Everyone needs a set of rules to keep them on track. Everyone needs a guideline to check every once in a while to make sure they are headed the right direction.
God met with Moses to carve out 10. Secret agent Evan Smoak has his 10. Here are my 10 commandments of life:
1. Thou Shalt Have a Purpose
Having a purpose in life gives life purpose. Living without a purpose creates depression, discouragement, and doubt. Having a purpose is like being a ship at sea following the North Star. Living without a purpose is like being lost at sea.
Find your life purpose as quickly as possible and spend less time chasing things that don’t line up with that purpose.
2. Thou Shalt Be Good For Your Word
A person who isn’t good for their word probably isn’t good for much else either.
Honesty is your greatest alibi. When you are known for being an honest person people will give you the benefit of the doubt. Being a person of your word will vouch for you.
3. Thou Shalt Love People
Loving people means helping them at the expense of your own comfort. Love people at every opportunity. Especially children in need.
Life is death without love.
4. Thou Shalt Take Risks
Living a safe and comfortable life might be easier but history has never remembered anyone who lived a safe and comfortable life. Nothing wagered, nothing gained. Take a risk. At very least you’ll have a story to tell.
A safe life is a normal life. A normal life is death.
5. Thou Shalt Find God
Life is short. Eternity (if there is one) is long. It’s on you to examine for yourself the evidence for or against a higher power. Ignorance isn’t an excuse. Neither is laziness. Forever is a long time to be wrong.
Whether you determine there is or isn’t a higher power, act accordingly.
6. Thou Shalt Not Get Outworked
Someone somewhere wants the same thing you want, but who is willing to work harder for it?
Talent without hard work is as common and useless as good looks without a good soul.
7. Thou Shalt Not Be Bored
Life is too short to waste it being bored. There’s a big, big world out there full of interesting people with wonderful stories, go explore it.
8. Thou Shalt Not Be Comfortable
A comfortable life is for the other guy. The guy who doesn’t want to be remembered. The selfish guy who doesn’t give any of himself away. The boring guy. Don’t be that guy. Or girl.
9. Thou Shalt Not Be Afraid to Fail
The fear of failure is death. The fear of failing is crippling. But the fear of failure is an illusion.
Failure is opportunity (to try another way). Failure is learning (what doesn’t work). And failure is freedom (from fear of failure).
In the end which of these people will succeed: The person who fears failure? Or the person who uses failure as motivation?
10. Thou Shalt Not Live For Yourself
A selfish life is a small life. The person who focuses only on him or herself will find their world constricting and shrinking every day.
A selfless life is a big life. The person who lives for something bigger than him or herself will find their world expanding day after day.
