My Overly Simple Rules for a Good Life
9 rules to live by so you outperform in life.
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Rules provide constraints in your life. Constraints help you focus. Focus provides clarity. Clarity helps you take badass actions.
So, I have created these rules in my life. They will inspire you to create a few for yourself.
Be Quiet Most of the Time
There is a lot of noisy attention-seeking. Gain massive attention and then have it taken away. This has happened to me. It taught me that fame and attention is a nightmare.
Be quiet more than you talk. When you do talk, make it worth it. Talk for a small few. Take to 1000 small fans.
Don’t be a Donald (Duck)…. quack, quack, quack, quack. Me, me, me, me.
Quietness is old school self-help.
Read A Lot
Measure the days you have left in the number of books you can read.
Books force you to imagine the images. Movies rob you of that gift. Movies are the heavily curated, edited version of a story. The book is the full story. The book is always better than the movie.
Read a lot to learn through other people’s stories. It’s easier than learning the hard way through failure.
Highlight Your Achievements with Grace
I met this guy. Let’s call him Finch. Finch started a fintech company from Silicon Valley. A friend asked me to help him. I offered to help. I spoke to Finch. All Finch could talk about was how great he was and how everybody wanted to marry his startup. They were less than 100 days old. A toddler.
I politely told Finch my employer wasn’t the right fit. I offered to refer him to a better fit who would easily be able to assist.
Finch was a dick about it. Finch called my boss’s boss and tried to outrank me. The boss rang me. I told them exactly what I told Finch. They went back to Finch and repeated my message. Finch didn’t take no for answer.
He kept flaunting his highlight reel to other people within the same company. His ego was in outrage mode. The boy who cried wolf about a startup was stuck in a deafening echo…
