[July 28, 2022] If you can configure your life so that what you are genuinely aiming at is the highest possible good, then the things you need to survive daily will deliver themselves to you. This is an idea – an idea that is not so obvious – if you dare to do the most challenging thing you can think of, your life will work out better than it will if you do anything else.
How will you find out if you adopt this idea is valid and will work for you? Essentially it is a leap of faith. There is no way you will find out unless you do it. No one can tell you it works. Just because it works for someone else does not mean it will work for you. For it to work, you have to be all in. You’ve got to have heart in the game.
This idea is very old, ancient thinking; if you dedicate yourself to the essential things in life, the small things will take care of themselves. Those issues are trivial in comparison. I’ve watched people operate in the world, and I’ve concluded that there is no more effective way of operating than to conceptualize and then focus your efforts on the highest good you can and then strive to attain it.
There is no better pathway to self-realization and the ennoblement of being than to conceptualize the highest good you can conceive and commit yourself to. Ask yourself, “Do you have anything better to do?” If you don’t, then why would you do anything else?
I’m a real fan of the Old Testament of the Bible.1 The Old Testament is basic and hits right home. Its message is: stay awake, speak properly, be honest, be careful or watch out because things will come your way that you do not want to see. And it might not just be you (because of what you have done or not done), but it might be everyone else you know, and everything about your culture is destroyed for generations—serious stuff.
That works if you orient yourself properly and then pay attention to what you do every day. If you have an aim in life, and let’s all hope the aim is the highest possible aim (few go there because of fear and ignorance), then the world is set up around you correctly. Orient yourself around the aims of the highest good. Each day will present you with problems that can be solved if you stay on the pathway toward your aim.
You can point into the distance (the future), the far distance, and you can live in the day. That makes every moment of the day amplified with meaning. That is so because everything you are doing every day is related to the highest possible aim that you can conceptualize. 2
————–
- Friedrich Nietzsche also commented on the Old Testament. He was a real admirer. He didn’t like the New Testament, which he thought was a sin for Europe to have glued the New Testament onto the Old Testament because he thought the Old Testament was a really accurate representation of the phenomenology of being.
- Taken from a conversation with Dr. Jordan Peterson, “Commit Yourself to the Highest Good Possible.” “COMMIT YOURSELF TO THE HIGHEST GOOD POSSIBLE” – Jordan Peterson Motivation – YouTube
————–
Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
Enjoyed this article Gen. Satterfield. Please write more like it. I hope that your new, upcoming book is out soon. Can you give us a hint when this might occur?
Great question to ask Gen. Satterfield. Yes, please let us know and what will be the title?
Summum bonum is a Latin expression meaning the highest or ultimate good, which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero to denote the fundamental principle on which some system of ethics is based — that is, the aim of actions, which, if consistently pursued, will lead to the best possible life.
This is a great leadership blog. Gen. Satterfield is to be complimented on it.
Well put and simply. Gen. Satterfield has a great site and some of his articles are true gems, like this one today on committing yourself to the highest good. The real question I have is what is “the highest good.” Gen. Satterfield should write an article on that. I would love to read his thoughts on it.
I think Gen. Satterfield is getting to be a bit of a philosopher altho I’m sure he would deny it.
Wow, what a quote, “That works if you orient yourself properly and then pay attention to what you do every day. If you have an aim in life, and let’s all hope the aim is the highest possible aim (few go there because of fear and ignorance), then the world is set up around you correctly. Orient yourself around the aims of the highest good. Each day will present you with problems that can be solved if you stay on the pathway toward your aim.”
Another great article and exactly the reason I keep coming back to this leadership website ….. thank you Gen. Satterfield. ✔
Right, aim for the highest possible good you can in your life. And then focus intently on getting it done.
Excellent article, Gen. Satterfield, I like how you summarized Dr. Peterson. Well done!
Hey folks, just a reminder to go out and buy Gen. Satterfield’s book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq.” Now, I know what you’re thinking, wow, get his book and read about blood and guts. No! That is not what it is about. It’s about Gen. Satterfield, as a Lt Col fighting the peacenik Congress to get to the warfighter what he needs. Somebody has to do it and it was him. Discover how he fought the bureaucrats and won.
Army Captain is right!!!! This is a noble mission just as much as killing the enemy. Col Satterfield, at the time, had to get our troops to live and work properly. He did it.
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Longest-Year-Iraq-Construction/dp/1737915510/
Right, excellent comment. Yes, go buy his book. If you’re looking at a good read on the Iraq War, here is your chance to get some real insight. Buy his book —- Our Longest Year in Iraq.
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Longest-Year-Iraq-Construction/dp/1737915510/
“Our Longest Year in Iraq,” right!! The best book of the year. Way to go Gen. Doug Satterfield.
Be an American patriot and buy his book, ‘The Longest Year in Iraq.’ Get the word out. Tell your neighbor about it. Go on Amazon and leave a review. Help out Gen. Satterfield. Help out yourself and spend the time reading about the Iraq War where our troops were doing their duty.
“This idea is very old, ancient thinking; if you dedicate yourself to the essential things in life, the small things will take care of themselves.” Interesting. While I never heard of this exactly as you put it, Gen. Satterfield, I can only assume that we see that happening enough to say, yes, it is so. Thoughts?
Great article, Dr. Peterson is top notch.
That is what learning about being noble or good or ethical is all about. Read this article and pay close attention to what is being said.