Rules to live by – an open draft

I read a blog post about 12 rules to live by the other day. Several of the rules seemed really good, so I have started pondering this idea a bit. Are there some hard and fast rules that I should implement in my life in order to make me into a better more productive person? Survey says…. yes!

But, unlike the author of the aforementioned blog post, I haven’t had the time and fortitude to really think through what my rules should be, so I’m going to think as I type and sort of create a working first draft here. Here are the rules that I’m thinking about implementing in my life.

  1. Go to bed early and get up early. More and more I’m convinced that the most productive people have this habit. Interestingly enough, I’m a night owl by nature, but I still find that there is great value and productivity to be harnessed by rising really early in the morning and attacking the day.
  2. Check email at set times, not continuously. I already have my phone set to not send me push email so that I don’t get constantly distracted by my phone buzzing all day and night. But I tend to leave my email up as I work at my computer. That is equally distracting and its time for it to go!
  3. Focus on what matters rather than what entertains. What happened on TV last night doesn’t matter. What I can learn and then use to impart to others matters. Spending time with my wife matters. Loving on my kids matters. I will focus on what matters far more than I focus on what entertains.
  4. Help people for no reason but to be of help. Its easy to help when there is a later payoff, but when there is not, its a smidge harder. Its worth the effort because people are worth it.
  5. Commit to learning and growing, always. I will not become someone that doesn’t want to learn more. I choose to be a life-long learner, trying to become better tomorrow than I am today.
  6. Plan for my time rather than letting my time be planned for me. What I mean by this is that I will be more proactive about what I’m doing, what calls I’m taking, what tasks I’m engaging in, and less reactive to whatever “fire” is burning at the moment. My time is short and has value, I will treat it that way and not let it get sucked away by small menial tasks that try to take over.

I think that’s all I have for now. Probably more coming soon though as this just hits a few topics. I think this post is likely to get edited and added to a bit. What do you think? Anything that I should add?

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