Rules of Engagement
-Or- 🎼She’s (living in) A Brick House🎶
Think. I’m thinking about worldview:
Before I get started, I want to thank all of you who have recently joined and all of you who have recommended my writing to others. If you enjoy Think. Read. Write. Repeat. please share it.
To quickly recap, I have taken the military concept of Lines of Effort (LOE) and applied it to getting the most out of our lives.
Taking care of LOE #1 & 2 (body and mind) will prepare you to excel at whatever you choose to focus on.
Today we are moving on to LOE #3 Spirit.
LOE #3 is where we figure out our WHY.
When I talk about the spirit, I’m referring to the thing we believe in that is greater than ourselves, the seat of our emotion and character.
This may be faith-based or philosophy based, but there should come a time in each life when we critically examine the things that we believe and make sure that they are our beliefs, not those that have been handed down and worn like an old suit of clothes.
These beliefs form our spiritual worldview which helps us search for answers to life’s big questions:
Question of Origin- Where did I come from?
Question of Destiny- Why am I here?
Question of Morality- How should I live?
Question of Purpose – What is my why?
Answering this final question, according to Nietzsche, will give you the ability to “…bear almost any how.”
When we have a clear why based on a desire for internal achievement and positive aspirations aimed at a greater good, we can begin to move from being reactive to being active.
Last week I discussed Immediate Action Drills. On a recon patrol, we need to be ready to react to contact with the enemy. But the mission of a recon patrol is to avoid contact and gather information. As soon as a patrol begins reacting to enemy contact, they must cease moving toward their objective.
When we are reacting, whether to enemy contact or to external factors in our life, we are countering. We are on the defensive, responding to the forces imposing their will on us. As Sun Tzu said, “…The possibility of victory lies only in the attack.”
Action is necessarily faster than reaction. When we are forced into a cycle of reacting to external forces, we get caught at the losing end of the OODA Loop.
Only when we are acting towards our own purpose can we remain on azimuth and make progress towards our Sky Anchor.
A solid grasp of our why serves as the foundation of our worldview.
Our Worldview is composed of our beliefs.
Our Beliefs are defined by our values.
Our Values are demonstrated by our actions.
Our Actions lead to the development of our character.
Those who have been in the military are intimately familiar with organizational values like Honor, Courage, Commitment, and for the Raiders, the tenets of Gung Ho: Selflessness, Excellence, and Trust. But it is important to establish our own beliefs and define the values that we choose to live by.
Once we have examined, considered, and selected the values that we want to live by we can establish our personal Rules of Engagement (ROEs).
In the military, ROEs are directives provided that define the “circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as provocative, may be applied.”
For us, ROEs establish the rules we live by that determine how we will respond in challenging situations.
We can define our rules of engagement by taking the time to develop a list of the beliefs and character traits that are most important to us.
Imagine the words you would like to see in a one-sentence eulogy inscribed on your tombstone.
We build our character daily by our actions, and so it is important to ask ourselves each day if the character we are building is consistent with the things we believe and the values we profess to hold above all others.
We are all familiar with the story of the three little pigs, and their houses of straw, twigs, and bricks.
If I claim to value security and want to be the little pig that lives in a brick house, then every day I had better wake up and start making bricks.
If instead, I spend my days gathering straw, my actions are not consistent with my values.
What I say is important to me is unimportant if my actions don’t match my beliefs.
The problem is that we can trick ourselves into believing that we are living up to our values.
It may not be until the wolf comes flicking his Zippo, and we seek the security of our character that we realize that we are surrounded by flammable straw.
So, let’s establish our ROE’s and start hauling bricks.
Read. Freaks of a Feather
by Kacy Tellessen
Freaks of a Feather was one of my favorite books this 2022. Kacy is a hell of a writer and a great guy. I hope you will give it a read if you haven’t.
Click on the image to go to Amazon. (I get a buck if you buy it from the link) or preferably buy it from an independent bookstore. (I don’t need a buck that badly).
Write.
I’ve received a number of emails asking me about writing: How to get started, and what to write about. I say the best place to start is exactly where you are. Get a tablet or a notebook or a laptop and write. To say ‘write what you know’ is axiomatic, but true. You can also write about things you want to know about. That will require research and before long you will know about the thing. Write things you would like to read. Write to get things off of your chest or heart or mind. Write to make plans or avoid making plans. Write to remember, write to forget. Write fiction and change the outcome you were unhappy with. Write a new beginning.
Don’t worry about what other people think of your writing or about you for that matter. If you stay on your azimuth your paths will diverge soon enough.
If you write you’re a writer, and if you're a writer you’ve got to write.
Writing is hard. If it wasn’t the world would be full of writers. The only solution according to Barbra Kingsolver is to, “Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
If you have read this substack for any length of time you will know that I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions. I believe in beginning a new thing when the idea strikes, but since we are only days away I will leave you with this thought from Edith Pierce:
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
Repeat. Words of wisdom from those who said it best:
There are only two forces in the world, the sword, and the spirit. In the long run, the sword will always be conquered by the spirit. ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand. ~ Woodrow Wilson
Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. ~ e. e. cummings
Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. ~ Leonardo da Vinci
Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. ~ William Ellery Channing
Thanks for reading! Please share with a friend. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
See you in 2023.
Another home run, Brother!