Code of Conduct
I’ve been pondering this for awhile now… Is there a code of conduct that will have us live well? More than just surviving rather thriving. So through this short booklet I will give you the insight I’ve achieved through my years of experience.
[Introduction: Mindset] PG 1
When we try to achieve the goal of having a disciplined ‘Code of Conduct’ we must first address mindset. Many mindsets are doable for the pursuit of living well however, there are certain practices with the mind that enhance our capacity to being able to die having lived. Firstly: accept suffering & accept not pleasure for its own sake. Suffering is inevitable if you seek a worthwhile life, it’s through suffering we grow resilient being able to endure strikes against our armor. To live a good life we must embrace discipline which will lead to temporary suffering. The other part of this statement probably has you taken back… ‘Why should I not seek pleasure for its own sake after all that’s part of living well isn’t it?’ Short answer no. Long answer NOOOOOOOO! Pleasure is nice in the short term but upon the time we are leaving this mortal coil we won’t care about how many donuts we enjoyed, the hours binging a netflix series, etc. What matters for creating a life where you have lived is accepting yourself, using your finite time wisely so in death your soul may rest knowing you gave everything you had in the one life that you had. Odds that you’re even born a human is small compared to all the other creatures you could be. Yet here we are enjoying our advanced minds, while other creatures couldn’t even imagine the freedom we have over ourselves. Truth is you’ve hit the jackpot how could you waste all this potential on things that will vanish from public knowledge the moment you die? Pleasure isn’t inherently bad chasing after it though will have you living a life never truly living. Next, in the mindset from this informative booklet is: Being A Man Isn’t Enough. A lot of the youth & millennials from the previous generations think all you have to do is ‘Man up’ however, this is completely wrong. Manning up is something we all do whether we like it or not. Growing up is inevitable. Maturity, however, is a choice. Instead of becoming a man, I want you to have a mindset of becoming a warrior. Imagine yourself a knight in front of you. Step into that person. That’s the person, the you, that wants a satisfying life well beyond his passing has to become to truly live. Remember all boys given time will age into men. Not all men will become warriors. Age is merely a consequence of time passing. Warriors are a consequence of constant discipline & pushing beyond what they think they can physically do.Thirdly: Anything You Can Believe You Can Achieve. I’ve been very fortunate & my grandpa has been hammering this belief since I was a little kid. Truth is he had a vision for his life yet life had other plans. He wanted to be a geologist yet he got into economic development & all sorts of things throughout his life… All the time knowing whatever life put him up to he could achieve his desired outcome. Life won’t pan out exactly how you expect it. Sometimes major change in where you’re headed is necessary & this can be quite scary, but if you don’t know where you’re headed life will be like a car while you’re just standing in the middle of the road. There will be consequences to Inaction which given enough time that will compound into a terrifying future for you. Believe in yourself & know where you are headed or I promise you, it’ll be your greatest regret. Now let’s move on: Time Not Used Is Only Relevant If You Use It As An Excuse Not To Live Now. Many of us spend time wishing desperately hoping that we could just start it all again… All that time wasted makes us sick to our stomachs yet ironically we don’t even realize the irony. We waste time thinking about the things we didn’t do instead of actually doing them. It’s pathetic. This isn’t the future we want stop looking back. What happens when you look back? Well I have cousins who are into cross country one of the rules for a race is to not look back. The moment you look back you will start falling behind. This isn’t deadly if done infrequently & will be deadly if given enough time. Final mindset change: All My Actions Are Compounded. Jeff Olsen writer of The Slight Edge spends a considerable amount of time on the compound effect which makes sense once you understand it. All decisions you make today are ones you will most likely make again frequently over a course of a year. This can be really beneficial or cost you your health. An example of this would be a soda. Having one today wouldn’t hurt you but imagine what having one everyday for 365 days would do, horrible things. On the other hand, this is quite useful as if I practice piano 20 minutes a day over a course of a year would be 7300 minutes or rather 5 whole days of piano training. However, this slight edge is easy to do which also makes it easy not to do. Therefore, we must not trivialize any single moment it could cost us mastery. That Knight mentioned previously… Who is he? What does he do differently than you? How could you become him. You would want to be him would you not? I suggest getting a notebook out and in detail describing that person which you want to become. This knight is the warrior within and you must understand the practices necessary to become him in your everyday life. Write down all you can about that ideal you then come back.
[Introductions: Ego & Humility.]
PG 2 The Ego & Humility.
Your enemy is the ego. Ego will say “I’m to good to read a book like this, heck the way I’m living I’m already ‘living well.’ with a great code of conduct This author doesn’t know crap.” Yet, this type of thinking in life will get you nowhere. Ego tries to make you think “What I believe internally is reality true or not it’s my truth therefore it shouldn’t be questioned.” This is a very narrow way of thinking about the world and blocks off all hope of progressing considering that in order to grow you must learn things that perhaps make you uncomfortable. To be truly successful in the world you must accept things how they truly are not your picture of reality. Truth is me & you are both finite. We both have a limited number of days upon this world, no need to waste time bickering about how put together you are. If you truly feel that your reality is so well put together you wouldn’t read this type of book. Ego will destroy any chance of you living a good life. This sort of ‘Self-Image’ is tempting however unless that projection is you then it shouldn’t interfere with pursuit of growth & discomfort. Even if that person whom you’ve projected onto your ego is accurate that is no excuse to stop growing! Self mastery to live a life having lived doesn’t end till our finite amount of time here on Earth ends. Our capacity to grow is infinite because we are finite. Meaning because we aren’t infinite we still have potential to expand whereas if we were infinite this would be impossible. Humility is something in which we allow ourselves to possess for growth. We must accept that Gods we are not. All of us are warriors in the making & to be a warrior you have a lot to learn through suffering. Some stoics have a practice of living the life in which they might fear such as only eating oatmeal & drinking coffee for a couple days all the time asking ‘Is this the life in which I feared?’ Religion also has a similar practice known as fasting where you praise God while your stomach hungers. I recommend all of you to do one or both of those things & let this self projected image of yourself which you’ve attached to your identity to let it die. Humility is the greatest shield we have & an essential one against the ‘Ego.’ Stephen Hawking said: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge”
[Introductions: Freedom Is Discipline.] PG 2-3
Discipline equals freedom. This is a universal unquestionable truth. When you were learning how to walk you were super motivated at first however, once you fall you most likely got scared ready to give up and accept your fate. That was till you decided that the temporary suffering from the pain of falling was less harmful than not being able to walk. We learn through falling and getting back up how to be the dictator of our lives. Motivation is great you can ride on a motivation high for months and for the time being you’ll succeed and at some point you will realize that once it drys then all that ‘willpower’ to go to the gym, eat healthy, quit a bad habit vanishes and you are regressing back to your old self. To become the knight you envisioned we must be comfortable with the uncomfortable and do things that we won’t want to do. Discipline is your training, without it you will give up at some point. The more discipline you have the more resilience & determination you gain. It’s important to remember it comes in that order first discipline then resilience & determination follow. Google’s Definition of Discipline is: “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior.” Disciplining yourself is enforcing your values despite the initial discomfort that sets in. The way of the pleasure seeker ends in disgusted suffering in what they’ve done to themselves while the disciplined seeker starts by receiving discomfort to in the future having a paycheck of having lived in a way where they get pleasure in what they’ve done to themselves without regrets. Warriors will die knowing that everything they desired & wanted to achieve they put 110% into achieving. While the men who refuse to train in the art of self mastery will die knowing all his dreams never even had the chance of coming true due to his lack of discipline and self indulgence. This fact alone will destroy all the men who refused to take up the sword to claim their life’s destiny while they’re laying on their deathbed. Now, you can live that way and I assure you, you won’t be living well. To acquire discipline it takes an acute understanding of oneself. Questions such as ‘Who am I? What am I about?’ are two questions every warrior will have to answer and spend his life refining. Answers to these change which is what keeps life interesting, we must therefore figure out our purpose in that season of time. For example, this book is something I am currently ‘about’ upon its completion. However, I will have to seek new horizons to continue my journey of living well. Another part of discipline is a ‘Code of Conduct,’ a way of living that you follow strictly not allowing any temporary distraction to get in the way. There could be a whole book on the conduct which any one person should follow so you must clearly define in your own life what that is. Now, that we’ve established the mindsets you should have & shouldn’t have while reading this now we’ll move on to chapter one.
[Act 1: Mental Health] PG 4
Brains are humans greatest advantage. We as a species are very physically vulnerable. However, our minds make up for our physical vulnerability. As we age our minds start to deteriorate this is inevitable & why some people die long before their body does. Yet that begs the question “Is there anything I can do to delay my brain decline?” Fortunately, the answer is yes! A study from UCLA found long-term mediator had better-preserved brains than non-mediator as they aged. Participants who’d been meditating for an average of about 20 years had more grey matter volume throughout the brain although older mediators still had some volume loss compared to younger mediators, it wasn’t as pronounced as the non-mediators. Meditation is a powerful tool to help offset this brain decline we’ll all experience & helps our monkey mind zip it. Our monkey mind is that pesky observer who makes needless observations, tells you “We should watch Netflix instead of doing this work… Come on you’re bored let’s waste some time!” Other practices which help us maintain a healthy mental state & healthier body would be exercise, clean eating, increasing neuroplasticity, learning new languages, picking up an instrument, keeping close friends, & others I haven’t even mentioned help us become less fragile while increasing the time we’ll have a brain that actually fulfills its purpose. Without taking care of your body & brain living well at a certain point will become impossible so if you have been declining to treat them right, start now before it’s to late. It is important to mention those who have cognitive disorders you might have disadvantages & brain damage that can’t be healed. In those unique circumstances, you have to take what you can control & exercise it in the ways you can. A great way for all to help their mental health is cleaning their room. As it’s one thing almost all of us can control. Think of the room as a representation of your world, tidy it & treat it as such because if you don’t have control over what you have control over don’t expect to acquire control on anything, much less your life.
[Act 1: Addictions] PG 5
Porn, heroin, sugar, cocaine, gambling, gaming, social media, & other dopamine abusing drugs are a key player in self-sabotage. The western free world has exposed something inherent within human nature. That is humans choose to serve something even when free to self govern they look for something to be a servant to. Fact is addiction doesn’t exist. Many of you might consider yourself addicts. Truth is all you’re experiencing is a crippling lack of self discipline & the term addiction is just a copout to give up self reliance. You might be shocked thinking “no NO That isn’t true my vice has a hold of me, it’s not my fault life dealt me a bad hand.” This statement wouldn’t nullify mine. Bad hand or not we all have the potential to make good & terrible choices. Now, to backup my claim I will talk about the ‘Rat Park’ study. In this study, rats had a choice between cocaine water & normal water. The study found that these ‘addicted’ rats once put in the park with other rats no longer turned to their vice. To put it simply, when you start putting your life together & stop being a sorry man who was dealt a bad hand you naturally will overcome these vices. Vices only stay vices because we don’t take a look at the bigger picture & deal with the true problem which is the down right disturbing lack of discipline. Once you start to treat this & force yourself to become comfortable with the uncomfortable, network with people despite social anxiety, read improvement books, exercise like your body was supposed to, you’ll quickly find that all these vices become less & less desirable. Profound this should be for anyone who thought they were an ‘addict.’ I came across this truth on a TED talk a few years ago & think it’s something everyone needs to understand. Get your act together & decide to create your own rat park where you interact with people, exercise often & make the tough choices. Any whom try to avoid taking actions in this direction is an excuse to stay where you are in life. & for those who respond “I’m not addicted to my vice therefore it’s ok” Stop being a little wuss. To become a warrior you don’t make excuses to keep your bad vices because you aren’t addicted you quickly grab your sword of discipline & slice those as they will not help you towards the goal of living well. In fact it’ll do the opposite. The more vices you allow now the more vices you’ll allow in the future & this will be deadly. What started as a 30 minute Reddit viewing everyday becomes 2 hours of looking at memes everyday then spending the rest of your day consuming YouTube videos till you have to go to work. After the day is over what benefit do you get from living that way? Temporary pleasure isn’t an excuse to give up the precious time of now for a day of ‘feeling good.’ Pleasure means nothing if chased after for its own sake as we’ve discussed in earlier pages. To become the warrior in which you’ve envisioned you must give up this since of “I want this vice because I deserve it” instead you must look at it as something annoying which you don’t have time to contend with. Who cares about all those silly things when becoming a warrior, not you. Many will say give things up slowly my response is why? Quit all your vices cold turkey as it’ll benefit you greatly for a warrior we feel pity for those who say ‘Everything in moderation is ok.’ For they know not the warrior within. Those people have suppressed the man inside that would be willing to fight to the death for freedom for the sake of feeling justified in their wicked ways. Don’t envy the enslaved feel sorry for them after all when all is said & done they’ll envy you because you lived your life having lived. Every person reading this knows what they do to hold back there inner warrior. Quit it. Accept that old you as a person to be forgotten. Assume your warrior identity where you no longer care about earthly matters such as how many people liked your Facebook post. Now obviously some things you will have to keep in your life. If you work on social media, then use it & own it. Just don’t let the necessary potential vices become or stay vices in your life. Disown all the parts of all vices which aren’t necessary. Don’t be a consumer be a creator. Let the world enjoy the vices you create while refusing to become prey to it yourself. It’s better to create something meaningful than to consume something another created.
[Act 1: Social Life] PG 6
After talking about addiction it’s now necessary to talk about social life. Healthy social lifes are needed in order to want to break any vice. Isolation is a key factor in what makes people want to be addicted. For example that was one of the factors that were used in the rat park study mentioned in the previous page. Obviously being open & with people creates social accountability, main thing is that humans are a social creature. When, our ancestors roamed the Earth they lived in tribes as that’s how humans thrive. However, a definitive purpose needs to be achieved before deciding your circle. Definitive purpose is the best weapon against the habit of drifting through life. If, your circle is decided at random then, people will encourage you to walk THEIR path. People without definitive purpose hedge to their circle’s wish for them in return they give their social acceptance. This might sound like a mixed message on the one hand I’m saying to have a broad social life & on the other hand saying choose wisely however, these statements are perfectly connected with one another. Allies chosen at random push their agenda. In some cases this can be a good thing however, more often than not this will be used as a tool to distract us from our purpose. The question is then “How do I choose good friends?” Answer is: Find people with a common vision. An example, they have a priority of fitness & self improvement like you therefore you’re vision regarding those aspects of life our similar & you can both push each other in that direction. Now it’s important to remember the warriors journey is a lonely one so it’s vital to choose allies wisely as others will advise divert from the path chosen. A simple question to ask when meeting new people is “Does this person propell me in the direction I want to go?” If the answer is yes add them to your circle & forge a friendship strong as steel. Others who don’t propel your purpose in some way lead to the habit of drifting. Drifting is when life goes ignored, procrastination ensues, definitive purpose becomes loose & hardly definitive. Now if your purpose is to become a warrior like in this book I recommend to know whether or not the person supports pushing beyond what’s comfortable, if not then they’ll likely be a deadly tool to encourage the habit of drifting. Obviously you can’t get rid of all people who don’t support your purpose however, those people stay close just not to close. When becoming a warrior don’t tell your mother or someone like that. Instead of propelling the purpose further they’ll tell you to quit. “Stop working so hard” they say. Usually this is done with good intentions though it leads to drifting if you allow these people to exercise their influence. It’s nice to have someone like that in life if you don’t take those people to seriously. After All you’ve chosen the path of the warrior therefore alliances with fellow warriors in training prerogative. Once found these people are the best thing as the propel you forward. While others say “Come rest you’ve worked to hard today.” Training warriors will say “Man stop being a little wuss! Don’t give me that I’ve already done 100 push up crap. Gimme 100 more now!” they’ll say. Rare gems like minded people are. Don’t lose them once found as they’re precious in this journey & the more training you do, fewer people will being willing to continue the journey with you. Stop being complacent with your current circle. Find like minded people & it’ll be one of the greatest advantages you have.
[Act 1: Feel Good Hacks]
Endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, & oxytocin are feel good hormones & neurotransmitters. During the training to become a warrior following a ‘Code of Conduct’ we will seek to increase these hormones. I’ll start with endorphins. Endorphins are the body’s natural pain killer. It’s produced when it’s needed to push through the pain. For example, when exercising almost nobody feels their feet blistering while doing yet after we do. During exercise our body produces this hormone so we don’t feel bad & can crush our workout. Exercise rigorously & interestingly eating spicy foods both give small amounts of pain which will trigger the release of endorphins. Now let us discuss serotonin. Ways we can increase this hormone is through choosing positive thoughts. An example of this, is I sometimes write in my journal things I’m grateful for. Take time to truly be grateful for things & serotonin will increase. It’s no secret that humans were built to be outdoors, we actually get serotonin from our body’s response to sunlight! Exercise at low intensity will also create this amazing hormone! Dopamine is a “pleasure” hormone and is stimulated when we strive towards a goal though it is often misunderstood. Dopamine isn’t something you get for completing an action. This is actually a completely incorrect way of viewing dopamine. It makes us do the things to meet the end not a consequence of the end itself. Setting daily or even monthly goals is a great way to increase production. An example of this, checking off the calendar everyday you eat healthy. The act of checking off a day won’t increase dopamine, dopamine will increase to give you the pleasure of checking it off. Meaning that dopamine is a response of the process of achieving something not the thing itself. A mission to a pleasurable end is how we increase dopamine. This is why some blame this neurotransmitter for addiction as it’s the thing that drives behavior to do anything. Without this neurotransmitter we wouldn’t be willing to do anything! That’s how powerful it is. Like the others mentioned exercise is one way to increase dopamine. Oxytocin is the ‘love’ hormone. It increases during intercourse & childbirth. This hormone makes us love & trust others. Luckily intercourse & childbirth aren’t the only ways of increasing it. Physical contact in general raises it. A message or even a plain old hug can increase this hormone, which will help your well being. Now enough with the sappy nice guy stiche time to get serious. To increase these hormones & neurotransmitters in an effective way you need to get up & start running. Train vigorously all except oxytocin increase during exercise. Get to it moment you put this book down. Other ways to increase your sensitivity to these hormones would be extreme cold temperatures & extreme heat. Cold showers have been shown to be just as effective as antidepressants in elevating these feel good neurotransmitters! As you’ve chosen the path of the warrior it’s time to give up the heat in your tub. The water should be somewhere between freezing through subarctic devil water. Not only does this increase your discipline & feel good hormones it starts everyday with a successful conquering of self. As the body trains in the cold it becomes more accustom eventually not even perceiving freezing water as cold. The mental benefits will also help give you a push as the endorphins & dopamine increase which will help you follow through on your code of conduct when times get tough. Of course the other side of this is extreme hot temperatures these if done regularly can have nasty side effects however, if done once a week then you actually increase the amount of dopamine receptors you have. Hot temperatures to often can lead to sky problems however, if you take cold showers the majority of the time they’ll help to preserve your skin. In short exercise like there’s a bear about to maul your body into bloody pieces if you don’t give it 110% & start the habit of somewhere between freezing & subarctic devil water showers.