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What Are the 12 Rules for Life?



Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is, if not one of the greatest thinkers of our time, one of the more notorious. He's a professor of psychology from the University of Toronto, currently on a world tour for his book: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which is based off a popular response he gave on a Quora question about the most valuable things everyone should know.


Years later, after becoming a Youtube sensation, he decided to refine his answer into 12 rules which can help anybody lead a happy, wholesome life. The book is currently a #1 Amazon national and international bestseller, so at the very least, his ideas are being heard around the world.

Since his explanations tend to delve deep into Jungian psychology, Nietzsche's philosophy and biblical references, we're going through each of them in a simple, more digestible manner.

1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back


This one's pretty straightforward. Posture can affect biological processes that can alter your brain chemistry, and having a proper posture that exudes confidence will, in turn, create more confidence. The literal definition of fake it 'till you make it.

This is seen in lobsters, whose brain chemistry will actually change before their posture does to reflect their success in life, primates, whose confidence is based on their position in the dominance heirarchy, and other animals.


2: Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping


Be honest with yourself, if anybody spoke to you the way you speak to yourself, would you be friends with that person? That's the point Peterson makes. If you treat yourself like garbage, that's where your quality of life is going, but if you treat yourself like someone you're taking care of, then your life will be all the better for it.

3: Make friends with people who want the best for you


This one sounds like a no-brainer, but many times you'll find yourself surrounded by people who either don't care if you succeed, or will actively loathe you for it. If you can remove yourself from anybody who brings that sort of toxicity in your life, the path to your objectives will have less bumps and could even be sped up. 



4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today


Nobody gets to have the same starting point as anybody else. Someone could be born smarter, richer, stronger, faster, or with a severe disadvantage. Better to be in a competition with yourself, for that's the only true metric that you're going on, rather than face the extreme pressure of competing against society as a whole.



5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them


Pretty straightforward. Don't let your children be brats, or you'll grow to loathe them. Although you could justify this with an "Honor thy parents" sort of idea, the fact of the matter is that making your kids behave is just good parenting, otherwise you unleash people nobody will want to coexist with.


6: Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world


With the advent of social media, it's pretty easy to make yourself heard where, five or ten years ago, you would've just been ignored. Just because you can, though, doesn't mean you should. If you want to tell the leaders of the world how to run it, who are you to have any say if you can't put your own life in order?

Start by cleaning your room. Get your finances in order. Try and make some progress in one area of your life at a time, and when you've defeated the chaos in your life, then you can be a critic.


7: Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How. - Nietzsche

Life is suffering. You can ask anybody, and unless they're incapable of feeling any sort of pain, there's something at the very least bothering them.

What do you chase? What is your mission? If you're living, then you're suffering, so you might as well live for some sort of meaning, even if it's meaning that you create yourself, unless you're looking to suffer in vain.


8: Tell the truth – or, at least, don't lie


Only humans can tell the difference between right and wrong. An animal may act upon its impulses, but it does so out of a drive that it can't control. It also can't lie, because, barring language, they have no concept of morality. You do.

Usually, one lie leads to another, and before you know it, you're carrying the burden of a thousand lies and you have to keep track of them. You don't need to keep track of the truth, though. Try it out.



9: Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't


I know that I know nothing. - Socrates

We like to think we're pretty special, but the truth is that, even if we were one in a million, there would still be seven thousand people just as good as us. Whenever someone else is speaking, just pay attention. You never know what you might learn.


10: Be precise in your speech


In this day and age, everything is recorded and you can be so easily scrutinized. Say what you mean, and mean what you say, or you can run into trouble. When you're not being specific about your issues, be it with a partner, family member, friend, or anybody else that you spend a lot of time with, then these unspoken grievances will come back to bite you in the ass. It's best to plug the hole before the dam breaks.


11: Do not bother children when they are skateboarding


The popular trend in parenting right now is hovering over your children like a helicopter. Take away their freedom, and you take away their childhood. They're at the best age to take risks. They're bouncy. The only way to develop any competence is to allow yourself to fail every once in a while, and kids are at the perfect age where their failure will have little to no consequence.


12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street


You can be strong, but you can't be strong for every moment of your waking life. Sometimes, you need to let go, and when the suffering of life overwhelms you, you may run into a cat or a dog on the street, and if it's not attacking you, why not pet it? It'll ease the pain of existence.

If you're nimble, you can pet a lobster.

If you follow these rules, then you'll find life to be a little more bearable. It won't be instantly solved, mind, that implies you've been following the rules for a while and made a habit out of it, but it's a start. So go out there, find your purpose, battle chaos, be the embodiment of truth as much as you can, and pet an animal if it won't hurt you. And go clean your room, bucko.

Further reading:


Peterson's own reading list


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