Book description
A personal code for living your life your way.
From a very young age you've been inundated with other people's well-intended rules. Whether from teachers, friends or parents, these helpful principles and bits of gracious advice are supposed to help you get on in life. The trouble is, many of these rules aren't true (at least not all the time) and yet they have a major influence on your life whether you realise it or not.
How do you sort the gold dust from the sawdust?
In The Rules to Break, international bestselling author Richard Templar exposes the most common phoney rules, explains what's wrong with them and then offers a refreshing alternative and a new way of thinking. Above all, he'll help you master the ability to truly think for yourself, so than you can follow a path that you've chosen, rather than blindly following someone else's.
It's your life. Why not live it your way?
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Author’s acknowledgements
- Publisher’s acknowledgements
- 1. “Success is a good job earning lots of money” - Rule 1: Success is what you say it is
- 2. “Some people are just born lucky” - Rule 2: Don’t envy other people
- 3. “You need the right qualifications” - Rule 3: Exams aren’t the be all and end all
- 4. “Your parents are always right” - Rule 4: Don’t expect your parents to be perfect
- 5. “Your parents are responsible for how you turn out” - Rule 5: Give your parents a break
- 6. “The world is against you” - Rule 6: You’re responsible for your own life
- 7. “We all have an absolute right to be respected” - Rule 7: There’s a balance between the right to respect, and tolerance
- 8. “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your family” - Rule 8: Your siblings should be your best friends for life
- 9. “Teacher knows best” - Rule 9: Getting on at school is not the same as getting on in life
- 10. “Have something to say for yourself” - Rule 10: If you find it hard to talk, try listening
- 11. “Some people are just difficult” - Rule 11: No one chooses to be difficult without a reason
- 12. “Don’t waste your time on people who aren’t worth it” - Rule 12: Suffer fools gladly. Well, suffer them, anyway
- 13. “You can’t be cheerful if you’re in pain” - Rule 13: Pain doesn’t have to make you miserable
- 14. “Good work speaks for itself” - Rule 14: No one at work will know how good you are unless you tell them
- 15. “Do what it takes to get what you want” - Rule 15: Don’t emotionally blackmail people
- 16. “A place for everything, and everything in its place” - Rule 16: It’s not morally superior to be tidy
- 17. “It matters what other people think” - Rule 17: Don’t live for other people’s approval
- 18. “Give as good as you get” - Rule 18: You get what you give
- 19. “Stick with your own kind” - Rule 19: Your friends don’t all need to be like you
- 20. “The best things in life are free” - Rule 20: Everything worth having hurts
- 21. “You can change people” - Rule 21: Don’t try to change people
- 22. “It’s where you’re going that matters, not where you came from” - Rule 22: Be proud of your roots
- 23. “Friends are for life” - Rule 23: Friends come and go
- 24. “Mistakes are a bad thing” - Rule 24: Mistakes can be good
- 25. “Be a friend to everybody” - Rule 25: You don’t have to like everyone
- 26. “…and everybody will be your friend” - Rule 26: …and not everyone will like you
- 27. “If you don’t like it, tough” - Rule 27: Remember you have a choice
- 28. “You need to get your chores over with” - Rule 28: Life’s all about the little things
- 29. “Stay true to your dreams” - Rule 29: Priorities change over the years
- 30. “People have a right to know” - Rule 30: Know how to keep a secret
- 31. “Face your fears” - Rule 31: Replace the bad thoughts
- 32. “Make a New Year’s resolution every year” - Rule 32: You can’t change habits unless you want to
- 33. “Respect the elderly” - Rule 33: Respect everyone
- 34. “Look after number one” - Rule 34: Helping other people makes you feel good about yourself
- 35. “If you’re in the firing line, keep your head down” - Rule 35: They can’t walk all over you unless you’re lying down
- 36. “Just ignore the bullies” - Rule 36: Don’t let ’em bully you
- 37. “Think on your feet” - Rule 37: Be in control
- 38. “What you do is more important than why you do it” - Rule 38: Be honest with yourself
- 39. “You can judge a book by its cover” - Rule 39: Everyone has a backstory
- 40. “Put the past behind you” - Rule 40: You have to deal with your stuff before you can get on with your life
- 41. “What about me?” - Rule 41: It’s not all about you
- 42. “Just once won’t hurt” - Rule 42: Don’t let bad habits get a foot in the door
- 43. “Be spontaneous” - Rule 43: Listen to the voices in your head
- 44. “Take one step at a time” - Rule 44: If you want big things to change, you have to make big changes
- 45. “The best people will be there for you for life” - Rule 45: People come and go, and it’s OK
- 46. “Enjoy yourself while you’re young” - Rule 46: Your body is for life
- 47. “Borrowing is OK so long as you can pay it back” - Rule 47: Don’t get into debt
- 48. “Be generous” - Rule 48: Never lend money unless you’re prepared to write it off
- 49. “Believe you’re the best” - Rule 49: Know your real worth
- 50. “Don’t allow people to make you feel bad” - Rule 50: The only thing you can control is you
- 51. “Some people just get to you” - Rule 51: No one can make you feel anything
- 52. “You can’t help how you feel” - Rule 52: You feel what you think
- 53. “Actions speak louder than words” - Rule 53: Don’t take anyone for granted
- 54. “Avoid unnecessary displays of emotion” - Rule 54: Say thank you out loud
- 55. “The Internet makes you anonymous” - Rule 55: The Rules don’t stop online
- 56. “Always seek to improve yourself” - Rule 56: Accept your shortcomings
- 57. “Strive for perfection” - Rule 57: Perfection can be a handicap
- 58. “You are the product of your genes” - Rule 58: You are the sum of your experiences (so make them good)
- 59. “Tomorrow is another day” - Rule 59: How you spend your day is how you spend your life
- 60. “There aren’t enough hours in the day” - Rule 60: Know your limitations
- 61. “Always get off on the right foot from the start” - Rule 61: Bide your time to make a good impression
- 62. “Confident people know where they’re going” - Rule 62: Everyone else is as lost as you
- 63. “Stand out from the crowd” - Rule 63: There’s a fine line between being ubercool and being a total prat
- 64. “Appearances matter” - Rule 64: Be happy with the way you look
- 65. “It’s just a drop in the ocean” - Rule 65: The insignificant is important
- 66. “The job comes first” - Rule 66: Don’t mistake your career for your life
- 67. “Get it all out in the open” - Rule 67: Avoid conflict
- 68. “If you know you’re in the right, don’t back down” - Rule 68: Don’t be afraid of compromise
- 69. “Give as good as you get” - Rule 69: Keep the moral high ground
- 70. “It’s good to let your feelings out” - Rule 70: Don’t trample on other people’s emotions
- 71. “No one is perfect” - Rule 71: Be on the side of the angels, not the beasts
- 72. “Meet your deadlines” - Rule 72: Keep ahead of deadlines
- 73. “Give good advice” - Rule 73: Don’t give advice
- 74. “Let people know when you’re right” - Rule 74: Never say ‘I told you so’
- 75. “Stick to what you’re good at” - Rule 75: Stretch yourself
- 76. “You’ve a right to be treated fairly” - Rule 76: Stop expecting life to be fair
- 77. “The more you learn about a subject, the more of an expert you become” - Rule 77: The more you know, the more you don’t
- 78. “You can’t learn anything from a fool” - Rule 78: Learn from other people’s mistakes
- 79. “If you’re going to do something, do it properly” - Rule 79: You don’t have to jump in the deep end
- 80. “Stick with what you know” - Rule 80: Step out of your comfort zone
- 81. “People will judge you by what you own” - Rule 81: Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses
- 82. “Hide your mistakes” - Rule 82: Remember you could be wrong – someone has to be
- 83. “Live in the present” - Rule 83: Keep perspective
- 84. “Know what you want” - Rule 84: You don’t have to know what you want
- 85. “Guilt tells you where you’re going wrong” - Rule 85: Don’t do guilt
- 86. “Someone will make it better” - Rule 86: Pick yourself up (no one else will do it for you)
- 87. “Think through your problems” - Rule 87: Thinking hard doesn’t always help
- 88. “Narrow down your options” - Rule 88: Look at all the options
- 89. “Stick to a plan” - Rule 89: Life is unpredictable
- 90. “Trust no one” - Rule 90: Trust everyone
- 91. “Trust everyone” - Rule 91: Trust no one
- 92. “Sometimes you need a good moan” - Rule 92: There are people who moan, and people who just get on with it
- 93. “Don’t sacrifice yourself for a relationship” - Rule 93: It’s the compromises that make relationships worth having
- 94. “Feelings should be rational” - Rule 94: Feelings aren’t right or wrong – they just are
- 95. “Eat, drink and be merry…” - Rule 95: Stay alive
- 96. “I want doesn’t get” - Rule 96: Ask for what you want
- 97. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” - Rule 97: Look up
- 98. “Find yourself a safe job” - Rule 98: Follow your passion
- 99. “Protect your property” - Rule 99: People are more important than things
- 100. “You can’t change horses in midstream” - Rule 100: It’s never too late to start following the real Rules
- Imprint
Product information
- Title: The Rules to Break, 2nd Edition
- Author(s):
- Release date: August 2014
- Publisher(s): Pearson Life
- ISBN: 9781292064741
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