At the beginning of the new year, our team decided to get back to our Book Club!

We all have been watching Jordan B. Peterson's interviews and talking about him and his thoughts a lot during our lunch breaks. If you are not familiar with him, Jordan B. Peterson is one of the most controversial authors and well-known psychology professors with a huge following. He has been criticised and hated as much as loved and worshipped by many people around the world.

Funny thing - without even discussing it we all started to read his book.

The book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos  has become a runaway bestseller in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Germany and France, “making him the public intellectual du jour” - as The Guardian says.

Although this book has been criticised for saying things to people that are obvious and cliche, the author himself during Joe Rogan Podcast said that even though 12 rules for life are obvious, the problem is that people do not know why they are obvious and how to explain them, therefore they stop following them.

That is why we thought that this book could be an important source for our readers. So we decided to share our key takeaways from the book. We hope we will inspire you to read the book as well and share your thoughts with us. Or maybe you already did it?

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today

These days when we practically live on Instagram or Facebook, everything looks so over-exposed it seems like everyone knows exactly what they are doing. Everyone is super successful, rich, fit, has perfect relationships. They spend their days with new projects, fascinating ideas and their vacations drinking Pina Coladas in Barbados. Meanwhile, you are just an average person with your daily struggles and failures… It is so hard to not start being harsh on yourself or even worst - pity yourself.

That is why you have to always stay mindful, know your goals and mind your own business. The only competitor you have is you.

Tell the truth or at least don't lie

Untruth, however well meant, can produce unintended consequences. That is why whenever you do not know what to do or what to say - simply tell the truth. Yes, it is hard and especially to the other person (or in some cases to you) but eventually, the truth sets us free. Meanwhile, life in a lie is a straight way to anxiety, self-destruction and unhealthy relationships.

Set your house In perfect order before you criticise the world

There are many moments in our daily life when we simply feel lost. Don’t know where to start, how to start and when we will be finished. Peterson suggests that if you are in a moment of lost one thing you can surely do is take some time and look at your room, find 3 things that you can fix, make better, improve and do it. It applies in any given situation of anxiety.

When there is a mess in your head - there is a mess at your work table. Start by simply cleaning it. Then - clean your desktop, find the needed folders, rearrange them and so on. Your outside world reflects your inside and visa versa.

Failure is the price you have to pay for standards

Mediocracy has consequences: both real and harsh. That is why standards are necessary. The winner doesn’t take it all, but they take the most. That is why the bottom is not a good place to be. Because what is left for you?

Thousands of people, goes through life saying to themselves the same cliche: “There are always going to be people better than me so why try?”. Talking yourself into irrelevance is not a profound and critique thing to do.

Set your standard high and compare yourself to what you were yesterday, not what someone else is today. And do not be afraid to fail because that is the only way you will crystallise the important things.

Do not overvalue what you don’t have and don’t undervalue what you have

You can't win at everything. Unless you don’t do anything new, difficult or challenging.

You have to be thankful for your failures as well - because they kept you growing. There is some real utility in gratitude. It is a good protection form victimhood. We all know that playing a victim part in life is a straight way to self-destruction.

Have you read this book? If so - let us know your takeaways on it!

Cover photo credits: GQ magazine