This work is not the product of personal opinions, nor a particular school of thought, because such things would not be relevant. This work is the product of evidence that can be verified.
The only opinion that matters in your life is your own. Heeding the opinion of others would only be valid if you thought, felt and interpreted the world in the same way—and this is impossible, especially when it comes to changing life, changing your life. The evidence, on the other hand, can be seen by almost all people.
We are products of the marks left by our history on our biology and our beliefs.
In this work, we draw from anthropology—a true register of humanity’s existence—the virtues considered important for living any kind of life, i.e., for knowing what to do in order to resolve the existential conflicts we face on a daily basis.
Our proposal is that you think about each one of these virtues, find situations in your life in which you used—or should have used—these virtues, what the consequences were, what existential conflict they refer to, as well as what feelings and emotions were involved. This exercise will help you to begin uncovering the importance of each virtue to you.
To live is to manage conflicts between:
Life and death; meaningfulness and uselessness; guilt and shame.
The whole analysis depends on the parameters used by each individual. These are strongly linked to the individual’s beliefs, which are the filter through which they see the world. In order to reorganise our beliefs, we must introduce previously unconsidered evidence, data, and pick those that serve the purposes of life that are to be fulfilled.
This work is not intended to compete with anyone, nor to offer recipes for everyone, let alone easy paths or eye-catching miracles. Rather, the intention is to highlight strategies that make it possible to reorganise ideas for living life.
You shall find the means of training each of these skills by looking for inspiration among the many authors who address the same topics and propose methods for applying them.
As you use these means and feel the progress towards the results you expect, you will feel pleasure and thus feed the energy required for your transformation.
It is very important to know the paths that are uncovered by observing the things that have always worked (what to do), in all times and under all circumstances. It is a starting point for finding your own way of travelling said paths. True wisdom is to travel these paths and to continuously train that which has always worked.
The method used
To answer the questions that arise from this need, we took to researching the most diverse lines of thought which offer solutions for life.
These include the philosophical schools that have marked universal thought the most, as well as the major religions and science.
From this research, we analysed the data following a methodology based on reverse engineering.
- In each of the approaches studied, the things we observed to be emphasised, recommended and defended are the result of observing experiences that have worked, time and time again, regardless of era, culture and objectives.
- We began by picking what was considered important or indispensable to support each of the proposals. These picked elements are the pillars of their structures, the virtues that underpin the behaviours that are appropriate for a meaningful life.
- The following themes were among the coincidences found: purpose, commitment, resolve, discipline, overcoming, focus, habits, routines, and, above all, action.
Thus, these are the skills, abilities or virtues that are unquestionably recognised as necessary, in the past, present and future, to build a good life.
It is easy to understand the variations between the so-called schools of thought if we consider the anthropology of thought and linguistics, i.e., the method of observation that these schools applied; the explanation that gives them importance for life; the proposal for training these skills; and the form used to communicate the ideas. This is all strongly linked to the time and space in which they were developed.
Whether you are a religious creationist, a materialist, an evolutionist, a philosopher or a scientist, whatever the principles through which you analyse your life, you will find the relevance of these same themes in moments from your past. But if you would rather not think about it, you can still come to the conclusion that it is impossible for everyone to be wrong all the time about the same issues.
In order for your evaluation to be fruitful, we suggest as a first exercise in courage that you make an effort to silence your inner voice: that voice with which we are constantly in exchange, the one that makes us have an opinion on any subject, even if we lack deep understanding of it, the one that takes our focus off whatever we are listening to, that makes us look for counter-arguments and prevents us from listening.
This is work that must last for as long as you live. Work that requires a favourable and open state of mind, which is only possible with the courage to listen without judging.
The only way to understand what will work for you is to fit the new information into your system of understanding life (from your point of view).
Stay attentive, look for evidence that makes you realise what has already worked in your past and build that which will work in your present. Take your time to reflect on each of the themes and find situations or actions from your past, from the things in which you got results. Think of victories you achieved when you were persistent, resilient and disciplined. Or think of failures, when you procrastinated, gave up or did not even begin. The importance of what we are about to discuss will be made clear this way. Start working on re-analysing your point of view, without prejudice. Remember that the most important discoveries have always come from the realisation of paradigm-breaking facts.
It is the way of interpreting the world that sets a genius apart from you. It is not intelligence or genetic predisposition, but the courage to make time to find solutions, the courage to implement each solution and the courage to start over with each failure.