In terms of everyday life, if a person wants or needs to achieve their goals, principles, which are known personally as basic rules of one's conduct, are necessary to provide structure and ease of action. Principles are important in life because they can guide you along the path to what you consider success on cultural, social, and intellectual bases.

For example, consider what success means to you on a cultural level. In the United States, one considers success to be gaining wealth and respect through business or work, which financially leads to happiness. The cultural principle that one should snag a great job through college to gain happiness is important in life because it's the type of principle that pressures Americans to go to school, and maintain a high GPA, which subsequently pays off in later life.

On a social basis, principles exist through proper etiquette and respect to others, or alternatively climbing up a social hierarchy. These principles are important to life because it guides people to avoid negative conflict such as arguing or other forms of defiance that could result in mental or physical trauma to themselves. When in a social hierarchy, principles tell you what is and isn't acceptable when interacting with others, and will lead to an easier social life.

Third, on an intellectual basis, principles shape one's goals in education, and their ability to understand their current situation as well as others' so that life decisions can be well thought out, anywhere from what to eat today, to what employer is the best choice in terms of benefits or pay. These intellectual principles are arguably the most important because the pressure on humanity to learn and refine thinking skills is what sets us apart from other life. Without the principle that knowledge is good and to be worked for, the human species would be thousands of years less developed than we are today.

One might say in a counterarguments that these principles, or any other social, intellectual, or cultural pressures aren't important as long as success or happiness is present. A good example of this is a man who inherits millions of dollars from his late father, and has no reason to worry about making friends, getting a job, or following cultural norms. While this may outweigh the importance of basic life principles, it does not render them unimportant. This rebuttal is possible because having no basic principles leaves one at risk of losing their financial, physical, or mental stability and being unable to regain happiness.

All in all, principles such as those explained above have been and always will be a part of human society because they pave the road to our goals' fulfillment, and out happiness as individual people. Without principles, it becomes extremely difficult to obtain and maintain success or happiness.