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2. Give your power over to no one.
3. Going into the unknown is how you expand what is known.
4. Get a library card.
5. Spend more time around people that both challenge and respect you.
7. Fight for what matters.
8. There is a method that works. Find it.
10. Drink your coffee black.
11. Never let anyone photoshop a picture of you. It creates a false sense of self-confidence.
12. Read more. Especially things you disagree with.
13. Get used to feeling stupid. It’s a sign of growth.
14. It’s easy for people to talk a good game, so watch how they behave instead.
16. Find things that inspire you and pursue them, even if there’s no money in it.
17. Starve if you have to, for as long as you need to.
18. Survive on a little just to prove you can do it.
19. Get one big success at an early age. It’ll help build your confidence for bigger things.
21. Be comfortable with abandonment, even of parts of your identity.
24. Keep people around you that will tell you the truth.
25. Genius gets you nowhere. Execution is everything.
27. Meet new people as often as possible. Offer to help them.
28. Don’t discriminate. Connect anyone in your network to anyone else.
31. Get a passport. Fill it up with stamps no one has ever seen.
33. Read biographies. It’s like having access to the best mentors in history.
34. Go to bed, and wake up, early. No one will bother you, letting your best work emerge.
35. Scare yourself a little bit every day. It will expand your inner map.
37. Don’t buy a lot of stuff, and only buy the stuff you really love.
39. Twitter followers don’t keep you warm at night.
40. Be as useful as you can in as many circumstances as possible.
42. Repeat people’s names when you meet them.
43. Turn internet access off your phone. Wifi is fine.
44. Get a deck of Oblique Strategies cards. Use them.
45. Make your home a place where you feel safe.
46. Take people up on bets. Make more bets yourself.
47. Take cold showers. They’re better than coffee.
49. Make everything either shorter, or longer, than it needs to be.
50. Always remember those who helped you. Deliver two or three times as much value back.
51. But also, help people who have never helped you, and can’t.
52. When you know that pain is temporary, it affects all of your decisions.
54. Commit to things, regularly, that are far beyond your ability.
55. Meet with friends more often than you think you have to.
57. Your stories are both more and less interesting than you think.
59. Walk more.
63. Consider avoiding school. Go to lots of conferences instead.
65. Apologize more than you need to.
66. Find out if there will be food there.
67. A good haircut changes everything.
69. Say no to projects you don’t care about.
70. Do things that are uncool. Later on, they usually end up becoming cool anyway.
71. Find your voice.
73. Learn to play chess, go, and bridge. They’ll keep you from going senile.
74. Learn about the Tetrapharmakos.
75. Find ways to cheat the system– just don’t cheat people.
76. Be like Jesus, not like his followers. (This applies to all of them.)
78. Examine your jealousy. You’ll learn a lot about yourself.
80. Address small problems. They will become big problems.
82. Yes, there is such a thing as bad press.
84. If the internet is the best thing in your life, you have a serious problem.
85. Give away your best work for free.
87. Actually write on your blog. Nobody cares if it’s hard.
88. Download Freedom. Use it for an hour every day.
89. Join a gym. Lift the heaviest you can. (This applies to girls too.)
90. Do some freewriting. It helps you think things through.
91. When you’re having supper with rich people, pick up the cheque.
93. If you see someone who needs help, stop asking yourself if they need help. Instead, just help.
95. The best conversations are had side by side, not one in front of the other.
97. Do what’s most important first thing in the morning, before you check email.
98. Everyone feels like they’re not good enough. It’s not just you.
99. Courage is a learned skill.
Filed by Julien at 9:00 am under tips
I help people lead more productive, awesome lives— one day at a time. This is my blog. If you like it, please subscribe below.
Re. #10: Have you never had Bulletproof Coffee?
http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/
But, yes, I do agree with the sentiment that most of us should suck it up and get rid of the creamers and sweeteners. But I’m sure many of those people would flinch that the prospect of starting their day with a few hundred calories of butter and coconut fat.
Julien
If I could live my life according to 10% of these it would make a massive difference. One of my problems is to take too much on and achieve F*** all. I need to focus on less. A great list to kick me in the solar plexus and remind me what is important in life.
Julian
Amen, Julien! I am the same way… My mind likes to work on as many things at once as it can- but i can only multitask so much! I am focusing on less. By starting to practice a morning meditation getting what I need done before all else (computer, distractions). I’ve found I eat more intentionally. <3
keep trying Julian!
101 Reread this article at least once a month :)
You’re absolutely right! This is gold! Will do!
Love this! (And, I agree with Gavrev Eugen!)
Man it’s hard giving up the internet on the phone. Any tips? My contract is up and I’m planning on either going to a cheaper service with internet or totally prepaid without. I just can’t get the motivation to get rid of it.
Sad thinking that just a couple of years ago, I didn’t even know what it was.
Hi Lee!
The easiest way to do it is get an old phone (pre-y2k) they don’t do internet well (if at all). All they do is all you need in a cell/mobile; make & take calls & texts, no more/no less! BOOM! problem = solved! ;) you’re welcome!
Cool!
Lee, just a suggestion if you would be interested in cutting the mobile net usage:
consider a gophone with at&t. your service packages are optional every month and the SIMs are compatible with any at&t phone (including smart phones). for example, i use an iphone with a gophone SIM, however, i only gain internet access when i am within a wifi range.
some would say this is a useless way to go about having an iphone? but it’s those who are hopelessly and inseparably attached to the net who see it as useless… is this not the epitome of the path we are trying to avoid in the first place? i’m satisfied as a part-time internet user.
101. Question everything
Correct.
Number 6. Remain skeptical forever. is about the same, eh?
Looking forward to knowing about you & what you are up too.
Ha! I wrote a list of 100 as well and was gonna publish it on my blog today but then decided to publish it tomorrow. You beat me. My 100 are better anyway ;) But yours are pretty good too :P
I will print this out and hang it at my desk! It’s awesome! Thanks
Love your list! Number 96 is my favorite! I write about hearing loss in children so it’s nice to see someone mention it!
I like the one about the tattoo. Learning to live with regret? That speaks to me.
Julien, remember meeting on the plane heading back from SXSW last year? I do, makes me smile to remember the moment.
Know what else makes me smile? This post. You rock my world just when it needs a jolt. Thank you.
P.S. #41 is my personal mantra: Show up. Hope we show up in the same place again soon.
lol to tip #100 … went and did that the other day on my way back from London. Definitely.
I recently published 40 things I thought women should know and have by the time they are 40. This reminds me of my list and even has some similar entries.
This is inspiring. Thanks for publishing it.
No matter how much I try to repeat people names… I forget them. But I can eat more protein.
I practice remembering names on the servers at restaurants. I get the reward of being able to flag them down easily and also the awe of my companions!
Tip to help you remember peoples’ names: when you hear the name for the first time, think of a celebrity with the same first name. Then imagine the person you’re meeting having their picture taken with the celebrity. More than one celebrity with that same name works even better. :0)
Love it
Wonderful post, certainly puts things into perspective!
Thanks so much for creating it.
I love your Blog, it brings a smile to my face.
What a pile of hokey crap. Get a tattoo? Are you seriously handing that out as advice to live by? Get over yourself man. There are about 10 decent things on this list. Clearly you have a 101st rule, “don’t edit yourself”.
I disagree about Tattoo advice. It’s stupid.
I consider the aphorisms boring.
But I read the post till the end. Quite interesting.
Anyone that says I need to get a tattoo does not have my best interests in mind. What are you thinking?
Someone once told me, “Don’t have no regrets.” I like the way he put it.
LOL no. 11 my photo on my blog is photoshopped! I’m in the process of changing it! I hate aging in a culture where youth is worshipped. Just being honest here.
Ha! I subscribe to The Bold Life – good to see you on this site. I am with you about our youth worshiping culture…I am finding it difficult to accept my age (57!)
No. 4 was my favorite – I read voraciously.
Great Post.
Sincerely, thanks!
Words to live by. Literally!
Excellent tips! I learned a few things too! Thanks for compiling this list. I might need to start my own…
Have a child – it will keep you looking at the world with a new perspective.
Don’t expect too much from your fellow human’s – Remember we are all still primates
Trust, I stopped expecting anything at all from my fellow “human’s” a long time ago.
Although I suspect some species of primate could handle apostrophes better than many of my fellow humans.
Eat more protein ? What about global warming? ;)
No one said to slaughter more animals; there is plenty of protein available in the plant world.
Love your blog!
#101 Be willing to go to jail for justice! http://youtu.be/UROREYJQmfA
Exactly Judy. :)
#101 Never say anything to your kids that you wouldn’t want them to say to themselves or to their future kids.
Very nice! And too often forgotten.
Wow some of those are the worst advice. I can’t even finish the list. #2 is absolutely horrible. You will not succeed in anything worthwhile if you follow #2.
It depends on your interpretation of success
Yeah, it should have said “maintain a shallow existance, never look up, and for gods sake NEVER leave your house!”
You realize if several important historical figures didn’t “explore the unknown” we wouldn’t have important medicines, or discover things like electricity, science, and technology? How else did man learn to fly?
Any and all these things required some brave soul to go into an unknown area. If it wasn’t for them, the earth might still be flat.
So yeah, Johnny, sorry, but you are wrong.
101: Question everything
102: it’s a marathon not a sprint
so very true
Fantastic list. Most of these lists I find unoriginal and trite. Yours was anything but. I actually read the whole thing and clicked most of the links. Thank you for your contribution to civilization.
41 is good. An overlooked secret to success.
Great point Jeff. I have seen this played out all year
Excellent tips to live by. And, of course, the best reply was by Gavrev Eugene, “101 Reread this article at least once a month.”
Great post! It’s like the anti-thesis to the Bucket List.
Really enjoyed the list and the comments!
Looks good
oh man , this is good stuff!
print it – fridge it
I would pay for this list as an iPhone app. It’s an incredible list Julien!
That’s a great idea! It would be nice to refer back to it in an easily accessible way.
#44 (Oblique) has an iPhone app. Check it out.
Great Stuff I really liked it! Especially the work out and lift the heaviest weight! especially girls comment! Let’s gooooo! Gotta live life to the fullest.
Ben Winters
CEO http://www.TeachMeAwesome.Com
(Teaching you Awesome 1 day at a time)
My fav is 16. Find things that inspire you and pursue them, even if there’s no money in it.
I’d add – Find another way to get it done without money.
Love is all that really counts.
Give more than you recieve.
101: learn an instrument
You might not want to advise people to eat more protein until you know anything about nutrition. Kthx.
Don’t print this list out. Copy it down by hand. You will appreciate it more and maybe actually try something from the list.
I’ll add one: start a family.
Frieds, goals and life skills are important, but nothing is better than starting a family. Trust me.
Absolutely. And if you have kids, read to them every day.
Julien, this is a magnificent list, filled with things it has taken me 40+ years to appreciate, and many I’m still working on. Thank you. I’m going to read it to my son.
And a nice, unexpected finish with Iceland. I’ve been three times for the Airwaves festival (I wrote the festival blog in ’02 and ’03). It’s a magical place.
Never say anything online that you wouldn’t say to the person’s face.
What a refreshing read first thing on a Sunday morning. Love this list and would add one thing – Never go to someone’s home empty handed for dinner. Bring some token of appreciation.
This is great site. I forget if you mention volunteering outside of helping people. Volunteerism is a great way to grow, acquire new skills and gain wonderful perspectives on life. This is a great site. Keep up the wonderful work
Ingrid Exner
In order to get the benefits from #1, we must be able to distinguish true wisdom and insight from the plentiful bs that is freely given to us.
I’ll add two.
Learn to be alone and enjoy your own company.
Learn to be truly silent (not just while meditating). Learn to enjoy silence in everyday life. No music, no email, no internet, no TV.
Brilliant!…
Your 100 list of things is one of the best ever websites if seen, really impressed how much each one hits home…and I don’t say that too often. keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your blog
Smile at everyone to make them at ease
Yes!! Great list!! I love so many of them (still not so sure about the tattoo LOL)
And indeed… ICELAND is amazing! By all means go!! I went 2 years ago and had a wonderful time!! Can’t wait to go back!
Thanks for the inspiring comments, I love hearing about what people have learned in their life
The best conversations are had side by side, not one in front of the other.
Great post as always. What would you suggest to not pass off as a “know it all”? Sometimes people ask questions, and I answer them. Not to show off or anything, just because I know the answer and have no problem helping. Is it how you answer? Is it better to sometimes not answering even if you know the answer? Just wondering. :)
I never have problems with self confidence. I quietly let people know they are wrong. And no.77 is ridiculous, there is no woman outside of my capture zone, just ones I don’t want :)
Hi Julien, this is a very motivating post. You put a lot on the minds of people to view life in ways that they never thought of. I enjoyed reading it. Much success! ~I’m a Vita Woman
Love the list! Thanks Julian. Are you on Twitter?
Yup! I’m @julien
#53. Get a tattoo. Don’t worry about regret.
You don’t need a tattoo, allow yourself time and you will get permanent scars, some as a result of playing others of fighting (and not only on your skin).Every experience leaves a permanet mark on which we build on, and possibly move on.
Love this! Great way to think about things in life.
I liked it!!! Look forward to reading more from you.
I clicked on a link to subscribe to your blog (loved the list!) but ended up on this page instead, so put my info just above. Thanks!
Really good stuff here, a lot of which I found I already incorporate or at least think about. But sometimes for whatever reason, people need to hear these things again from someone else in order to believe it. I have been thinking about making a wall of inspiration and good thinking at my house and this stuff is great. My hope is maybe to inspire people that drop by, family, wife included, etc. to be just a little better and or just feel a little better. The ultimate goal is to have everyone in my life have a bit more positivity in theirs, making everyone’s life improve.
Great collection of tips on how to live life!
Brilliant indeed.
I just did #83 (the first part). That felt good. Now, to follow through.
Keep the list coming these are great… Join a movement is my favorite!
This blog is by far one of my favorites, lets just say I am under 20 years old, but I know that you, my good man, are a genius. I love how blunt you are with your topics!! Your honest and you really know what you want from life. Please keep uploading more topics, it’s well worth it.
More than half of these tips are 99 percent impossible for me to achieve. And on everyone of those tips, I hit my desk or chair very angrily. All this did to me was affirm to me that I am not a happy, or successful person. The internet is the best thing in my life right now, there is something seriously wrong with me.
Utter Nonsense. This is one of the reasons Blogs should not exist.
Hmmm… I agree with each of these, though I don’t think I’ll be getting a tattoo.
Though – ya never really know….
Great list
Thanks for posting this list.
It inspired me.
Number 13 is my favorite.
Keep the list coming!
this is fucking gay
Just changed my twitter bio.
Wonderfully wise!
Nice list. Some unique and refreshing ones there as well. Thanks!
Thanks for telling me about Freedom! I had never heard about it. Also, it lead me to find Cold Turkey, which blocks you from social media sites while using Windows. So awesome! Thanks so much!!
Thank you for a great article Julien! :) I realized my good parents have already taught me to do most of those on your list, but I’ll work on the rest from now on. Thanks a lot! =)
Thanks for compiling this list. it made me look at the world with fresh new eyes.
106. Use less different fonts in the same article.
This is exactly what I needed to read today, thank you!
49. Do bungee cords apply to this one aswell?
What tattoo should I get?
So I love the little random ones throughout, but the best one was #100. I’ve been wondering if I should go for a while and then BAMMMMMM it hits me. Thanks mate!
This is great!
Loved the last one, did not expect it! But, you know. It probably has something to do with the fact that I’m Icelandic. :)
GREAT list! Absolutely love it!
Great list! Very detailed. Grazie!
Shouldn’t #5 say “spend time around people WHO challenge you”? Not “that challenge you”. Same with #24.
It is the best thing I’ve read in a long time; I read a lot :)
Beauty at best here. Thanks for taking the time…
Love the list – I really want to quit my horrible job – but what to do after wards when my pockets are empty!!!
sure some of these things are “inspiring” but really? why do you care how i take my coffee? and the average american gets all the protein they need for an entire week everyday and it turns straight to fat.
Katie. Read the science.
Don’t forget: be good to yourself! I guess that is encapsulated in a few of the entries, at least.
Merci, Julien. Je me souviens!
Wonderful Life Tips, one more for you, “work smarter, not harder”
65. Apologize more than you need to.
Apologies deminishes people.
Only apologize when u’ve really fucked up.
Awesome needing facts for good human-beings. Something very difficult to accept and something already have in our lives. Thanks for your thinking and collection of awesome thoughts.
Thank you, Julian
Awesome post..
“26. If given the choice of equity or cash, always take cash.” I think the Facebook mural painter might beg to differ….
I have been in Iceland for a year studying, totally worth it! and totally changes my live.
Great blog!