For as long as I can remember, there has been a framed calligraphy piece hanging in my living room titled "Guides for Living for my Grandchildren."
In 1978, my great grandfather sat down and wrote out 27 guides he recommended to be kept in mind for his grandchildren to filter their actions through. As a kid, I would look at the calligraphy and try to read it, but most of it was over my head and I never really knew what it was talking about. It wasn't till I went to college that I truly understood the significance of this document. Right before I was getting ready to leave for college, my mom handed me a piece of paper with the guides typed out. She told me that she always kept a copy with her in her wallet and she thought I might like to do the same. Through out my first year, from time to time I would pull the folded paper out and read it. These guides have been such an inspiration to me and my life that I thought others should have the opportunity to read them too. So here they are, word for word from 1978, the 27 Guides for Living written by Gordon H. Robertson:
1. Personal Integrity is a must -- a life's cornerstone
2. Build a healthy mind through a healthy input (i.e. reading, church work and attendance, good thinking friends).
3. Build a healthy body. (Depends on a lifetime health lifestyle, but so rewarding -- particularly in your later years.)
4. Plan your days, months, years. (A great help toward a life of accomplishment.)
5. In your "deals," everyone should win.
6. Try to do things better and better. (That will eliminate 80 percent of competition.)
7. Use your good manners always. (The positive may be taken for granted, but the negative is a serious handicap.)
8. Start to develop a realistic picture of what you want to be. (If the picture is in "focus" you will be surprised how often it develops to an actuality.)
9. Be prompt. (Otherwise your friends and business opportunities will fade away.)
10. Be tidy. (In your person, living quarters, and business affairs.)
11. Think things through -- all the way through. (A mighty help to good decision.)
12. Strive to be realistically imaginative. (A cardinal virtue.)
13. Have real concern and consideration for the other fellow's interest -- in and beyond the family.
14. For those few really important decisions (i.e. your spouse, your work) -- try hard to recognize them; and give them your best thought.
15. Leisure time in growing. Try to to be able to play a decent game of bridge, golf, tennis, or whatever your special interest and talent, so you will be able to enjoy it more.
16. In business, think "down" to the people working for you, as well as to those "above" for whom you are working.
17. Cultivate self-discipline. (It is rewarding, but tough.)
18. Try to make every day productive. At the end of the day, month, year, decade, say to yourself, "What significance have I accomplished?"
19. Abhor waste. (Neither you nor the world can afford it.)
20. Develop an ability to get the real facts. (An extremely important and difficult task.)
21. When it comes to buying a house, write down your specifications.
22. Pursue excellence. (Very few do.)
23. Do at least an annual fiscal audit. (Starting the first year on your own.)
24. Budget your time and money. (Helping you plan, rather than drift.)
25. Keep your long range, written down objectives up to date.
26. Be dependable -- always. (And how beautifully you will stand out from the crowd.)
27. Strive to keep your thinking positive. ("As a man thinketh, so is he.")
I hope that these guides for living inspire you as much as they inspire me.
