Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Dr. Bronce Rice's avatar

Paul - This was a deeply thought-provoking read. I appreciate how you distinguish between the possession of desirable outcomes and the integrity of how one acquires them, something our culture often confuses or bypasses entirely.

Your articulation of success as doing rather than having resonates with the ethical backbone of ancient moral philosophy and also with how I’ve seen people struggle in therapy when their achievements feel misaligned with their deeper values. When what we’ve gained doesn’t reflect who we’ve tried to become, it can leave us feeling strangely hollow, even amid outward success.

I also value your emphasis on building a personal philosophy, a life architecture rooted not in borrowed belief, but in self-examination. It reminds me that we don’t inherit a coherent framework by default. We cobble it together from lived experience, unexamined assumptions, early internalizations, and often, it’s not until something breaks or stalls that we begin the slow process of asking what truly guides us.

Thank you for offering a practical and rigorous way to begin that journey.

Expand full comment
ploppie's avatar

Is there a link to Foundations? I can’t find it

Expand full comment
6 more comments...

No posts