The Goal of This Post

This post is a synthesis from the book Beyond Order, 12 More Rule for Life, by Jordan Peterson.
The author shares a series of powerful guidelines, virtues and rules to take control and responsibility for your life.

Beyond Order. Rule #7.

“Work as hard as you possible can on at least one thing and see what happens.” – Jordan Peterson

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The Value of Heat and Pressure | Resilience

“The resilience and strength of a united spirit is not easy to attain.”

• “The poorly integrated person cannot hold himself together when challenged.”
• “The poorly integrated person is thus volatile and directionless.”
• “To move forward with resolve, it is necessary to be organized – to be directed toward something singular and identifiable.”

“Without clear, well-defined, and non-contradictory goals, the sense of positive engagement that makes life worthwhile is very difficult to obtain. Clear goals limit and simplify the world, as well, reducing uncertainty, anxiety, shame, and the self-devouring physiological forces unleashed by stress.”

The Worst Decision of All | Lack of Purpose

Commitment requires sacrifice.

• “People who do not choose a job or a career commonly become unmoored and drift.”
• “People who cannot choose and then commit to a single romantic partner… become lonely, isolated, and miserable.”
• “Very often failure is a consequence of insufficient single-mindedness, elaborate but pointless rationalization, and rejection of responsibility.”

“Those who do not choose a direction are lost. It is far better to become something than to remain anything but become nothing.”

Discipline and Unity | Forging Mastery

“Proper discipline organizes rather than destroys.”

• “The discipline that enables concentration on one thing begins young.”
• “The goal of this heat and pressure is subordination of an undeveloped personality to a single path.”
• “The properly functioning and integrated individual tempers the desires of the present with the necessities of the future.”

“The master can allow himself his intuitions, as the knowledge obtained by the discipline he has acquired will enable him to criticize his own ideas and assess their true value. He may therefore more clearly perceive the fundamental patterns or principles that underlie the dogmas of his discipline, and draw inspiration from those, instead of blindly adhering to the rules as currently articulated or embodied.”

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The Way Forward. How to Act.

“If you work as hard as you can on one thing, you will change. You will start to also become one thing, instead of the clamoring multitude you once were. That one thing, developed properly, is not only the disciplined entity formed by sacrifice, commitment, and concentration. It is that which creates, destroys, and transforms discipline itself – civilization itself – by expressing its unity of personality and society.

Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.“

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All content credit goes to the author. I’ve shared the bits I’ve enjoyed the most and found most useful.

Cheers ’till next time! Saludos!
Alberto