Joe first noticed this truth about companies before applying it to individuals: the atomic structure of a company is people’s relationships and people’s decisions. The same is true for a life. Everything that’s going right and wrong — at least the part you have any control over — is the result of decisions you’ve made about your time, energy, and how you relate to people.
This makes decision-making refinement one of the highest leverage points available. Principles are the tool for that refinement — they allow you to make decisions quickly, consistently, and in alignment with what actually matters to you rather than from fear or habit. It may not be the only way to live a great life, but it’s an exceptionally powerful one.
“If I look at my life and I think how did I get here, it was just the sum of decisions that I made.”
“The only thing that you have in a company is people’s relationships and people’s decisions. That’s really all that you have.”
Related Concepts
- Principles drive action; values describe morality
- Company is relationships and decisions
- Willingness to feel improves decisions
- Principles make decisions for you