## Set your intent
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## Overview
This is the first principle that moves from our internal effort to master ourselves, to give us some direction on how we should act in the world.
## Content
To me, seeking right action is that call to listen to our conscious. We very often have a strong sense of right and wrong. We can almost always intuit, what will be a violation, and what will not.
This principle is most strongly correlated with [[The King]], because the function of the King is to establish a realm where others can flourish. Proper leadership energy is _generative_. Seeking right action requires thought, compassion, and openness.
The greatest danger here is falling into being an ideologue, or as [[Adam Grant]] called it, becoming part of an **idea cult**, where we are not acting out of our own sense of right and wrong but living out the dictates of the group.
This principle calls us to _think_, to _consider_, to _pray_, and to **act in harmony with our body, mind, and spirit** to do what we believe to be best in that moment. This is not a call for perfection, or for unthinking righteousness. This is demanding that we summon the courage to do what is right, and consistent with what we value most, even if that goes against popular convention.
I believe we all have a moral compass, a felt sense of what will make a situation better, both in the short term, and in the long run. Often times, we are called to do painful or difficult things in the short run to materialize long term gains. This can include saving, working out, fasting. Seeking right action is not about perfection, but about having the will to _try_ to get it right.
It is an orientation. Is about pointing yourself knowingly in the direction you want to go, and then marshaling the energy to take that first step.
> Seek and ye shall find
> Matthew 7:7-8
The Bible tells us. This principle calls us to seek **what is best**. Human beings are like arrows. Our eyes constantly darting around scanning the world, our environment. One of the most valuable companies in the world, and certainly one of the most powerful founded _to make **searching** easier_.
This principle is also about **having the right intention**. We know when our internal desires or our actions are out of line with our highest principles and values. It is not always easy, or possible to remain true to our core, but this principle calls us to strive to stay in alignment.
## What it Looks Like
Of all the principles, strangely this is the one I struggle with the most. Not in big ways, but little ways. There are a myriad of opportunities to do the right thing. Don't eat the donut, work out, don't buy another pen - you have more than you can use already. I am a human. I don't always act in my own best interests.
However, when I founded Bravous, my intention was clear. I wanted to create a company that would connect people through play. I wanted to hosts events where people could make friends. This singular vision, this idea, shaped nearly _everything we did_. We created a new kind of video game tournament, one where players were _never eliminated_. They could compete the whole day, staying around until final match. The idea spread through my whole team, and when COVID struck, and we were forced to stop doing events in person, I asked my team, "Can we do this online?" Their swift response, "We make friends online all the time. Of course we can." Within a week we were operating online, hosting tournaments and fun events for colleges. That pivot saved not only Bravous, but GameTruck as well.
Seeking right action, gave us an orientation that allowed us to find creative solutions to difficult problems in challenging times.
### Linos and Supporting Ideas
> Be impeccable with your word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. **Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.** —Miguel Ángel Ruiz
From [[Readwise/Books/365 Days With Self-Discipline]]
Original book: Ruiz, M. A. (1997). The Four Agreements.
On keeping your word. There's a big idea here that connects with seeking right action.
From [[202208111807 - Notes From Mistakes Were Made|Mistakes Were Made Book Notes]], when we start to speak a certain way, we make a decision. That decision is like sliding down a pyramid. Systems in our brain push us further and further in the direction toward "someone who speaks like that". We unknowingly build an identity out of this.
[[Jordan B. Peterson|Jordan Peterson]] warned about this in several of his books. I would like to go back and find the quotes, but he talked about "Sin meaning off target". The ancients understood these "small deviations", "small misses", looked small up front but would lead to bigger problems later.
In the [[Mistakes Were Made (but Not By Me)|book Mistakes Were Made (but Not By Me)]], they called this "one step at a time." It showed how good men (and women), made small decisions that ultimately ended up with them losing perspective and making bigger choices that were clearly wrong.
The politician who accepted a golfing vacation to Saint Andrews with a known corrupt lobbies, started by having lunch with the lobbiest. A small thing. Then perhaps lunch at the country club, then golf with lunch. Then trips to play golf, and so on.
The trouble is we do not compare our behavior to some fixed moral datum or zero point. We compare our behavior to _the last decision_ we made. This allows us to drift off course.
This is also why lobbiests and pharmaceutical companies _want_ corporate gifts to be small. Small gifts are the most powerful tools to start someone down the road to corruption. Big gifts are easier to refuse.
And when we make a decision, especially one that is morally ambiguous, our mind instantly jumps into start creating maximum contrast between us and the person who made the opposite decision. This is why they call it the decision pyramid. At the top (the beginning), two people could be the same in all other respects, but once they make a decision - one to accept the gift, one to reject it, within minutes they will start to see themselves as two _very_ different people and they will create maximum contrast with the other person.
These are the "sins", the small misses that add up.
The next decision, will lead the gift taker even farther astray, and be even more obvious to the gift rejector that the gifts are wrong and improper.
Self-Justification will make it extremely difficult for the two to reconcile or ever see the world the same again.
As a principle the, this is why it is so important to be clear about our small choices and make sure they are consistent with the character we want to have. It is not about being perfect, or overly pious or righteous, it is about recognizing the personal danger in not attending to our values intentionally and rigorously.
## Cross Reference
- [[Eight Principles To Live By]]
## Branches
- [ ] [[A System To Create Balance and Consistency]]
## Footnotes
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