Ice Cube summed it up best, “You better check yourself before you wreck yourself.” Following my article entitled, “Why You Need To Set Your Precepts For A Productive Life,” many people asked me for my personal list of precepts.
I can’t do that.
The internet is far from an anonymous storehouse of ideas and I have no desire to see others walking around in my head, which brings up a few rules governing the use of precepts, if you want to take advantage of this system of self-regulation.
Keep it private
Your personal set of precepts can be very embarrassing and give someone with ill intent way too much insight into how to manipulate you personally. Don’t give them this leverage.
A common SJW tactic for indoctrinating new students at university is to get a religious person with a strong conventional background intoxicated, or high, and then get them to do something that violates their upbringing. This can include forms of bodily mutilation as well. The SJW then beats their target over their head with their sin until they break. Now they have a new convert as the target is too ashamed to go back to their original way of life.
Avoid this by not letting anyone else know what your red lines are. Stay on task and do not waste your time engaging people looking to undermine you. As one of my teachers once said, “stop with the rubbish talk.”
Be generous with others and ruthless with yourself
Precepts reflect the path of will. This is your life, your journey, and your struggle. Frankly, no one else really cares what you do with your life as long as it doesn’t hurt them. You need to, though. From what I’ve gathered it is really hard to get here in the first place. Make it count. Or as one of my teachers once said,
There comes a time in your life when you will know what it is you will do. What it is you will be. A tingling in your spine and a wave of power washes through you. Hold to this. Embrace this. Become this. As a human being you have the power of the gods in your veins and they envy you. Make them envy you. When you die, do not pass through the heavenly gates with a whimper. Come screaming through with a vitality that is the culmination of all you are. Tomorrow is always there even in death. Today is the moment you are in right now and you will never have it again.
The “be generous” part comes from the fact that most people live their entire lives in the West in a state of perpetual adolescence. They are not adults and cannot be held to the same standard. Likewise, their advice is generally not worth anything.
Keep it positive, unless you have no choice
Going with a negative precept that prevents you from doing something you really like doing will create conflict in your life. Sometimes, you can only describe something from a negative standpoint. Or as Phil in the Hangover said, “We tend to do dumb shit when we’re fucked up.”
In any event, if holding to a given precept makes you angry, depressed, or upset all the time, you need to do some serious reflection on why that is and figure it out.
This is not bad in and of itself, just be aware you are entering territory that brings trouble with it.
Differentiate between a short-term goal and the life you want to build
Nothing’s wrong with programming in some short-term goals and precepts can change over time as you integrate something into your life completely, just be wise enough to know the difference.
If you are prone to addiction, no longer avoiding intoxicants is probably a formula for trouble and it will need to be a permanent precept. But once you have checked off that MBA you are working on, you can take it off your list.
A sample list of precepts
1. I will engage in one hour of physical activity per day – if you tend to sit on the couch all day, start with this one
2. I will eat low carb six days per week – if you are a fatass the one day off per week will maintain your sanity
3. I will emit one time per week by myself – this is the anti-masturbation clause and will get you to put more energy into game
4. I will avoid intoxicants – no better way to say, “I will avoid the hard stuff,” for smoking “I am a non-smoker” works well
5. I will commit no murder – note the difference between murder and killing
6. I will confront evil and destroy all demons – if you tend to chicken out a lot in the fact of violence use this, however it may cause you to get your ass kicked or worse
7. I will protect innocents – real men do this
8. I will honor God – enough said
9. I will be productive – get out of your mother’s basement and do something
10. I will honor my family – hard to do when they are knuckleheads, not the same thing as giving in to the stupid things they want you to do (i.e. giving your alcoholic dad money for booze)
11. I will aid those in need that follow my lead – if someone wants your help they need to do what you tell them
12. I will sleep eight hours per night when possible – as Charles Atlas said, ”nothing good happens after 10 p.m,” and long-term a lack of sleep is really bad for you
13. I will release on at least one item per day – a reference to a specific meditative technique used to clear out your emotional system
14. I will practice every day for at least five minutes – a reminder to hone your art no matter what
15. I will meditate at least three times per week – a reminder to practice
16. I will avoid pornography and prostitutes – both are a waste of time and destructive to the soul
17. I will always seek to educate myself further – if you are stuck in life it is either a problem with effort or knowledge
18. I will teach those that ask – teaching is a pain, good people do it anyway
19. I will only take what belongs to me – don’t steal
20. I will not covet another man’s wife, house, or possessions – desire can make you its slave in record time, avoid this
21. I will tell the truth or say nothing – if you have a problem with lying
22. I will abide by the laws of divine reward and retribution – the way you live your life tends to attract the same, or “the more I practiced, the luckier I got”
23. I will mentor younger men – good men do this, just make sure the younger man is up to it
24. I will work to be physically strong – the benefit is in the process in terms of what it does for you
25. I will be competent in the bearing of arms – nothing expands your presence like the knowledge that you are not a victim
26. I will fight others with ridicule, shame, the law, and force in that order – if you tend to think with your fists, take this to heart
27. I will earn my MBA/MD/PhD/welder’s certificate as soon as possible – school sucks, just get it done
Aside from these, you can get creative regarding what you want your life to look like. Just keep in mind that this is the whole point of precepts in the first place.
Read More: Why You Need To Set Your Precepts For A Productive Life
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