Values

I am interested in productivity since high school. I read books, tried different methods and templates, and generally searched for some structure I could rely on, to live my days in a way that feels meaningful. Over the years I went through several versions of "systems" that worked for a while and then stopped fitting when life changed. After a few rounds of this, managing everything so tightly started to feel like trying to hold a river. The more I tried to control it, the more obvious it was that life doesn't work like this.

At some point I moved to something quieter and more sustainable: a solid core with flexible edges. No detailed step by step system anymore, instead a small number of principles I can come back to in different situations. Some kind of personal code I can carry with me when circumstances change. To get there, I went back to the basics (philosophy, psychology and a bit of the more spiritual perspective) and kept only what holds up in everyday life. A lot of the rest I let go. What remains is a set of values that still evolves, but it gives me orientation and helps me to stay honest with myself.

At the moment it looks roughly like this.

Integrity and transparency

For me it means to be straightforward with other people and with myself, as far as I manage in a given situation. Pretending to be someone else, or hiding too much behind roles and masks, drains energy and creates distance. So I try to keep it minimal. Not always comfortable and I definitely don't get it right all the time. But it's a direction I keep coming back to.

Equanimity

Equanimity for me is the ability to stay reasonably steady in the middle of change. Daily life brings good news and bad news, small crises and small joys, and I try to grow some inner stability that is not completely at the mercy of these swings. Where I can improve a situation, I act. Where I really can't, I practice letting go, instead of turning it around in my head endlessly. Worry has its place as a signal. After that point it rarely adds anything useful.

Gratitude

I found that making space for gratitude, forgiveness and small acts of kindness changes how I experience my own life, even if the outer circumstances stay the same. It's not about keeping a ledger of good deeds or expecting something back. It's more about the mindset it supports. How I think influences how my body feels, this shapes my habits, and over longer stretches the habits shape the texture of everyday life. I can take part in this process consciously, or more or less leave it to chance.

Spaciousness

With spaciousness I mean leaving enough room, in my schedule and in my inner life, so things are not always crowded and compressed. I value being able to slow down, pay attention and just be present, and not fill every gap with noise or activity. This includes an open and reasonably kind attitude towards other people, and towards myself. I like the image from Taoist writing of the "uncarved block", and of the Tao as something spacious where many things can coexist. In a modest way I try to bring a bit of this quality into how I live and relate to the world around me.