Rule no 156 - Don't ever ask anyone for an opinion of your performance. They're liable to tell you

"So, how do you think I did?"
"Ya, not bad. But if you had run at a slightly faster pace and ran up those hills instead of walked, you would have done a lot better. Just saying."

Fail. Biggest mistake is to ask how you did, unless you are an Olympiad in training and you NEED advice. If you asking to get a compliment, you're asking for the wrong reasons and
you should never do that again. We're all guilty of this, but I'd like to think we have mostly great friends that will say the right thing to make us feel better about ourselves.

At the end of the day, you should have been doing it for yourself and the only opinion that matters is your own. And even then, try to not be so hard on yourself. The fact that you put yourself out there, with whatever performance it is you've chosen, and it is a great accomplishment. Own it and don't give a hoot what other people think.

Comments

Rule No.33 - Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day

Okay, rules are back and what a classic one! This quote is by Harry S Truman. He was the 33 rd president of America, historians call him “a controversial president”, the band Chicago wrote a song just for him and he has a commemorative holiday in his name on the 8 th May in Missouri. This is brilliant advise, not in the literal sense, well, that too, but if you having a seriously bad day, don’t make things worse by deliberately doing something that will bite you in the bum later. I did this the other day, so I am talking out of experience here. I went into a situation and then on the way out, after realising it was a bad situation, I kicked a fresh turd cause I was so mad. (again, not literally, although, that might have been a better idea in hindsight) My advise in this circumstance is to stay indoors that day until you have calmed yourself down. I’ll leave you with another quote from Truman : A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who ...

Rule No.59 - If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.

"Bull", meaning nonsense, dates from the 17th century, while the term "bull*&$*" has been used as early as 1915 in American slang , and came into popular usage only during World War II . The word "bull" itself may have derived from the Old French boul meaning "fraud, deceit" (Oxford English Dictionary). The term "horse*&$*" is a near synonym. Worthy of note is the South African English equivalent "bull dust". Few corresponding terms exist in other languages, with the significant exception of German Bockmist , literally "billy-goat *&%*". Funny, Suze Original and I were talking about this the other day. She went for an interview and we were laughing cause we both do the same thing. They ask you a simple question that could be answered in a line or two but we both start elaborating so much trying to make a good impression that what started as "My favorite hobby is... right to.. and that's why I...

Rule No.6 - Don't panic

Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic f ight-or-flight reaction. It also rhymes with manic and tannic. Perfect example of when to not panic and then when to start panicking. My very first night in my new flat here in Cape Town, I was woken up by my curtain being opened from the outside. Odd, first of all, because I live on the first floor, and second of all, because there was a man, well boy, suddenly staring at me from my window. A little shocked and confused, but not panicked, I squinted through sleepy eyes and said "hello". He looked at me, a little confused as well and greeted back. Then I asked him what he was up to at my window so early in the morning. "Washing your windows", was his reply. Okay, so it's Monday morning, my first night in this complex, maybe Monday morning is washing...

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