In 2007 the Italian police arrested Salvatore Lo Piccolo.
This guy was a real boss of the real Sicilian Mafia.
While they explored his house, they met what they thought they were their Official “10 Commandments” of their crew.
In other words: “If you want to be a good gangster, follow these 10 simple steps!”
- Nobody can present themselves directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
- Never look at the women of friends.
- Never seen with the police.
- Don’t go to Pubs and Clubs.
- Always being available for Cosa Nostra is a duty – even if your wife is about to give birth.
- Agreements must be absolutely respected.
- Women must be treated with respect.
- When asked for information, the answer must be the truth.
- Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or from other families.
- People who cannot be part of Cosa Nostra: anyone who has a close family member with the police, everyone with a dual family member in the family, anyone who behaves poorly and does not hold on to moral values.
These rules certainly do not deal with every decision that every gangster has to make every day, but they are rules that someone can learn, internalize and apply when they are in a precarious situation and not know for sure how to act.
The crowd is also not the only crew that has rules.
Old Samurai in Japan, had “bushido” aka “the way of the warrior.” 8 rules for their personal code of conduct:
- Justice (justice)
- Courage
- Benevolence (grace)
- Respect
- Honesty
- Honor
- Loyalty
- Self -control
Elsewhere, Knights had a ‘knight code’ in medieval Europe, which treated things as ‘protection of weak and poor, courtesy and respect, courage and military ability’.
Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator and his colleague soldiers always picked each other up with ‘strength and honor’.
In 300, Spartan soldiers managed to “come home with your shield, or on it.”
We have Rules for the Nerd Fitness -Rebellie at!
I raise these rules because we may not be mobsters, knights or samurai …
But I bet that adding some rules can help your life.
Rules can help us make decisions.
Life is complicated and our brains can talk to us in and out of different decisions.
However, if we have a rule, this enables us to make a clear choice instead of tormenting about it.
What is even more important. Once we can make a rule and then we don’t have to waste brain power or willpower later on every decision.
Here is a fast example:
Most successful popular diets are just a list of rules that people follow Let them eat fewer calories.
- Intermittering means “I only eat at 8 p.m.”. “
- The Paleo -Diet Means “I don’t eat anything that a caveman would not eat.”
- Vegan means “I don’t eat products that are derived from animals.”
I am not saying that one of these strategies above is better or worse than all others. I raise these heuristics because they have helped many and have been useful for many.
Every person can come up with a series of ambitious rules that help them increase their lives.
I’m sure “Fitness” rules that I usually follow:
I know that when I follow these rules: “The way of the nerd”, I have a pretty good chance of staying fit, to stay healthy and to feel good about myself.
I also have rules about interaction with the world and Be a good person:
These specific rules may not work for you, and that’s okay.
They are My rules.
Your rules must reflect your situation.
We respect the rules of others
Here is a nice hack: we may not like all the rules, but we tend to Respect the rules of other people:
Our colleague offers you a donut, and you say, “Ohhhh, I shouldn’t do that.” They may come back with “come on, live a little”, because they don’t want to be the only person who eats a donut …
But if you say: “I have a rule that I don’t eat donuts on weekdays”, then you have a hard rule that you follow, and your colleague will probably respect this.
Some people can refrain from certain foods or drinks for religious or personal reasons.
There is no reason why you can’t have any rules for damn reason you want!
What are your rules?
A good combination of ambitious, professional and cohabitation rules is a good place to start. Or oh well, just one of each!
Heck, even one for everyone can be a good place to start with.
These rules should be yours.
Here are some ideas to help you get started:
- At work “I do what I say I’m going to do, on schedule, or I tell my team prior to schedule if I need more time.”
- With friends: “I always send a letter of thank you after I have been invited by a friend for something”
- For Health: “I only drink alcohol on Friday evening and Saturday while watching University Football”
- For Sleep, “I only watch 1 episode of TV per night. I stop playing video games and switch off social media at 8 p.m. “
Start by writing down some ambitious rules and see how it feels.
I find more specific and pass/fail the rules, the greater the chance that you can follow them.
Rules that actually help you make the right long -term decision in difficult situations. You know, those situations in which your brain of your lizard says, “Eat the candy!” Or “Drink the drink” or “Stay late and doomscroll for 7 hours!”
Rules can also be preventive, so that you do not end up in the first place in those situations.
We can use technology, app blocking software or recruit our friends to help us remain faithful to our rules.
Once you have identified your rules and actually speak up, keep track of how you do it with them.
If you notice that you are breaking your rules more often than not, it might be time to adjust the rules, to think deeply or to collaborate with a therapist to start finding out Why And What’s going on.
Remember that failure can be a hell of a teacher, and leaning the fear is a great chance to learn that the Leslene is trying to teach us.
-Steve