My Tennis coach this year read these to us every once in a while (one at a time), and then gave us the sheet at the end of the season. I'm pretty darn sure he wrote them, as he's an older guy, and the writing sounds a lot like him, but I'm not positive. Anyway, I think they're good rules to live by, so I thought I would post them here so everybody can see.
25 Tips for an Enjoyable Life
For Individual Betterment:
Tell the Truth: Integrity is the most important attribute a person can have. Without truthfulness in everything, there can be no trust with others and without trust there can be no meaningful relationships.
The Glass is Half Full: For some the glass is always half empty and these people are not very happy or productive. Be positive and look for the bright side of every circumstance.
Set Goals/Write Them Down: People that write down goals for their life accomplish significantly ore than people without goals and people with goals who don’t write them down. Dream; set big goals for life; and write them down at least once a year. Then develop plans to accomplish these goals and the results will be amazing.
Protect Your Reputation: This doesn’t mean doing whatever will make a person likeable. It means always doing and saying what is right in every situation. A person’s reputation is his most important asses; so protect it.
Read a Lot/ Get as Much Education as Possible: Commit to be a life long learner. Learning and reading about all types of subjects can be fun and will broaden a person’s perspective and will help him appreciate and participate in life to the fullest, as well as increasing a person’s abilities and earning power.
Use Good Taste and Common Decency: Society’s standards are very low with common usage of vulgarity, crude and rude language, tasteless humor, and disrespectful talk about others, particularly our leaders. Raise the bar individually by displaying good taste and decency in everything one does and says. If it is hurtful it is probably not tasteful.
Don’t Say, Do, Write, or E-Mail Anything Everyone Can’t Hear, See, or Read: If a person is uncomfortable with everyone reading, seeing or hearing what he writes, does or says- don’t do it- because it is likely that everyone can see, hear or read whatever a person does. Even if others don’t, if a person expects this to happen, he will be on his guard and will never be embarrassed or potentially ruined by a flippant or casual comment, a stupid act, or a thoughtless written document or correspondence.
Make a Difference in the World: Everyone should ask themselves, “What can I do to make a difference in the world?” There are many ways, even daily, to make a positive difference in the life of someone else. It could be something sensational like finding the cure for cancer, but it might be something more common, but none the less important, like teaching or helping a child. If a person can combine his talents and interests in making a difference, the effect can be magnified.
Little Things a Person Does Can Make a Big Difference: Like the “Butterfly Effect” of a butterfly flapping his wings in one part of the world that can contribute in starting a hurricane in another part, - the little things a person does can make a big difference. Small acts of kindness to help others can potentially change the life of someone which may be more significant than seemingly highly publicized acts of the rich and famous. Helping and influencing in a positive way another person could have a multiplier effect as the person helped, helps someone else.
You’ve Got to Believe: “the only thing that really matters is faith expressing itself as love”. –Galatians 5:6 Belief in a higher power changes a person’s whole perspective on life for many reasons. One of which is because a believer recognizes that God knows everything we do. Studies show that people with strong faith have happier and more content lives.
What Brings True Happiness? (The Concept comes from a Reader’s Digest I read many years ago.) Paradoxically, true happiness does not come from non-stop fun but from meaningful endeavors in life that take time, discipline, hard work, and sometimes even pain. Happiness comes from accomplishing something meaningful, whatever it might be, like building lasting relationships, getting a degree, building a career, raising kids, ect. A person knows when he has really stretched his talents and abilities to the limit for something he really wants accomplish when it makes him feel good about the result.
One Step at a Time: Really meaningful goals for a person’s life can seem overwhelming because they can seem insurmountably difficult, like climbing a giant mountain. In actual practice, if a person takes the giant task or mountain one step a time- a mountain can be climbed. Break down meaningful goals into small segments that can be done sequentially, keep at it and over time great things can be accomplished.
Compound Interests- The Eighth Wonder of the World: Saving regularly early in life and investing wisely can turn small amounts of money in huge dollars that can make a person wealthy. The discipline and regularity of saving and investing early is more important than the amount saved.
Practice Makes Perfect: When a person practices something repeatedly; a speech, sport, musical instrument, or vocation, they can get very good at it. The body and mind, with practice, can work together to make seemingly difficult skill seem natural and easy. If a person appreciates this, particularly at a young age, he could excel at most anything.
Play to Win: The emphasis in what a person does in life should not be on winning at all costs, but rather play to win; which means maximum preparation and effort for whatever a person does. Focusing on the winning or the end result sometimes actually makes failure more likely. A person will win sometimes and lose sometimes, but if he always plays to win he will never be disappointed or second guess himself with the what-ifs and “If I had only done this or that.”
Never Surrender: (From a song by that name.) Never give up. Perseverance and tenaciousness many times separate success and failure.
Exercise a Lot: Without health, a person doesn’t have much. To stay young and healthy, don’t smoke, don’t drink excessively, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and exercise. Vigorous exercise has several positive benefits, including: producing endorphins that make a person feel happier, helps one from becoming overweight, as well as helping a person sleep soundly and feel vibrant and energetic.
Make Every Day a Best Day: (From the movie “City Slickers”.) Every day be enthusiastic, smile, be happy, and try to make it the best day possible. Approaching each day like this, although not easy, makes the accumulation of lots of good days into a happy life. Don’t let the negativity of others steal the joy from life.
25 Tips for an Enjoyable Life
For Individual Betterment:
Tell the Truth: Integrity is the most important attribute a person can have. Without truthfulness in everything, there can be no trust with others and without trust there can be no meaningful relationships.
The Glass is Half Full: For some the glass is always half empty and these people are not very happy or productive. Be positive and look for the bright side of every circumstance.
Set Goals/Write Them Down: People that write down goals for their life accomplish significantly ore than people without goals and people with goals who don’t write them down. Dream; set big goals for life; and write them down at least once a year. Then develop plans to accomplish these goals and the results will be amazing.
Protect Your Reputation: This doesn’t mean doing whatever will make a person likeable. It means always doing and saying what is right in every situation. A person’s reputation is his most important asses; so protect it.
Read a Lot/ Get as Much Education as Possible: Commit to be a life long learner. Learning and reading about all types of subjects can be fun and will broaden a person’s perspective and will help him appreciate and participate in life to the fullest, as well as increasing a person’s abilities and earning power.
Use Good Taste and Common Decency: Society’s standards are very low with common usage of vulgarity, crude and rude language, tasteless humor, and disrespectful talk about others, particularly our leaders. Raise the bar individually by displaying good taste and decency in everything one does and says. If it is hurtful it is probably not tasteful.
Don’t Say, Do, Write, or E-Mail Anything Everyone Can’t Hear, See, or Read: If a person is uncomfortable with everyone reading, seeing or hearing what he writes, does or says- don’t do it- because it is likely that everyone can see, hear or read whatever a person does. Even if others don’t, if a person expects this to happen, he will be on his guard and will never be embarrassed or potentially ruined by a flippant or casual comment, a stupid act, or a thoughtless written document or correspondence.
Make a Difference in the World: Everyone should ask themselves, “What can I do to make a difference in the world?” There are many ways, even daily, to make a positive difference in the life of someone else. It could be something sensational like finding the cure for cancer, but it might be something more common, but none the less important, like teaching or helping a child. If a person can combine his talents and interests in making a difference, the effect can be magnified.
Little Things a Person Does Can Make a Big Difference: Like the “Butterfly Effect” of a butterfly flapping his wings in one part of the world that can contribute in starting a hurricane in another part, - the little things a person does can make a big difference. Small acts of kindness to help others can potentially change the life of someone which may be more significant than seemingly highly publicized acts of the rich and famous. Helping and influencing in a positive way another person could have a multiplier effect as the person helped, helps someone else.
You’ve Got to Believe: “the only thing that really matters is faith expressing itself as love”. –Galatians 5:6 Belief in a higher power changes a person’s whole perspective on life for many reasons. One of which is because a believer recognizes that God knows everything we do. Studies show that people with strong faith have happier and more content lives.
What Brings True Happiness? (The Concept comes from a Reader’s Digest I read many years ago.) Paradoxically, true happiness does not come from non-stop fun but from meaningful endeavors in life that take time, discipline, hard work, and sometimes even pain. Happiness comes from accomplishing something meaningful, whatever it might be, like building lasting relationships, getting a degree, building a career, raising kids, ect. A person knows when he has really stretched his talents and abilities to the limit for something he really wants accomplish when it makes him feel good about the result.
One Step at a Time: Really meaningful goals for a person’s life can seem overwhelming because they can seem insurmountably difficult, like climbing a giant mountain. In actual practice, if a person takes the giant task or mountain one step a time- a mountain can be climbed. Break down meaningful goals into small segments that can be done sequentially, keep at it and over time great things can be accomplished.
Compound Interests- The Eighth Wonder of the World: Saving regularly early in life and investing wisely can turn small amounts of money in huge dollars that can make a person wealthy. The discipline and regularity of saving and investing early is more important than the amount saved.
Practice Makes Perfect: When a person practices something repeatedly; a speech, sport, musical instrument, or vocation, they can get very good at it. The body and mind, with practice, can work together to make seemingly difficult skill seem natural and easy. If a person appreciates this, particularly at a young age, he could excel at most anything.
Play to Win: The emphasis in what a person does in life should not be on winning at all costs, but rather play to win; which means maximum preparation and effort for whatever a person does. Focusing on the winning or the end result sometimes actually makes failure more likely. A person will win sometimes and lose sometimes, but if he always plays to win he will never be disappointed or second guess himself with the what-ifs and “If I had only done this or that.”
Never Surrender: (From a song by that name.) Never give up. Perseverance and tenaciousness many times separate success and failure.
Exercise a Lot: Without health, a person doesn’t have much. To stay young and healthy, don’t smoke, don’t drink excessively, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and exercise. Vigorous exercise has several positive benefits, including: producing endorphins that make a person feel happier, helps one from becoming overweight, as well as helping a person sleep soundly and feel vibrant and energetic.
Make Every Day a Best Day: (From the movie “City Slickers”.) Every day be enthusiastic, smile, be happy, and try to make it the best day possible. Approaching each day like this, although not easy, makes the accumulation of lots of good days into a happy life. Don’t let the negativity of others steal the joy from life.
