LIVE - A Manual for the Examined Life
This book is currently in development and will be released when complete.
LIVE is the entry point to the entire Manuals of Life series.
It is not a summary of the other books, and it is not a collection of advice. It is the perspective from which everything else becomes intelligible. This is where the whole architecture comes into view.
LIVE asks a single, demanding question:
What does it mean to live deliberately, rather than by default?
The Book That Frames the Whole
Human life unfolds across many domains at once. Body, mind, behaviour, relationships, attention, emotion, suffering, meaning, time, learning, and the awareness of mortality all interact continuously. Most approaches to personal development isolate one of these and treat it as the problem.
LIVE does the opposite.
It shows how these domains form a single system, and how neglecting one quietly undermines the others. Strength without clarity becomes brute force. Insight without action becomes theatre. Meaning without structure becomes fantasy.
LIVE introduces the full philosophical framework behind the Manuals of Life and shows how the different dimensions of a life fit together into a coherent whole.
The Examined Life, Reclaimed
The idea of the examined life is ancient, but it has often been reduced to abstraction.
LIVE brings it back to the ground.
Examination here does not mean endless self analysis or philosophical detachment. It means learning to see clearly how you live, what you prioritise, what you resist, and what you build over time. It means understanding the forces shaping your days and deciding which ones deserve your cooperation.
An examined life is not quieter.
It is clearer.
Practical Philosophy for Real Lives
LIVE is philosophical, but never academic.
It draws on science, psychology, philosophy, and lived experience, but always in service of practical wisdom. The aim is not to impress or persuade, but to orient. To give you a way of thinking about your life that makes sense of its complexity without flattening it.
This book does not promise transformation.
It provides a lens.
Through that lens, decisions sharpen. Trade offs become visible. Priorities clarify. The work of living becomes more intentional.
Why LIVE Comes First
Most readers encounter the Manuals of Life through a specific concern. Health. Clarity. Meaning. Relationships. Habits. Attention. Emotion. Difficulty. Learning.
LIVE shows how all of these concerns belong to the same life.
It gives you the map before you choose the path. From this perspective, each other Manual becomes easier to place, easier to use, and harder to misuse. LIVE does not tell you where to start. It helps you understand where you are.
This is why it sits at the centre of the series.
Not as a conclusion, but as a vantage point.
For Whom This Book Is Written
LIVE is written for readers who sense that something important is missing from the usual scripts.
For those who have competence, experience, and intelligence, but lack coherence.
For those who want to take responsibility for how they live without pretending that life is simple.
For those who are done with slogans and ready for structure.
It assumes adulthood. It respects complexity. It speaks plainly.
How to Read LIVE
This is not a book to rush.
Read it slowly. Pause often. Let ideas settle. Use it to reflect, not to optimise. Return to it as life changes. LIVE is designed to remain useful as your circumstances, priorities, and questions evolve.
It is not a checklist.
It is an operating perspective.
A Life That Holds Together
LIVE exists for one purpose.
To help you see your life as a whole.
To recognise how its parts interact.
To build coherence where there was drift.
To replace reaction with intention.
Not by telling you how to live.
But by helping you understand what it means to truly live.