A few thoughts (06.08.2012)

G. Harrell’s First Rules

The first rule of living:

Put God first.

The first rule of charity:

Shine as a light so that others will glorify God.

The first rule of education:

You must always be learning. The moment you stop learning, the moment you think you don’t need to know more, is the moment you race toward extinction.

The first rule of power:

Information is power. Therefore, you must never consciously elect to be among the powerless; stay informed.

The first rule of change:

Change is the only true constant. Either you embrace that—or you well be left behind.

The first rule of leadership:

See farther.

The first rule of creativity:

Never stop dreaming or believing in your ability to transform those dreams into something real.

The first rule of business:

Plan. Plan. Plan.

The first rule of partnerships:

Know thy partner as you know thyself.

The first rule of money:

Not all money is good money.

The first rule of investing:

Read and comprehend everything about the investment. If you are not willing or able to do that, you don’t need to invest.

The first rule of deal-making:

Really acquaint yourself with the terms of the deal and the motivations of your counterparties. If either the terms or the individuals shift too drastically, or if either seems too murky, walk away.

The first rule of management:

Delegate, knowing that there is never a need to micromanage tasks. If you have to do that, then you are not managing competent subordinates.

The first rule of finance:

Understand the time value of money. That is, money available at the present time is worth more than the same of amount of money in the future…When you understand this, you'll think differently about how you make, use, save, and spend money.

The first rule of financial projections:

Be conservative with your revenue, and be aggressive with your expenses. Not vice-versa.

The first rule of spending:

Discern between your wants and yours needs. There is a different.

The first rule of debt:

Any form of indebtedness places a free man in the service of a master of than himself.

The first rule of building wealth:

Contribute more to the world on any given day as a net producer than you take from it as a net consumer.

The first rule of marketing:

In today’s world, perception is greater than reality, and you just can’t sell a good or a service. You have to create and sell a brand, and that brand has to immerse consumers inside of a compelling experience that calls them to act.

The first rule of greatness:

Unlike everyone else, you have to be willing to do the heavy lifting, and you must keep pressing yourself to surpass the limitations of your abilities.

The first rule of decision-making:

If emotion plays a part in your decision-making process, then you are doing it wrong.

The first rule of failure:

Something is not a failure until you fail to learn from it.

The first rule of risk-taking:

A high tolerance for risk is one thing, but a self-deception about the scale of risks is quite another.

The first rule of survival:

You must become the guy who makes the rules.

~gh