I wrote this distillation of lessons I learned through reading wisdom, strategic, and other texts from a variety of cultures, eras, and sources.

And also by living.

It took me several years to complete.

It is for the most precious people in my life.

My children.

1. Be versatile.

Use a combination of strategies and tactics in accomplishing your goals.  Not doing so creates complacency and ineffectiveness.  Some goals can only be accomplished with limited ways, in some cases, only one – but this is the exception rather than the rule.  

2. Fulfill your responsibilities and treat people well.

Succeeding at one without the other is imbalanced and ineffective.  Concentrating on the former makes you a narrow specialist; the latter, an empty suit.  The most effective source of power is your character followed by the relationships you build and the skills you have developed.

3. Do not step on others, but do not let yourself be stepped on.  

This lesson comes courtesy of your paternal great-grandmother, a strong and resilient woman who survived adversity which would have destroyed most people. Her blood runs in you.  Strong people who hurt others are wicked; those who do nothing are cowards; those who protect and serve are worthy of their gifts. 

4. Treat everyone as a friend but trust only a few as one.

You will have a small number of friends in this world.  People are all too human in their envy and lack of loyalty.  Let the events of time test your friendship before you make a full judgment on whom to trust.  Every person has a price for their integrity except a true leader; his or hers must not and cannot be bought.  Accordingly, do not be surprised or disheartened when someone you consider a friend betrays or fails you.  Conversely, the more loyal and faithful you demonstrate yourself to be, the greater your ability to lead and serve others despite the cost to yourself.

5. Be careful with who or what you worship.

I defer here to the insight of David Foster Wallace:

“There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship … is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you…  Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.”