1) HONESTY
When you lie, you split in two. One part of you is the lie, the other part is the truth.
It’s hard enough for me to live one life, let alone two.
Honesty is the key to being the hero of your story.
2) HEALTH
Eat. Move. Sleep.
If you are sick in bed, you can’t save the world. You can’t even save yourself.
3) LOVE
I only spend time with people I love and who love me and want the best for me.
We’re all a wisp of smoke in the lifetime of the universe. But if you want to create a spark, be with the people who light you on fire.
Exercise: Imagine everyone you see on the street is your daughter. Feel the unconditional love toward that person.
Exercise: Keep in touch today (just drop a note or text) with one person you love.
Nobody is self-made. We are all love-made.
4) CREATIVITY
Every day do something creative. Even something small.
I love nothing and nobody more than my children.
But my children are also the ideas I create and nourish and some of them grow up and thrive.
And some of them combine and create greater ideas and greater impact. And it gives me so much pleasure to see these creative beasts, and their descendants, grow up and live.
Be fruitful and multiply.
5) SURRENDER
I can’t control you. I can’t control the weather. I can’t control most events in my life.
Anger is often fear-clothed. Don’t change others. Find out what is happening inside yourself.
We are a bag of energy. If you try to control things, you waste energy. Only spend time, thoughts, emotions, on the things you have a choice over.
Surrender to the rest with love and gratitude.
Then I have the time and energy to change myself.
That becomes the pebble dropped in the middle of the ocean, whose waves ripple out to every distant shore.
6) FAILURE IS A CHOICE
When I work hard at something and fail, I have a choice.
Be in despair, cry, and give up.
Change the word “failure” to “experiment”. Study the experiment from every angle. Learn from it.
Learning equals improvement.
1% improvement a day means you improve 38 times in a year.
1% more despair a day means in a year you become 1/30 of the person you once were.
That’s your choice.
7) SOMETIMES DO NOTHING
When you don’t know what to do. Do nothing. We live in this hustle society where we feel we have to do do do.
Sit and observe. Read and learn. Say hi to people. Thank people. Stay in touch. Do the dishes so your partner doesn’t have to.
Be good rather than Do bad.
8) DON’T OUTSOURCE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM
Sometimes I fall in love. And the other person becomes my mirror.
What does she think of me today? I hope it’s good!
It’s hard enough for someone to handle their own self-esteem, let alone mine.
This applies to everything.
Don’t let your life worth be your net worth. Don’t let your life worth be your number of social media followers. Don’t let your life worth be the validation of a boss, or a friend, or any gatekeeper. You validate you. @jaltucher (Click to Tweet!)
9) OVER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER
Some people under promise and over deliver. When you under promise (in the hopes of surprising with overdelivery) you are lying (see #1).
When you over promise, you challenge yourself. You scare yourself. (“Can I do this?”.) You get out of your comfort zone.
Challenging yourself is how you grow.
And over delivering is how the people around you grow.
And if you fail, learn from it.
10) RELAX AND LOOK AT THE ROOFTOPS
So many times I’m nervous and anxious. So I do this: I relax my jaw. I relax my shoulders. I relax my eyes and forehead. I try to slow the tension I feel in my chest.
I stop looking at the ground, lost in the nightmare. I look toward the sky.
I look at the rooftops.
In the history of the human race, rooftops are new. Architects often have their greatest fun when they get to the top of the building and put in their gargoyles and gardens and their personal inspirations.
Look at the rooftops. And relax. One day the sun will obliterate all you are looking at.
Love yourself right now and enjoy all the gifts this universe has given you this moment. This is gratitude.
When I follow these 10 Commandments even for a short while, I feel like I have new powers. Superpowers.
I feel like I have become the hero of my unique story instead of the side character of society’s soap operas.
At least, this is what I try to do.
Sometimes I don’t follow my commandments. But I try to. Please please please let me follow them.
I want to fly.
James Altucher is the author of the bestselling book Choose Yourself, editor at The Altucher Report and host of the popular podcast, The James Altucher Show, which takes you beyond business and entrepreneurship by exploring what it means to be human and achieve well-being in a world that is increasingly complicated. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
Image courtesy of Ben White.
