11 Rules That Will Change Your Life Forever
Are you one of these people who wake up every day and don’t know why?
It’s those who ask this question and follow through with action that live happy, healthy, productive lives.
When was the last time you looked back and asked yourself:
What is going well?
What isn’t going well?
What’s in my control, that I can do to sway the odds in my favor?
“A problem cannot be solved with the same kind of thinking that created it” — Albert Einstein
It’s your responsibility to start learning about yourself and how you operate from now until the rest of your life. No one else is going to help you with this.
These 11 rules will help turn your life up:
1. Question authority.
Just because something hasn’t been done before, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it and just because we’ve always done things this way doesn’t mean we should continue to.
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
— George Bernard Shaw
>>>> Be unreasonable. Change the way things are now. (Changing the status quo depends on it.)
2. Think for yourself.
Every time you accept an argument, ideology, or philosophy, you’re building a habit of agreeing.
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
— Krishnamurti
Think about this: Do you want to live a life where you’re the director or the player?
Skepticism is extra work, because it requires you to think and challenge.
Complacency is easy because it doesn’t take much energy to just roll over.
To live a life of self-driven purpose, you need to put in more work.
3. Always question yourself.
Just because you believe something now doesn’t mean you should or will always believe that thing.
You should interrogate your own beliefs constantly so you can build confidence in the things you know and discover many new things.
4. Don’t make assumptions, test ideas and follow the evidence.
This rule alone is the foundation of learning and education. By searching for the truth, we are forced to consider all truths.
Every time we guess, we’re diluting the truth.
Just because you know something, doesn’t mean you’re right.
You’re responsible for testing and proving your own truths, too.
5. You could be wrong.
When you engage with others, do you listen?
Do you ask questions with genuine interest?
Always remember when you have the intention of advising, telling, or coming from a place of “knowing something,” that you could be wrong.
“This is the very perfection of a man; to find out his own imperfection.”
— Saint Augustine
Admitting that you could be wrong is an effective way to reduce tension among people. More people will then be open to the possibility of the actual truth.
The fastest way to create a wall of defensiveness is by asserting your “knowing” without hearing or connecting with others first.
You cannot teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it within himself.”
— Galileo
6. Don’t take anything personally.
Each of us exists within our independent, separate realities.
We each have experiences and understandings that have developed to construct our perspective of the world.
When you remember that people are interacting with you from their own world of reality, it’s easier to be sure in yourself and forgive others.
The more you react to what others are saying, the less you are being an authentic version of yourself.
7. Always do your best, where you are, with what you have.
You’re the only one who can be responsible for this.
What’s in your control? What isn’t?
You have no excuse for not doing what’s in your control.
If you practice this everyday, you’ll find that more and more things in your environment are within your control.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
— Arthur Ashe
8. Make time for play.
The journey is more important than the destination. Play enhances the mind, memory, creativity, and generally; mood.
“It’s very rarely a bad time to be in a positive mindset.”
— Daniel Gurevich
9. Take the time to stop, zoom out, and observe your own perspective.
You will be moving forward if you take time to think about your thinking, work on your working, or build on your building.
“Life is the pursuit of eternally broadening context.”
— Scott Woods
10. When in doubt, trust your gut.
There isn’t a formula for everything. You won’t be able to figure everything out.
Have you ever thought about what you dread most when the time comes when you are at the end of your life?
The most common feeling is regret.
The top two regrets are:
“Not living the life I really wanted.”
&
“Working too hard.”
Summary: Your goal should be to be happy by avoiding regret.
Therefore,
- If you do something you know you shouldn’t have done, you’ll regret it later, right?
- But If you follow your gut and do something true to yourself and your beliefs, and you end up being wrong . . . well, you’ll still be wrong, but you won’t regret it.
- You’ll feel the pain of learning instead of the pain of regret, and you’ll move on to live another day.
11. Always respond with love.
You can’t control the way you feel about something.
If someone lied to you, you’re allowed to be mad.
If someone cheated you, you’re allowed to feel betrayed.
If someone insulted you, you’re allowed to feel rejected.
You’re allowed to feel however you feel. That’s how feelings work.
You’re NOT allowed to hurt others or beat yourself up because of the way you felt.
Actions only occur after feelings.
The sooner you can regulate your emotional response and start responding to the world as the best version of yourself, the sooner you’ll start feeling less dependent on others for validation and affection.
“At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love.”
— Ernesto Guevara
Take the time you need to process what’s going on, and wait until you can respond with love.
The next time you say something, think:
“was that comment a judgement?”
“did I mean that in my heart?”
“was that nice?”
The more you respond with love to others, the easier it will be to respond with love to yourself.
Now it’s time to choose what you want:
- What kind of life will you live?
- Who does the best version of you look like?
Are you willing to put in the work to being happy?
Are you willing to look success in the face and decide to go for it?
Are you willing to stop what you’re doing to prioritize yourself?
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
— Bruce Lee
It’s up to you…
“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.”
— Karen Lamb
You might also like: 8 Habits To Enhance Your Mind Power By Dr. Steve G. Jones
Original Article published by medium.com