One Apple A Day #370
Anytime I facilitate a group, one of the first things we do is to define the group standards. The standards are a set of principles that we all agree to live by during the workshop so anyone can feel safe and free to be herself or himself. It is a powerful moment, and it sets the stage for the whole experience.
We did the same thing, setting the standards, also before the pilgrimage that I did last May with a group of men.
Standards are indeed mighty.
I found something similar to the standards reading the Orphan X book series by Gregg Hurwitz. The protagonist lives and operates by a set of commandments that guides all his actions.
In the last weeks, I found myself thinking about my principles quite often. Do I have ones?
Do I want them?
And if yes, what are they?
I have my values: freedom, authenticity, openness, creativity and kindness.
Principles are something different. They define how I live and act according to those values in everything I do.
So, in my awareness, they exist even if I haven’t written them down yet.
I feel compelled to write them down. In the end, principles together with symbols, language, rituals and ceremonies are the visible attributes of culture. Or, talking about a single person like I am, of my mindset.
Here are the first provisional ones that came to my mind (Orphan X inspires some).
Assume nothing (or What you do not yet know is more important than what you already know).
#02 How you do anything is how you do everything.
Master your environment.
Never leave someone behind.
There is always a choice.