensurate with that behavior.
However, beware: the opposite is just as true, if not more so.