02 Apr Don’t Be a Dick
When it all boils down to it, life is pretty simple.
If you do good things, good things happen to you.
If you do bad things, bad things happen to you.
I know this is a generalisation and that very bad things do happen to very good people. I have a friend who was involved in a nasty accident that wasn’t her fault. I have a six-year-old nephew who has just had to undergo a bone marrow transplant, which he had no control over.
But as a general life rule, if you treat others with respect, kindness and generosity, life will repay you.
I’ve been through some difficult times in my 40+ years, but I’ve also done some pretty stupid and irrational stuff. And when I look back, the former is usually a direct result of the latter.
What I’ve learned is that all of your actions have consequences. It’s a form of Buddhist karma (if not the reincarnation part); if you behave like a dick, life will treat you like a dick. (I don’t think the Dalai Lama uses those exact words.)
So whatever you apply it to – building a business, creating networks of influential acquaintances, social media communications, customer service, internal policies – there are four words that I would tell my teenage self if I could travel back through time:
