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Critical Review: “The 12 Rules of Life – An Antidote to Chaos” | InfoMoney

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The Twelve Rules of Life – a fluid and assertive dialogue about growth and leadership

By Mariana Oliveira Nascimento

“(…) Aim High. Watch. Fix what you can fix. Don't be arrogant like knowledge itself. Strive to be humble, because totalitarian pride manifests itself in intolerance, oppression, torture and death. He becomes aware of his own insufficiency – of his cowardice, malevolence, resentment and hatred. Consider the bloodthirsty part of your own spirit before you dare accuse another and try to fix the structure of the world. Perhaps the fault is not in the world. Maybe the fault is in you.” (PETERSON, Jordan)

12 Rules of Life: An Antidote to Chaos was written by Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Toronto. The work may seem like a self-help book, but it is much more than that: it is a personal leadership manual that combines psychology, anthropology, politics and religion in a fluid/assertive dialogue. Peterson strictly follows rule number 10 – be precise with what you say.

At the end of the second page of the preface, we already have an impactful sentence “the best rules basically don't restrict us; on the contrary, they facilitate our goals and help us to have a freer and fuller life”. It is impossible not to remember here the book Frederic Bastiat's Law, which, in short, says that the objective of all law must be to protect the individual guarantees that he defines as: integrity (life), liberty and property.

Therefore, the less (and more precise) the laws are, the fuller and freer a society is. This freedom stimulates both personal growth and entrepreneurship in a society: nothing better than clear rules and legal certainty for the development of a society.

Returning to the book's 12 rules, we have: (1) straight back, shoulders back; (2) take care of yourself as you would someone in your charge; (3) be friends with people who want the best for you; (4) compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who someone else is today; (5) don't let your kids do something that makes you dislike them; (6) get your house in perfect order before criticizing the world; (7) pursue what is meaningful, not what is convenient; (8) tell the truth, or at least don't lie; (9) assume that the person you're talking to might know something you don't; (10) be precise in what you say; (11) do not disturb children when they are skateboarding and (12) pet a cat on the street.

In this review, I will highlight the rules that caught my attention the most. I start with the 1st rule: “back straight, shoulders back”. In it, Peterson explains how physical posture and mental attitude can be crucial factors in dealing with life's circumstances. As an example, the author uses a study on the nervous system of lobsters.

Lobsters, considered common ancestors to man, have inhabited the planet for over 350 million years. They survive by the interaction of two neurotransmitters in the central nervous system: serotonin and octopamine. The higher the serotonin level, the greater the confidence, positive emotions and posture of the lobster, aspects that place it in a superior hierarchical position and increase its chances of winning combats and obtaining the best for its survival.

The winning lobster's confident posture keeps it in that winning loop, while the losing lobster with low neurotransmitter levels and hunched posture tends to stay in a negative loop. This mechanism is also present in the human nervous system. For Peterson, we need to pay attention to our posture, keeping it like the victorious lobster, acting that way with the people around him. Thus, you are more likely to believe in your own potential.

“Then pay attention to your posture. Stop being bending over and dragging yourself. Speak your mind. Present your desires as if you have a right to them – at least the same right as others. Walk with your head held high and look straight ahead. Dare to be dangerous. Encourage serotonin to flow fully through neural pathways thirsty for its calming influence.”

The 4th rule “compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today” shows something we sometimes forget: the focus should be on the individual and analyzing his own weaknesses. When we compare ourselves to the other, we lose focus on ourselves, the individual, the smallest minority on Earth, and we look at what the other has achieved, without knowing what the other needed to do to have that life, salary or job.

At this point, making a parallel with what Mises says in his work The Anticapitalist Mentality, it is likely that white-collar workers who are furious when they realize that many workers have better wages than theirs, fail in this rule. That's because the question that this white-collar worker should ask is: “what can I do to improve my salary?”, “is there any way to be more productive?”.

In this way, the individual starts to focus on something that he can change and, in the process, advances, instead of comparing himself to someone else. So always compare yourself to yourself in the past, not what someone else is today.

The richness of this book lies in providing the individual with clear rules for focusing on himself and on the value of constancy in his attitudes. Among the 12 rules, another very valuable one is rule 6 “leave your house in perfect order before criticizing the world”. Here, Peterson is precise: what's the point of wanting to change the world, your country's policy, or your company's rules if you can't even organize your room? The request here is simple: be consistent, ordering your life before wanting to change the world.

Finally, the last rule I'll mention is "assume the person you're talking to might know something you don't." In this chapter, Jordan Peterson brings out a need for the 21st century, to really hear what the other is saying. For the author, the best kind of conversation is like a “shared meditation”, where the dialogue actually takes place. As Peterson himself says, “Listening is paying attention. It's amazing what people tell you when you're willing to listen.”

Peterson's work can be on the self-help shelf and even be a self-help book. However, the book transcends the sphere of self-help. The proposed rules seek to encourage the internal protagonism of each one to be freer following these rules, after all, a promising future is the result of an efficient present.

At a recent IFL-SP dinner-debate, Ericsson Brasil president Eduardo Ricotta told associates “be CEOs of your own careers”. To this end, Peterson's work is a tool in this trajectory of leadership and freedom, as it focuses on the individual and his responsibility towards his reality.

Mariana Nascimento is communications director at IFL-SP and a lawyer. Bachelor of Laws from Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie and an LL.M. in Contracts by Insper

 

Source: Critical Review: “The 12 Rules of Life – An Antidote to Chaos” | InfoMoney