Prudence is often a misunderstood and underestimated virtue. Being prudent means making wise decisions based on sound principles. Therefore, it is necessary first to have a solid moral basis, from which it is easier to thoroughly analyze certain circumstances and, therefore, to follow a more cautious course of action.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Part One: The Basic Principles
Step 1. Define what prudence is
Prudence is the ability to use reason, wisdom, caution and common sense in order to make the best decision in all circumstances. To be prudent, it is necessary to become people who regularly resort to a cautious and balanced attitude.
- To understand what prudence is, one should also understand what is not prudent. Often a prudent attitude is associated with an excessive concern for what is apparently right and wrong, but true prudence has to do with the essence of what is right, so it is not a simple matter of moral semblance.
- In other words, being prudent does not mean avoiding danger or difficult decisions, nor does it mean acting with cowardice and self-preservation. On the contrary, very often this attitude even implies a certain audacity, since doing the right thing usually requires courage.
Step 2. Understand the value of prudence
Prudence gives you the ability to know what to do to get a good result, including when and how to do it. Generally speaking, those who are prudent are able to make the best and most satisfying choices, thus improving the overall quality of their life.
- By underestimating prudence, it is possible to gain immediate pleasure, but often at the expense of long-term and lasting satisfaction.
- On the contrary, assuming a prudent attitude, there is the risk of depriving oneself of temporary happiness in order to guarantee better and long-lasting positive results.
Step 3. Learn the right principles
Prudence requires the application of intangible principles in the context of concrete circumstances. Before proceeding, however, it is necessary to know these principles.
- The following occurs regardless of how you wish to apply prudence in your life. If you try to be prudent in everyday life, you need to build a foundation of principles that apply to all areas of your existence. However, if you only intend to be cautious in professional life, you can narrow your focus by establishing some basic principles to apply directly in the workplace.
- Principles are mostly assimilated through study. To build a foundation of everyday principles, you can turn to religious or philosophical texts. You can expand the foundation by studying a number of fundamentals that apply to particular areas of life: law, economics, and so on.
- A prudent act will never violate a principle, because a moral principle establishes the truth of what is right and what is wrong. There is never a "right" exception to a true principle.
Step 4. Cultivate other virtues
Virtue breeds virtue, so if you practice other moral qualities, it will also be easier to be cautious.
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From the theological and philosophical point of view, prudence is the first of the four cardinal virtues. The other three are justice, temperance and courage. Other virtues should be practiced in addition to these, which in any case represent a solid basis from which to start.
- To be fair, it is necessary to act fairly towards all parties involved in a given situation.
- To be moderate, one must practice self-control and moderation in order not to indulge in excesses that could cause harm to others and to oneself.
- To be courageous, one must face fear and uncertainty, acting in spite of these fears.
- If your actions move on the horizon of justice, you can go beyond your personal interests and determine what is good. By assuming a moderate attitude, you will more easily sacrifice self-interest or immediate pleasure in the interest of what is good. Courage will allow you to act correctly, even when you are afraid of the consequences. Since all of these virtues push you to behave well, they can also simplify your path to becoming a prudent person.
Step 5. Consider lessons from past experiences
Prudence becomes easier with maturity. You can learn a number of intangible principles through academic studies, but learning how to apply them in various real-life scenarios usually takes trial and error.
- Think back to some difficult decisions you've made in the past, both wrong and right.
- When you have done the right thing, consider how the sacrifices you made have paid off in the end result.
- When you've made a mistake, consider how much better it would have been if you had done the right thing. Focus on the bigger negative consequences rather than the smaller pleasures that have affected your choices.
Part 2 of 3: Part Two: Thinking Carefully
Step 1. Examine the goal in each situation
Both your ultimate goal and the steps you need to take to achieve it need to be carefully considered. Therefore, since you can't figure out how to get to a destination before choosing it, you need to carefully set a goal first.
To be cautious, a certain "watchful awareness" is required. You need to be aware of the right thing and ponder the best way to do it. This means being cautious and taking the time to reflect on a difficult situation instead of jumping headlong
Step 2. Analyze
Examine the various alternatives and ask yourself what will allow you to achieve your goal in the most fair and effective way possible.
- Gather all the information you need to make a decision.
- Think about the moral principles related to the situation. Goals and actions that violate these principles will have to be set aside.
- At this stage, it is essential to have absolute honesty. You need to be honest about what's right and what's not, without allowing personal feelings or preferences to interfere.
- If you fail to analyze the situation correctly, you risk making a rash or reckless decision, which is the exact opposite of a prudent decision.
Step 3. Balance the end and the means
You may have heard someone argue that "the end justifies the means," but to exercise true prudence, both the end and the means must follow basic principles. Doing wrong for a better purpose still leads you to make mistakes.
- This can be the hardest part, as the easiest way to come to a happy ending may include some un-noble deeds. Often, however, there is a more difficult approach that allows you to achieve the same goal by adopting more virtuous measures.
- When there is no way to achieve a goal other than by acting recklessly, perhaps it is necessary to re-examine the goal.
Step 4. Ask for advice
Although prudence requires inner reflection and examination, external help must be considered when the situation calls for it. However, make sure that the person you are addressing is truly capable of guiding you towards a decision based on sound principles.
- When you can, consult who you think would use caution in your situation. For example, if you are thinking about cost reduction within your department, it may be best to consult with someone from another department known to be prudent within the company.
- If you look at prudence from a faith perspective, you also have advice from a higher power on your side to turn to. You can use prayer, scripture study, and meditation to counsel your soul when making a decision.
Step 5. Act conscientiously
If you want to follow your conscience, you have to do what you think is right. If you act on what you believe is right, you are basically proceeding cautiously and based on fundamental principles.
- Often the conscience gets confused because, when it comes to making the right choice, it is normal to be assaulted by a sense of disorientation. However, even the lack of an idea can be risky, because it easily leads us astray and what we believe to be right could be denied by a little thought.
- You may feel an inner pull towards the right decision and this sense of encouragement can be considered an act of conscience. Usually, however, it is built with years of thought and practice of moral principles, not on the wave of emotion.
Step 6. Delay the decision when necessary
There are times when you need to honestly examine your state of mind and ask yourself whether you can clearly judge what is right and what is wrong. When the mind is clouded, it is best to delay the decision until you have a clearer idea.
- When they are strong, emotions can be so powerful that they distort judgment and lead to a bad decision. Such emotions can include anger, lust, depression, or discouragement.
- It is better to wait for these strong feelings to pass before you can come to reason in a prudent way. Make an effort to process your emotions before making a decision.
Step 7. Evaluate
Once you have every aspect considered, you need to sift through all relevant information and come to a conclusion about the way forward. In order for the decision to be made prudently, you need to evaluate what is right based on the situation.
- Put aside irrelevant information that distracts you or slows you down. Focus only on those that relate to the situation in front of you.
- The choice not to decide is in itself a decision. It follows that the decision is an inevitable event. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can eliminate any hesitation when coming to a conclusion.
Part 3 of 3: Part Three: Act With Prudence
Step 1. Act on your judgment
After making an assessment, you need to act accordingly quickly and decisively. Simply knowing what is right does not make you a prudent person. Therefore, it is also necessary to act on what is right.
- Knowing the right choice is key, but acting on it is even more important.
- If practiced correctly, prudence allows you to obtain the best result in any situation. If you are not able to act following the right choice, you will not do anything good, so you will not prove that you are a really prudent person.
Step 2. Manage your times
In general, take the time to think and ponder, but move quickly when you are in the action phase.
- You have to be thorough when going through the reasoning phase. You can only be attentive if you think slowly and carefully. Haste will only make you careless and careless.
- By proceeding slowly and carefully during the reflection phase, you will be more confident when formulating your final assessment. When you feel confident in your assessment, you will naturally feel less hesitant to act accordingly.
- If you delay during the action phase, however, you will open your mind and heart to doubt. The latter can lead you to think excessively, leading you to flawed decisions or complete inaction.
Step 3. Accept the risk
There will always be a risk that your assessment will ultimately be wrong. Even if it is right, you will still have to face the possibility of unpleasant consequences. Recognize the risks, but learn to act despite everything.
The "right thing" and the "easy thing" are often at odds, so choosing the right one can always have difficult or unpleasant consequences
Step 4. Have some faith
You have to believe that things will work out as best they can when you act prudently. If you train your mind to believe otherwise, you risk growing with a sense of distrust of the value of prudence. As a result, actually putting it into practice will be more difficult.
- If you exercised prudence as best you could, you did your part. The overall result may get out of hand, but at least you are sure you did the right thing. Every right choice makes you a stronger and better person.
- If you view prudence religiously, you must also have faith that God will lead you to the best possible outcome, even if your efforts to be prudent will be imperfect.
