15 Rules For An Easy Life

• Most people struggle with making decisions to be more productive and make sense of their lives.
• Utilize these rules to get out of tricky situations and enhance your productivity.
• Apply the tools discussed to your life starting today.
• Self-image plays a crucial role in success; consider investing in your personal development.
• These rules can apply not just to business, but also to personal situations.

Most people struggle with making decisions when it comes to how to be more productive and make sense of their lives. This one's for you.

Okay, for years we've used these rules to get out of weird situations, to make the most of our time, and to get an edge over others. We recommend you go through this list with us and write down some notes so you can apply it to your life starting today. Once you've got the tools you need, you're ready to begin. Welcome to Alux, the place where future billionaires come to get inspired.

Number one: the 11031 investing Rule. Now this first one is a real estate investment rule, but you know the concept can be applied to other similar situations. This is probably the most well-known rule between professional property investors. If you're going to buy any property, you need to know this in order to make a smart investment. An investor must look at at least 100 properties to find 10 potential deals that can be profitable. From those 10 potential deals, an investor will submit aggressive but fair offers on three of them. Of these three offers submitted, one will be accepted, but that one property is going to make you a lot of money. And then repeat. This is the foundation you want to build on. If you rush things, you're going to lose money.

Number two: you cut, I pick. Let's say your kids are fighting over the last piece of cake in the fridge, and both of them claim it to be rightfully theirs. Here’s how this rule works: one person cuts, and the other person gets to pick which half they want to keep. This amazing rule gives the power to both sides. It's one of those smart tricks that maximizes the return and minimizes the risk simultaneously. Because of this, both parties win, and the result is usually the perfect fair cut. This works great in business and in life.

Number three: the 100 hour Rule. Now this is one of those rules that should put clarity on what you should prioritize in life. It boils down to a big and simple question: Imagine you have three buckets: what you're good at, what you're average at, and what you're bad at. If you had 100 hours to invest in these buckets, how would you split the hours? Take a moment to make this decision. Would you split it evenly 33, 33, 33? Maybe a little bit more in other buckets? Here’s how some of the most successful and smart people answered this: they would either put 80 hours into what they were really good at, with the rest split equally, or 100 hours into what they’re good at and zero for the rest. You see, spending time on something you're bad at has zero benefits and is usually a great waste of time. The only exception is if you're really passionate about that thing and you're doing it just because it makes you happy.

Number four: the 10 101 Rule. This is another decision-making rule that works great. It’s frequently used by people like Warren Buffett and other billionaire investors to figure out what to do. It's a rule that forces perspective. So when stressing over something, just think about it like this: "How will I feel about this in 10 minutes, 10 months, 10 years?" After getting some perspective, you’ll notice how very few things are actually worth stressing over. A choice might feel good in the moment but have negative effects over the medium or long term, and the reverse is also possible. Any important decision you have to make, run it by the rule of 10, and you’ll start making better calls pretty much immediately.

Number five: the one thing that wins the day. Okay, picture this—a random Tuesday afternoon and you haven’t done anything productive yet. The clock is ticking, you’re hungry, and you start making plans in your head to justify this already lost day. Maybe you wake up tomorrow morning really early to catch up? Yeah, sounds like it could work, but we all know you won’t. This rule is for saving days that seem to be lost. Just do one thing that will win the day. Just one thing—maybe it’s a quick meeting to set something in place, maybe it's an important email you still haven’t sent, or maybe it’s a decision you have to make so other things can start moving. There's always something that has a decent impact. Better yet, figure this out in the morning when you wake up. Just ask yourself, "What’s the one thing that if I do it today, I can call it a win?" And then just do that. Everything else is a bonus. It’s the kind of action that has a snowball effect. You make yourself get up in the morning and do the thing you have to do, so treat yourself with respect.

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Number six: the two-minute Rule. Now this is the most straightforward rule on this list. The two-minute rule goes like this: If it only takes 2 minutes to do it, just do it. Never postpone or neglect activities that can be solved immediately. There’s something about our levels of stress that affect our productivity when we know we’ve still got more things to do. Also, getting small wins like this gives us a feeling of productivity and momentum that only builds up throughout the day. That two-minute rule is the perfect cure for procrastination. If you don't feel like doing a task, just force yourself to do it for 2 minutes. Then you can give yourself a break if you really need to. But for 2 minutes, really give your full attention; it can't be that hard to focus for 2 minutes, right? Studies show that getting started is actually the hardest part of a task, and if you can get over that slump, you're a lot more likely to finalize what you've started.

Number seven: the 8020 Rule. 20% of your actions account for 80% of the results. This has been one of the most valuable things that we’ve learned in business and in life. 20% of the workers produce 80% of the results. 20% of customers create 80% of Revenue. 20% of the bugs cause 80% of the crashes. 20% of the features cause 80% of the usage. 20% of the words in a language make up 80% of conversations, and so on. So find what is your 20% and focus heavily on that.

Number eight: the left hand rule. Now this one’s more of a social life hack than a business rule, but if you’re at any kind of event where you’re drinking, always hold a glass or cup in your left hand. Let’s say you’re grabbing a beer and suddenly you're introduced to someone new. What do you do? You go in to shake their hand, right? But if your hand has been on that cold, wet glass, it’s going to feel kind of weird and slimy. People will not remember your name, but they will remember how you made them feel, and clammy hands are a no-no in any setting.

Number nine: the apology rule. Look, okay, you're going to make mistakes in life—everybody does—and there's a way for you to move forward right away. A real effective apology has three parts: One, you acknowledge you were wrong and how it affected the person or outcome; Two, you say you’re sorry; Three, you describe what you’re going to do to make it right or make sure it never happens again. Don't excuse or explain. If you've made a mistake, just own up to it. There’s no negotiating yourself from the truth, and there’s more to gain by following this rule than by getting away with a mistake. Your entire life will change once you start using it. It’s also valuable with employees; instead of a simple sorry, this helps both parties improve their relationship by building trust and solving the situation.

Number ten: the Golden Rule. This has been the most valuable piece of advice the world has ever come up with. It’s the foundation of being a decent human being: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat other people the way that you would want to be treated. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Treat others nicely, and don’t just be... The Golden Rule is also a great resource to build up good Karma. Help others, and people will help you back. If you’re feeling stuck in life, maybe you start by helping others. Who knows where this will lead you?

Rule number 11: the money equals time Rule. Now you’ve probably heard the saying that time is money more times than you can count, right? But here’s a little trick: Think of money in terms of hours. Let’s say you make $10 an hour, and you want to buy a coat that’s $150. Is that coat really worth 15 hours of work? By breaking down the price of something you want into working hours, you value things differently. You know how hard you work for your money, and this is why you can better understand the expense you’re making. Is it worth spending a week of your life to get a new outfit? Is that holiday really worth 3 months of working that it took to get that money? You’ll find that some things no longer make sense while others become an obvious yes. It’s up to you to figure out how much you earn per hour or per day, then factor that into every time you make a purchase.

Number 12: the odd time Rule. Now if you’ve got friends who are never on time, this rule is for you. If you schedule a meeting for 3:47 instead of 4:00, the likelihood of people being late to that reference hour drops significantly. And to make sure everybody knows that meeting will start at 3:47, do it. If you begin to start your meetings at these odd times, people pay more attention to the exact time they have to be there. Just give this a try and see what happens.

Number 13: the 10,000 hour rule. Now this rule is considered the key to success in any field. It's simply a matter of practicing a specific task that can usually be accomplished within 20 hours of work per week for 10 years. It doesn’t matter when you start or how old you are. Put 10,000 hours into something, and you’ll be an expert in that field. Some of the best performers in the world base their results on this rule. Now just think about what your thing is, what you consider yourself good at, and how much time you’ve put toward that craft or skill. Do the math and then figure out how much more you have to invest in order to master it.

Number 14: the stay poor be rich rule. The more time a person is willing to live like they’re poor, despite not having to, the richer they become. The main difference between those who will keep on being rich and those who lose wealth is their ability to control their lifestyle spending. We’ve seen people make a lot of money, blow through most of it, and end up back where they started. Now we know it’s been hard, and you’ve only just started seeing progress with your business or venture, but don’t go ahead and blow through all your money. Okay? Don’t buy an expensive car, don’t buy the expensive home. Instead, keep your head down, pretend that money isn’t there, and invest it. Putting this money to work for you will be a lot more valuable to your lifestyle than spending it right now ever could be.

Number 15: the coin rule. If you’re a massive overthinker and have trouble picking an option, this one’s for you. Simply put, assign each option to each side of a coin and flip it. But here’s the real magic: pay attention to what happens while that coin is in the air. In that fleeting moment, you’ll notice yourself hoping the coin will land on a particular side, and that’s your answer. The coin rule works because it bypasses overthinking and forces you to tap directly into your intuition. Try it out right now and notice how your mood suddenly changes while that coin is in the air.

And lastly, for those of you who always stick with us until the end, we’ve got a Bonus: number 16, always do the right thing. Now that’s probably the most important rule, right? Every day, every month, and every year, you’ve got choices to make. You choose what to focus on, how to spend your time, how to treat other people, and how to treat yourself. In all of these, there’s always a right thing to do. It might not be the easiest, the quickest, or the most convenient option all the time, but deep down, you know it’s the correct choice. This could mean choosing honesty when lying would be easier, being kind when anger is tempting, or disciplined when all you want to do is lay in bed. These decisions feel small in the moment, but in the long run, they ultimately define who you are as a person.

We hope you learned something valuable here today, Aluxer. We'll see you back here next time. Until then, take care, my friend.