Building Strength
Personal Board of Directors
This might be my favorite chapter in the book (I think I’ve said that a few times now actually.. anyways) because I think if I just implement the strategies in these 8 pages, my life will get better. I like simplicity. It’s simple and applicable to most situations. It involves two steps:
Finding the right exemplars
Practicing
Finding The Right Exemplars
Seneca once said,
“There is need, I insist, for someone against whom to measure our way of life; unless you have a ruler, you can’t straighten what is crooked.” (82)
An exemplar is an excellent example of something, usually a trait or a skill. Our job is to take Seneca’s advice and find exemplars to measure our life against. To become our rulers of kindness, bravery, commitment to family and anything else that will straighten us when we’re crooked.
This is a powerful practice when used properly because the thing standing between you and your goal is often knowledge. Find exemplars who have already paid for the lessons you are looking for. You know they have the lessons if they have the traits and skills you’re looking for.
Personal Board of Directors
This isn’t a call to become another person. If you treated someone as an exemplar of every part of life, you would end up with their same faults and problems as well. And you don’t know anything about those problems.
There’s a solution. Find multiple exemplars for different parts of your life. Build yourself a personal board of directors (BOD) who you visit before making decisions. They’re the experts in all the valued skills and traits you need to be a happy version of yourself.
I’ve been putting together my BOD and just yesterday I consulted them for a decision I couldn’t make on my own. My business exemplar and my spirituality exemplar went back and forth in my journal for almost an hour. But in the end I came to a confident decision that I’m very happy with today.
An important aspect to note when you’re picking your BOD is their character. For instance, a Qatari royal has loads of money but I won’t put him on my BOD because I wouldn’t feel bad letting him down.
If the people on your BOD are people you would never let down, you will rise to their standards.
To be clear, your personal BOD can be made up of people you know personally, professionally or not at all. Having people you spend time with on your board is best, because then you can get real-time feedback on your decisions. But, it’s important not to compromise on the quality of the exemplar just because we know them.
It’s also fine to have dead people on your BOD. This can be a family member who passed, a religious leader who passed (think—what would Jesus do? What would the Rebbe do?), or a historical figure like Marcus Aurelius or Benjamin Franklin.
The important parts of choosing your BOD are:
They have high character so you won’t let them down
They have a trait, skill or value you want to emulate
They are people you would be proud to be compared to
Tomorrow, we’ll discuss practicing using your BOD! I’m splitting the chapter into two days of writing because I didn’t want to cut explanations short.
Brains Gains
Who are two people you would put on your Personal Board of Directors?
Have an amazing day. Congrats on finishing up Part 2 of Clear Thinking!
Your Friend,
Noah “BigNerd” Sochaczevski