35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Helpful or not, depends!, April 26, 2006
This review is from: The Rules of Life: A Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, More Successful Life (Paperback)
This book of 100 so called Rules of Life is divided into four sections:-
Rule 1-50 Rules for you
Rule 51-66 Partnership Rules
Rule 67-92 Social Rules
Rule 93-100 World Rules
Section 1 is okay, so most of my favorite passages below are copied from it. However, the other sections are quite so so.
Quoted from pg xiii, coincidentally my comment of this book, "What you will find is good old fashioned common sense. There is nothing here you dont already know. This book isnt a revelation. It's a reminder. It reminds you that the Rules of Life are universal, obvious, simple. Do them. They work."
In short, if you are a regular reader of self help book, I doubt whether you will find it interesting. If not, please check some of my favorite "Rules" for your consideration as Amazon had not posted its content page.
10. Only dead fish swim with the stream (and that's what life is, what it's meant to be; a series of struggles and lulls
11. Be the last to raise your voice (shout here, argument weak)
12. No fear, no surprise, no hesitation, no doubt
14. I wish I'd done that, and I will (the world is divided into those who look at others enviously and those who look at others as a motivational tool
15. Count to ten, or recite God Bless me (once I have collected my wits and calm down, I can find an appropriate response)
17. Failing is fine. Aiming for second best isnt.
19. Dont dwell in the past (Live here. Live now. Live in this moment)
28. Life can be a bit like advertising (and you dont know which bits of effort comes the best reward)
44. Staying young (trying out new tastes, new places to go, new styles)
47. Only the good feel guilty
50. If you cant say anything nice, dont say anything at all.
56. Go that extra step in trying to please them
87. Get involved (rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty but having a real experience along the way)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Reminder: common sense works..., June 18, 2007
This review is from: The Rules of Life: A Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, More Successful Life (Paperback)
One only needs to do a superficial search of the Blogsphere to find literally hundreds of self improvement sites, showing us how to become better, healthier, organized individuals - improved workers, lovers, husbands, wives, bosses, and employees - kinder, giving and generally much happier human beings. Most of these SI blogs are very well written and informative, some containing a few gems. In this international bestseller, (certainly a treasure trove of gems) Templar has distilled a vast amount of information for self improvement into simple, easy to read and follow `rules' to live our lives in the most optimum way possible. The author asks us to join the ranks of "...those that follow the rules everyday." These people, he says,
"... choose to do certain things every day of [their] lives. Some things we do will make us unhappy and some things we choose to do will make us happier. By observing people, I have reasoned that if we follow a few basic `Rules of Life' we tend to get more done, shrug off adversity more easily, get more out of life and spread a little happiness around us as we go."
The key to Templar's `rules', I believe, is to recognize bad habits and create new habits to replace them, thereby contributing productively to our health and general well being. Our decisions no matter how inconsequential or seemingly important, and our on-going behaviour towards others and particularly ourselves, determine our general happiness. In the end, however, it all comes down to a matter of choice. It is really about how we choose to respond to the world.
One can hear echoes of Existentialism and Stoicism in this little manual - gleaning aspects of both philosophies, constructing a simple guide for the modern human being to change conditions in life.
As Templar states in his introduction, "What you find is good old-common sense. There is nothing new here you don't already know. This book is not a revelation, but a reminder." How true this is after I read the book to find basic actions and attitudes that somehow have been lost over time, forgotten, so simple yet appearing so hard when remembered, but essential to our best possible feelings and actions in our day to day lives.
The book is structured into general chapters on a specific theme, such as "Rules for You", "Family and Friend Rules" and "Social Rules" to then break down these themes into basic `rules' to practice, turn into habits, and hopefully live by. For example, my personal favourites:
Accept yourself.
Be on the side of the angels, not the beasts.
Be the last to raise your voice.
Change what you can change, let go of the rest.
Aim to be the very best at everything you do - not second best.
Have a belief system.
Dress like today is important.
Have dignity.
Only the good feel guilty.
Treat your partner better than your best friend.
Again, common sense advice that one has heard before, but has somehow forgotten, or has simply not considered putting into practice.
I like this book because the chapters are only two pages in length and written well. Templar's sense of humour, however, can be a little lame, but he means well. Other than this minor quibble, this book is a little treasure.
A firm 4 stars.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book, January 10, 2007
This review is from: The Rules of Life: A Personal Code for Living a Better, Happier, More Successful Life (Paperback)
This book is fantastic!!! It helped me a lot in understanding what things are worth doing in life, how time should be spent, and how to treat myself and others. Most of the rules written in the book are of common sense, but since we tend to lose this valuable knowledge during adulthood, is good to be reminded of them.
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