Even More Simple Rules for A Better Life
“Simplicity is not so simple to attain.”
We previously published two posts titled Simple Rules for A Better Life and More Simple Rules for A Better Life.
Due to popular demand, we’ve gone crazy and decided to publish this third edition.
Its title is as imaginative as you’d expect. 😉
If you’ve read the first two, you won’t be surprised to learn that this post contains ten more things you can become better than average at just by practising a few simple rules.
Some are more niche than others, but we hope they all offer you value.
Simple Rules for Self-Development
“Be not afraid of growing slowly; be afraid only of standing still.”
It feels good to make progress in life. For this reason, it’s wise to take an interest in developing different skills and taking on new challenges. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. To give yourself a helping hand, keep these three things in mind on your development journey:
1. Think big
It takes just as much energy to think big as it does to think small, so why not think big? And, if you think about it, setting big goals guarantees you’ll make solid progress even if you don’t achieve them.
So go big or go home.
2. Start small
Oops. It sounds like we’re contradicting ourselves already, but…
Whilst it's important to have big goals, you have to recognise that it takes time to achieve them. Rome wasn’t built in a day. So to prevent yourself from feeling overwhelmed, the best approach is to start small.
Baby steps it is then.
3. Begin today
Plenty of people fail to make progress in their lives because they spend too much time preparing and not enough time taking action. So go on, take a small action towards your big goal today. Your future self will be most grateful.
Or, to steal some words from Benjamin Franklin, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today”.
Simple Rules for Better Sleep
“I’m for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquillisers or a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.”
Getting enough shut-eye is fundamental because poor sleep leads to a host of issues including difficulty concentrating, low mood, lack of energy and health problems. Who wouldn’t be keen to avoid this list? Help yourself by using the following tips for a better night’s rest:
1. Make your bedroom dark
This is more than just switching off your lights! Darkness prompts the pineal gland to start producing melatonin which helps send you to sleep. Light causes the opposite. With this in mind, consider investing in blackout blinds and removing any light sources like mobile phones.
Pitch black is the colour you’re aiming for.
2. Stick to the same schedule
The body likes a consistent rhythm, so try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
Yes, even on the weekends. 🙄
3. Wind down an hour before
Avoid overstimulating your brain right before bedtime. This means you should stop watching TV or playing Candy Crush on your phone. Do some light stretching or meditation instead.
A bit of Gustav Holst at low volumes has also been known to do the trick.
Simple Rules for Designing Great Products
“Everything is designed. Few things are designed well.”
Ok, so not everyone will need to design a product, but the rules below also help when creating other things. Remember, everything is designed but not everything is designed well.
1. Make it useful
You’d be surprised how many useless designs there are out there. The Japanese have even made them an art form called Chindogu.
A pair of mini umbrellas to keep your shoes dry, Madam?
We’re sure you can come up with something more useful.
2. Keep it simple
The easier something is to use, the more likely someone will reuse it. You want people to use your designs more than once, don’t you?
3. Make it fun
Who doesn’t like having fun? If something is enjoyable to use, there’s a good chance that not only will people use it again but they will also tell others about it. So how can you make sure your design isn’t boring?
Simple Rules for Hiring People
“If nobody asked questions, then we would never learn anything.”
As you progress in your career, at some point, you will need to hire new team members. It’s a vital job that many employers don’t properly prepare for. To avoid making this mistake, consider the following before taking on someone new:
1. Listen carefully during the interview
You have one mouth but two ears. So once you’ve asked a question, switch your focus to what the interviewee is saying and listen attentively. You might miss something crucial if your attention is elsewhere.
2. Be clear about your hiring criteria
Having a checklist of what you’re looking for in a candidate will prevent you from making a hiring mistake.
And don’t be afraid of taking your time.
Airbnb spent five months interviewing people before they hired their first employee, and they only hired two people in their first year.
3. Pay them for a one-off project
Many candidates look good on paper and interview well but don't work out in practice. A final test worth running is paying them for a one-off project that shows how they think and operate.
Try before you buy, as they say.
Simple Rules for Advertising
“Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.”
The average person is bombarded with thousands of advertising messages a day. Just think how many notifications you receive on your phone, let alone outdoor billboards, radio, TV and other mediums.
Your brain would explode if it tried to pay attention to them all, so only the best ones make it through. Follow these tips to make sure your ads are among them:
1. Get noticed
This is the most important rule for obvious reasons.
Your advertising must be interesting enough for your intended audience to take notice of it. Don’t make it dull and just like everything else they’ve seen.
Add a cat on a bicycle if you must!
2. Inform
Now you have their attention, you need to tell your audience the relevant information. What is it they need to know? Make sure you use clear language and remove any irrelevant fluff.
3. Persuade
Finally, what can you say to convince them to take action? What is the problem your product solves for them so brilliantly? Which words will make your message the most persuasive?
If you’re looking for inspiration, have a go at trying to reverse engineer ads that have been effective in the past.
Simple Rules for Entrepreneurship
“I didn’t want to work a regular 9 to 5 job, so I started my own business. Now I work 24/7.”
Like most things worth doing in life, entrepreneurship is a mix of highs and lows.
You’re always thinking about your company, where it’s going, and how it’s getting on. Doing these three things will help you stay on track:
1. Have a clear vision
It’s hard to get to where you want to go if you don’t know the destination.
Being clear about what it is you're trying to achieve is therefore fundamental. You’ll find it’s tough to make decisions and motivate others if there is no clarity to your vision.
2. Think creatively
As an entrepreneur, you will have limited resources compared to established businesses.
Learn to see constraints as a challenge rather than an insurmountable barrier. You’ll soon realise that it’s your ability to think creatively that gives you an edge over your competition.
3. Be patient and persistent
There’s nothing success likes more than a patient and persistent person with a clear vision and an ability to think creatively.
Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster ride, but if you chip away at your goals and stay the course, you will get there in time.
Simple Rules for Managing Risk
“Risk is what’s left when you think you’ve thought of everything.”
Taking risks makes life interesting. It’s also a prerequisite for achieving success. However, some risks are greater than others, and many aren’t worth taking at all!
To make sure you stay on the right side of risk, keep the below in mind when making important decisions:
1. Don’t risk what you can’t afford to lose
Survival is the aim of the game, so don’t bet the farm.
Remember, every action in life carries risk, but placing your life savings on black is not the sort of risk you should be taking.
2. Think probabilistically
You will never have all the information available to make a perfect decision.
Thinks means you must think about the likelihood of something happening. Lighting a cigarette in the middle of a gunpowder factory is a bad idea regardless of whether you live to tell the tale.
3. Be aware of your mood when assessing risk
People make crazy decisions when they’re tired, hungry or in love.
Knowing this means it’s a good idea not to make important decisions when you're in one of these ‘hot’ emotional states. Remember the old adage, “Sleep on it.”
Simple Rules for Scaling a Business
“There are no straight lines in nature or business.”
Not everyone will need to scale a business, but you can apply the same principles to most jobs to free up time for the more important stuff.
Anyway, if you do need to scale your business, you will need to master the following:
1. Eliminate
Try to get rid of anything that uses resources for no benefit. For example, as a company grows, it creates lots of processes and procedures. Some of them are useful; the rest just hamper progress.
To use a gardening metaphor, do some pruning.
2. Automate
Don’t waste your time doing the same simple tasks repeatedly. Identify what they are and then find a way to automate them. After all, there’s an app for everything.
3. Delegate
You can’t do everything yourself. Nobody can.
As your business grows, you will need to get comfortable delegating increasing amounts of work to others. At some point, this will include outsourcing tasks to other companies.
Simple Rules for a Healthy Mindset
“The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind.”
Your mind has the power to make you or break you. That’s why it’s a good idea to work on it. Fortunately, the following rules will help you do just that:
1. Determine the difference between what you can and can’t control
This is the core idea of Stoicism.
Don’t waste time worrying about stuff like what other people think or what the weather is going to be like at the weekend.
Instead, focus your attention on the things within your control, like the steps you take towards your personal goals and what you’d like to eat for lunch.
2. Challenge your limiting beliefs
The lessons we learn from our parents and early life experiences create beliefs about how the world operates. Some of these thoughts can hold you back from achieving your potential.
Whilst it’s easy to use your past as an excuse, it’s more fulfilling to challenge and overcome these limiting beliefs.
3. Resist the urge to compare yourself with others
Everyone else seems to have their sh*t together.
Therefore, you need to make the mental shift from competing with others to competing with yourself.
In other words, judge your progress against your former self. It’s the only fair comparison you can make.
Simple Rules for Effective Research
“Research is what I’m doing when I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Before starting any project, it’s a good idea to do some research.
The internet has made this process easier than ever, but it’s also laid plenty of traps! To avoid falling into them, keep the below tips in mind when starting your next research project:
1. Go wide, then go deep
At the start of any research project, you need to explore broadly. Look at as many different sources as you can. Then, once you’ve gone wide, it’s time to go deep.
Get down those rabbit holes, my friend.
2. Keep an open mind
It’s tempting to look for answers reinforcing your existing beliefs about a topic. Resist the temptation to do so and instead keep an open mind to where your research may take you. You might be surprised by the conclusion.
3. Interrogate your sources
Use your critical thinking skills to assess the credibility of each information source.
Seek out alternative opinions and be wary of conflicting interests. Ask yourself questions like: Is this a reliable source? Is this person an expert in their field?
Remember, don’t take anything at face value and never put all your trust in a single source.
That’s it, folks. Whilst we still have your attention, what are your simple rules for life?
Please feel free to add your suggestions in the comments below.
