January 7, 2014
Who I am, in a sentence: I am an enthusiastic individual with an analytic mind continuously searching for the best knowledge to change my life and others’.

Mission Statement:
I, Kendel Christensen, live to serve, inform, and be expansively useful to my fellowmen. I seek to personally develop and provide to others: 1) An eclectic, informed perspective, 2) worthwhile skills, and 3) Examples of superior success in the face of justifiable reasons to expect averageness. I strive to be a force for good and inspire lasting change in others’ lives especially regarding their self-awareness, interpersonal relationships and sense of possibility. My goal is to live an honorable life conducive to one day living in the presence of God and leave a path others will be inspired to follow.

The Governing Values of Kendel Christensen

I, Kendel Christensen, in order to obtain a Godlike character, fulfill my personal mission, and live a life full of rich meaning and optimal utility, do hereby commit to be a man of principle and conduct my life by the following governing values:

1.      My identity as a son of God and disciple of Jesus Christ is my foremost consideration in all decision-making, interactions with others, and chosen priorities. In this—and all my beliefs—I live out of personal conviction, not popular sentiment.

2.      My essence of being—my core—is analytical, intelligent, logical, believing, positive, enthusiastic, motivating, grateful, visionary, and forever reaching higher.

3.      I accept and love who I am, and am true to my core.

4.      I seek to fully, honestly know and love my whole self—including my profound imperfections, to which I am deeply committed to improving even though I will not fully overcome them. I am beautifully imperfect and accept responsibility for the problems in my life. I actively look for and acknowledge the extent to which I am a contributor to these problems. To the greatest reasonable extent, I invite others to be honest with themselves.

5.      I ardently appreciate the enabling and enriching effects of knowledge and commit to a life of rigorous life-long learning—being always teachable and humbly acknowledging a persistent gap in my knowledge.

6.        I am on no one’s “side” but the side of truth. I renounce error and cleave to the truth—no matter its origin, no matter how hard the truth is.

7.      While understanding that I am not able to know and understand everything and must operate on incomplete knowledge, I will be reverently mindful of the difference between an intermediate judgment based on my interpretation of accessible evidence and a final conclusion. I will always be open to higher, paradigm-altering knowledge that would entail my changing my opinion and position.

8.      I take thoughtful note of and consciously try to behaviorally apply—despite the ‘culture’ around me—the worthwhile knowledge and counsel I receive. I do not nod and mindlessly capitulate. I systematically organize the knowledge and insights I come across to call upon them in moments of optimal relevance. I am exceptional in this regard.

9.      I am happy and dedicate my life to the discovery, meaningful application, and teaching to others the principles of happiness.

10.   I choose not to be a victim. Though I cannot control everything, I choose to proactively seek and take personal responsibility for the things that I can. I am not a worrier, but rather a Do-Nexter.

11.   I am a wholly dedicated husband and father. My wife and children are my most important relationships and I will not have happiness if these are not healthy or lacking complete trust.

12.   I strive for financial independence. My motive for this is not the acquisition of material goods or the glory of men, but to be a better instrument to serve. No matter the wealth I acquire, I am not deluded that it is “mine” in any sense of finality. All that I have is, to a humbling extent, thanks to environmental factors, my parents and forefathers, and ultimately a blessing from Providence.

13.   I am frugal and distinguish want from need. I am not cheap; I understand the difference between cost and value.

14.   I revere the power of language as the structure within which all understanding and communication takes place. I seek to continually expand this structure, and am conscious of the effect of the words I use on others. I commit to use speech to proactively uplift others. I will be hesitant to impute motive to others’ words or take offense. I shun empty words.

15.   I am a communicator and diplomat. I practice engaged listening and strive to bring balance, understanding, harmony, and synergy to groups of people.

16.   I am sincerely friendly and a sincere friend. To all, I am amiable and approachable. To those worthy of greater confidence, I will risk appropriate vulnerability. Despite distance, I will actively reach out to those who have touched me and I care about with no “scorekeeping”.

17.   I love people, look for the good in them, and strive to see them as God sees them. This includes realizing that—no matter how I view them at the moment—that only God sees what they can become and I should be amenable to putting their needs before my personal inclinations.

18.   I treat time as a sacred resource. I am proactive and guard against the creep of insignificant time-leechers, and continually look for more effective and efficient ways to do things. Effective systems are the secret to effective living. Therefore I continually test, develop, and evaluate myself and the systems I use.

19.   I am deliberate in focusing on premeditated priorities and specific goals. I am aware of the forces that are continually acting on me, especially those from the natural man, the world, and adversaries. Without proactive focus, my life can be wholly spent reacting to these influences, and unconsciously mirroring their subtexts.

20.   In an effort to counteract these influences and achieve the character and life I desire, I regularly set and accomplish specific goals based on these and other principles and priorities.