Twenty Five Rules for Life.

Before I start today’s post I’d like to pass on some link love to a few of my favourite personal development bloggers. This week’s entries include Aaron Potts over at Today is that Day, Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, Phil Gerbyshak at Make it Great, Steve Olson at Steve-Olson.com, and Steve Aitchison at Change your Thoughts. If you get a chance check them out, they are all quality bloggers.

We’ve all got rules that we live by. Consciously or not. Some of them empower us and propel us towards happiness, significance and fulfilment, and others paralyse us and restrict us to a reality that we don’t really want or enjoy. I always get asked about my beliefs, standards and values; the ‘life rules’ which I do my best to live by. I say “do my best”, because I fail to live up to them on a semi-regular basis. Like you, I’m a work in progress.

Here’s some of my ‘Life Rules’:

1. When everyone else throws in the towel, find a way. Always find a way. That will put you in the minority. The successful minority. Be creative, be tenacious, be diligent and do what most won’t.

2. Finish what you start. Many of us are great at starting, crap at finishing. Doesn’t matter how smart you are, or how much potential or talent you have, if you only ever half-do stuff; the ‘Master of Incompletion‘. Success is less about talent and potential, and more about commitment. Have yourself committed. So to speak.

3. Make the tough decisions. Most people would rather someone or something else make the tough decision for them. The biggest determinant of what our life will look like is the decisions we make (and don’t make!!). It ain’t fate, chance or luck; it’s all you dude. Success is a choice.

4. Don’t bullshit yourself. Be honest. You’re an idiot at times. And a baby. And a sook. You know it. We all are. This admission is not to be confused with senselessly beating yourself up, no, this is about honest self-assessment and a level of self-awareness that most people will never have. You’re biggest challenge will always be you. Maximise your strengths and develop your weaknesses.

5. Nurture and develop the spiritual you. This means different things to different people and I’m definitely not the one to ‘define it’ for the masses. However, it might add that dimension to your life that you’ve been lacking. After all, you’re more than a body and a mind right?

6. Maximise your potential. Too many people die with their music still in them. The main reason for this is fear. Deal with your fear (and laziness and procrastination) or waste your talent and live a life of compromise.

7. Stop waiting for success to fall on your head. Too many people have a ‘Lotto’ mentality; they hope that success will ‘happen’ to them. They wait to be ‘discovered’ or for their ‘big break’. Good luck with that. Get off your ass and create your own big break. Look for, and create, your own opportunities. Put on your opportunity-awareness glasses.

8. Hang out with high-achievers and avoid energy vampires. Self explanatory really. Wanna be a loser? Hang out with some and soon you’ll be one.

9. Be in shape physically. This is not about vanity or ego. This is about function and health. This is about maximising your potential. If you’re out of shape physically, it will impact negatively in every area of your life; relationships, career, finances, emotional state, mindset.

10. Change what you can and don’t fret about what you can’t. Too many people invest way too much emotional energy in things they can’t change and way too little in the things they can and should. And in doing so, all they do is put themselves in a bad place emotionally.

11. Don’t be a critic. You’ve got enough of your own issues and weaknesses to work on. People who constantly criticise others are typically insecure, envious, resentful and often jealous. Oh yeh, and very ugly.

12. Don’t make excuses, make plans. Stop talking about it. Start creating it.

13. Become a master communicator. In terms of ‘life skills’, this is at the top of the list. Consciously and diligently work at becoming the most effective communicator you can be. It impacts on every area of our life. Consciously build and nurture great relationships in all areas of your life.

14. Invest into others in a practical way. Be generous with your time, your knowledge, your skills, your money and your love. The best return on investment has nothing to do with money.

15. Be completely responsible and accountable for where you are, who you are and what you are. Even if you have a ‘reason’ to blame – don’t. It serves no purposes.

16. Control your emotions, especially anger and fear. When we act out of fear and/or anger we hurt others and ourselves. By the way, angry people get sick.

17. Trust and respect those who have earned it. This doesn’t mean be paranoid and fearful of those you don’t know well, it means what it says. Automatically trusting and respecting people is a recipe for disaster.

18. Don’t base your expectations for your future, on your past. Too many people are hostages to their crappy past, so they simply create a crappy future. That’s what they expect. Our history is not necessarily any indication of what our future could be.

19. Expose yourself to different ideas, cultures, places, environments and people. Often. It’s crucial for your development. Too many people live in their safe, little (miserable) box for eighty years and then they die. Sad.

20. Get uncomfortable on a regular basis. Take risks. Physically, emotionally, psychologically and professionally. It’s how we grown, learn, adapt, change, improve. ‘Safe’ is boring and unrewarding.

21. Laugh loud and often. If you’re not having fun, if you’re not happy, try plan B. Too many long faces these days.

22. Get clarity and certainty about what you want and don’t want in your life. And then start building it. Stop waiting for some cosmic sign, start thinking for yourself and creating some momentum. Stop letting others tell you what to do with your life.

23. Don’t spend your life waiting for the ‘right time’. It’s a myth. If you’re breathing, it’s the right time. This doesn’t mean be irresponsible or stupid, it means don’t waste years waiting for the planets to align perfectly. The ‘right time’ excuse is merely a form of procrastination.

24. Find the good. Consider every day an opportunity to live, laugh, learn and love. While many walk around with the world on their shoulders, choose to be different. Choose to be the exception. Choose fun. Choose to find the lesson. Choose happiness. Choose to be that person.

25. Humility. Live and communicate with drive, passion and humility. Arrogance and ego are ugly and destructive. Humility – not to be confused with weakness.

Well, there you have it, some food for thought. There’s no right or wrong with this stuff because we all need to find our own truth and we all need to choose how we live our life. Hopefully my thoughts might stimulate you to think about your own ‘guide to life’, if you haven’t already. Feel free to click on the comment thingy and share with us your three most important ‘life rules’ and why. Or just say hi and tell me I’m ace.

Enjoy your weekend, Loveyooozall ( ) – group hug

Craig