Jordan's Rules

Inspired by my favorite books and (little) life experience, this is a running list of aphorisms that are core to who I am and how I live my life. I update this list monthly. Bookmark this URL in your browser to check for updates.

1. Sleep on decisions. Get distance. Elevate perspective.
   
2. Say less. Don’t over-explain.
3. People under stress lose their self-control and expose character flaws.
   Someone might say “oh I wasn’t myself yesterday” but in fact they were showing more of themselves than ever. You had the opportunity to see them with their polite social mask off.
   There's no way to tell until the heat is on, but pay extra attention in those moments.
4. Tell stories in present tense, not past tense. More interesting that way.
5. A special PSA for TSA: pls stop making us take our laptops out of our bags at the airport.
6. Hiring = sales
   Money still changes hands, just in a different way. Instead of selling products + services, sell culture and vision.
7. Read the Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene and thank me later.
8. As A Man Thinketh is a transformative 24-page book written in 1903 that you can purchase for $3 on Amazon. Dollar for dollar, best book out there.
9. It’s proven that people who believe they are lucky are actually luckier. As you think, you are.
10. Your thoughts effect your physical health. Feel that pressure on your heart when you have an anxious thought? Your heart can only take so much of that… For the sake of your health, be kind to yourself.
11. Your thoughts create your reality.
12. Life is a paradox; It’s incredibly short, a flash. But also also incomprehensibly long, an eternity.
13. Life isn’t black and white. So, avoid speaking in extremes, using words like “always” or “never” or “all” etc. instead, the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. And often, both extremes are true. Remember, life is a paradox.
14. Classic rock is the best kind of music.
15. Ignore politics.
16. When you buy cheap, you usually end up having to buy twice. Expensive often = better.
17. Things weigh us down and make us less mobile. Own fewer things to be freer.
18. Materialism is the antithesis of freedom because when you buy something expensive, now you have to work to pay for it. Owning that expensive car isn’t freedom, in fact quite the opposite; slavery.
19. Give a smile to get a smile. To be interesting, be interested. You get what you give.
20. Smile first.
21. View the way others treat you as largely flowing from your own attitude towards other people and all of life; something you can control.
22. Stop asking “how are you?” unless you are genuinely interested in the reply.
23. Be kind to your future self. Do the hard things today to make your tomorrows easier.
24. Make eye contact.
25. If you raise a concern you better bring a solution to the table as well.
26. Love others. Even those that may disrespect you. Appreciate the human nature in them anyway.
27. Remember to breathe.
28. Your reputation precedes you.
29. Do drugs… intentionally. Use drugs to go deep on learning about yourself and others. Then, let yourself graduate from the use of them. You don’t need to do drugs forever.
30. Empathy is a state of mind. Empathy is patience. The patience to actually listen, watch, pay attention to body language. Look beyond words.
31. Even if the lips are silent, often the fingers chatter.
32. The face doesn’t lie. You can get a picture of someone’s mindset and life just by looking at their face. Do they have a lot of forehead wrinkles, wrinkles from a furrowed brow, drooping eyes? Or do they have a more pleasant exterior evidenced by smile lines and the like?
33. Often, the loudest people on social media, boasting about their successes, are the least successful. Working is more productive than talking. Skip the talk, forgo the attention, keep working on your craft. You don’t need the attention where you’re going.
34. We always give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. But we attribute the mistakes of others to character flaws. Give others the same benefit of the doubt you give yourself. But also know that people never do anything just once.
35. Seek simple ways to serve the group. Do things “below your pay grade.” Nobody is above picking up trash, for example.
36. Feel confident in your ability to bounce back from failures and maintain your sense of destiny to succeed.
37. Remain connected to who you were as a child.
38. Wherever you go, there you are. If you aren’t happy here, odds are you won’t be happy there either. Like a tree, grow where you are.
39. How you wake up matters. Waking up via light stimulation is infinitely better than a jarring alarm.
40. No phone for the first 30-60 minutes of the day. Start by reading and/or exercising.
41. If you think people don’t like you, it’s probably because you don’t like people.
42. Date your spouse. Minimums: 1 date night per week, 30 minutes of conversation per day, time together on the weekends.
43. Everyone in the world is unique. We’re also all the same.
44. You teach people how to treat you.
45. If you ask for little, you’ll get little.
46. Believe so firmly in your own greatness that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
47. Don’t let failures harden you nor lower your self-confidence.
48. How you carry yourself reflects what you think of yourself.
49. Slow down to go fast. Don’t burn out by overworking yourself. Slow down.
50. Stop regretting things. Surrender to the past and put it behind you.
51. Focus on inputs.
52. Don’t drop a dollar trying to pick up a few pennies.
    
53. Don't cry over spilled milk.
54. Money is a means.