To win at life, define what winning means for you, know your values, compare yourself only to your past self, set clear goals and build discipline, then keep pushing past your comfort zone and never quit the game. Life is a complicated game with moving pieces, changing rules and no rulebook. The team behind the video asked what traits are shared by hundreds of people they believe are winning at it, and found several rules that guide their behavior.
This first part covers the essentials. Part 2 goes more tactical, with mindsets you can use right away.
Watch the full video here, or skip to the breakdown below.
The 15 rules at a glance
- Have a vision for your life (0:37)
- Know who you are and what you stand for (2:01)
- Compare only to your yesterday self (2:47)
- Set clear and empowering goals (3:40)
- Discipline your mind and your actions (4:17)
- All growth happens outside your comfort zone (5:52)
- You only need to get it right once (6:51)
- Be a traveler, not a tourist (7:31)
- Be grateful for what you have and thirsty for more (8:21)
- Reading books can be your competitive advantage (8:51)
- Listen much more than you speak (9:33)
- Forgive, but do not forget (10:09)
- Never quit the game (10:57)
- Respect others playing the game (11:46)
- Do not play it safe (12:31)
- Bonus: Realize that you already have won (13:26)
1. Have a vision for your life
You cannot achieve the life of your dreams if you never dream about it. The first move is to define what winning means for you, because without a vision you have no idea what you are supposed to achieve or when you have made it.
Many people have a general idea but few make it clear. The script offers questions to get there: where are you and what is your environment like, who are you as a person, what memories do you have, how healthy are you, and who surrounds you? Do you have someone special to share your success with, what do you do for a living and how do you spend your time?
Once you know what you are shooting for, you can start making it real.
2. Know who you are and what you stand for
The more you know about yourself, the less control the world has over you. Making it while losing yourself on the way is a bad deal.
What is the point of financial success if you cannot sleep well, cannot see your loved ones or are surrounded by superficiality? Know your values and what you stand for as an individual. These are clear lines drawn by someone who values a fine life without regrets.
Small actions can bring regrets that last a lifetime, so give this enough thought.
3. Compare only to your yesterday self
Who cares if others are winning or losing while you stand on the sidelines? We share the world with almost 8 billion people, but each of us has a story to live, and you are responsible for your own growth.
Stop comparing yourself to others and compare yourself with your past self. Focus on growth and at some point you will be a lot happier, and you will realize everyone is fighting a struggle of their own with their own expectations.
It is fine to find people who inspire you and teach you. Just do not compare your first chapter with someone else’s final chapter.
4. Set clear and empowering goals
There is no elevator to success. You take the stairs, and every goal you hit is a new step. Goals work like milestones or quests, and reaching one is like leveling up and improving your stats.
Smart goals are precisely defined and make the trip more interesting. Look for goals that inspire you and sit at the edge of your comfort zone, because those empower you to move the needle.
5. Discipline your mind and your actions
Many people shrug at the idea of discipline, but the more disciplined you become, the easier your life gets. Very few master it, and the reason is commitment rather than complexity. Only those who really want it put in the time.
Mastering discipline is probably the most valuable thing you can do. After that, it is a matter of time before whatever goal you set becomes real.
If you have always struggled with it, you do not have to fight that forever.
6. All growth happens outside your comfort zone
Step out of your comfort zone and you will realize it was not all that comfortable. Growth comes from trying new things, from failure, from success and from uncomfortable conversations.
When starting out, the best way to learn about yourself and the world is to throw yourself into it. It would be sad to live in a small bubble and never find out who you are or that millions of things fascinate you.
Once you leave it, you start seeing new dots that can be connected. The script puts it plainly: if things do not happen for you, you are in a place where things do not happen, and that place is the comfort zone.
7. You only need to get it right once
It does not matter how many times you fail, because a single win can last a lifetime. Many good ideas push you forward slowly, but one great idea can make you rich or give you the life you want.
Ideas are free, so come up with concepts that could change your life. Failure is irrelevant as long as you can try again and again. If you are serious, it becomes a numbers game, and it is only a matter of time before one works.
8. Be a traveler, not a tourist
The world is meant to be discovered, not checked off a list. Tourism is a product sold to you where you do not control the experience. Travel is stepping into the unknown and taking the world in its raw form.
It goes deeper than visiting different places. Look at different parts of your life and ask whether you are a traveler or a tourist. You may be surprised how little of your life you have placed in lanes someone else chose for you.
9. Be grateful for what you have and thirsty for more
Gratitude makes sense of the past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Wanting more for yourself is fine, since we are meant to exceed our condition, explore and evolve.
You need gratitude to ground yourself and see how far you have come, and an appetite for life to see how far you still have to go.
10. Reading books can be your competitive advantage
The reader lives hundreds of lives, while the person who does not read lives only one. Books are underrated because many people treat them as entertainment instead of what they are: knowledge vaults.
Someone’s mistakes, failures, successes and everything they learned in 50 or 60 years can be downloaded into your head in a couple of days.
11. Listen much more than you speak
Nobody ever learned anything from hearing themselves talk. Real growth comes from paying attention to the world around you, and that means acting like a sponge for quality information.
There is no one around you that you cannot learn something from. The brain also has an odd quirk: it does not let information in while you are talking. There is a reason you have two ears and one mouth.
12. Forgive, but do not forget
Those who do not forgive are prisoners of their own hatred, and those who forget are set up to repeat the same mistakes. Forgiveness is not about making peace with someone else. It is about making peace with yourself so you can move forward.
Events in life tend to be cyclical and repeat themselves. The rule sounds harsh, but it works as a defense mechanism that protects you as you grow into someone who cannot be hurt by the same nonsense.
13. Never quit the game
You may lose battles and struggle, but the game is only lost when you give up. It will not happen overnight. You may need to change, pivot, innovate or rewrite to make it work, and the challenge is staying adaptable long enough.
You may quit a particular challenge, but never the main goal, because without it you face a life stripped of what makes it worth living. When times get hard, rest rather than give up.
14. Respect others playing the game
Everyone is the center of their own story with their own struggles. Show them the respect you show yourself. People often understand the value of respect too late in life.
There is an elegance in being respectful, and the world tends to return it. Everyone is playing a version of the game you know nothing about. Treat the janitor with the same respect you treat the CEO.
15. Do not play it safe
Only those who risk going too far find out how far they can go. You get one life, so why not make it epic? Playing it safe will not take you to the place you dreamed of.
Be bold and take calculated risks where the reward is worth it. Failure is no end: you can try again, however many times it takes. The last thing you want is to lie on your deathbed full of regrets for a life you did not live.
Bonus: Realize that you already have won
You are alive. You made it. You are in the game. The script says your chances of being born were 1 in 400 trillion, so you already hold the lucky ticket.
It is up to you to choose which adventure to pursue next, and in the video’s words, that alone is already a win.
From the rules to the next move
Taken together, the rules point in one direction: get clear on what you want, build the discipline to chase it, and keep taking risks while staying kind to the people around you.
Pick the rule that stings most and act on it today. Part 2 of the series goes deeper into the tactics.
FAQ
What are the rules to win at life?
The video lists 15, including having a vision, knowing what you stand for, comparing yourself only to your past self, setting clear goals, building discipline, leaving your comfort zone, reading, listening, never quitting and not playing it safe.
Why is discipline so important for success?
The script says the more disciplined you become, the easier life gets, and that mastering discipline is probably the most valuable thing you can do. After that, it argues, it is a matter of time until your goals become real.
How do you create a vision for your life?
Answer questions about your dream life: where you are, who you are, how healthy you are, who surrounds you, what you do for a living and how you spend your time. Once you can answer those, you know what you are shooting for.
What does forgive but do not forget mean?
Forgiveness is about making peace with yourself so you can move forward. Not forgetting means remembering what happened so you do not repeat the same mistakes, since events tend to repeat in cycles.
Why should you only compare yourself to your past self?
Because everyone is fighting their own struggle with their own expectations. The video says that focusing on your own growth makes you happier, and that comparing your first chapter to someone else’s final chapter is unfair.
Keep reading
- 15 Rules to Win at Life (Part 2)
- 15 Rules to Win At Life (Part 1)
- 15 Real Life Superpowers to Win in Business & Life
