40 Life Hacks That Will Make You Unstoppable in Under 4 Minutes

These 40 life hacks separate the successful from the average.

I am not an alien or time traveler.

I am a writer who observes and writes about how people live and work. I spend 50% of my time talking to people and the other 50% writing about what I see, hear, and feel. I am a silent observer who closely watches the world and documents my observations in writing.

I have been observing humanity for the past 20 years. Today, I'll share my top 40 life hacks.

One hundred years from now, when much of the nonsense of our time is forgotten, people will still remember these 40 life hacks. These are valuable pieces of wisdom and unwritten rules I have gained from my decades of experience.

Life 101

1. When making lists of 10 or more items, consider numbering instead of bullets to enable easy referencing of individual points.
2. When meeting people, consider that they may die tomorrow. This will change how you treat them and how they treat you in return. This is a radical life hack; use it and see how it changes your relationships.
3. To be happy, always have something to do, someone to love, and something to look forward to.
4. Networking is about curiosity. To become a master networker, be curious about other people's stories.
5. If someone says no, don't take it personally. Most likely, they are like you: busy, have kids, have jobs, etc.
6. Be a connector. Go ahead and connect people to people, ideas to ideas, and people to ideas.
7. Deflecting a compliment is rude. Accept it and say thank you.
8. Stop worrying about what people think of you. They seldom think of you.
9. Write things down; don't try to remember them. Instead, use your brain's energy for thinking and not holding ideas.
10. Refrain from attempting to figure out what your life is all about. Just figure out the next three years and go to work.
11. Buy a plunger before you need one, trust me.
12. Explore your options before choosing a life partner, buying a house, selecting a medical doctor, or getting a job.
13. Become an excellent communicator. Everyone enjoys listening to a good storyteller.
14. Meditate: Take time to catch, untangle, examine, and confront your fears and dreams.
15. Love your enemies. They are the first to discover your mistakes.
16. Cherish the people around you. People can love you back; stuff never will.
17. Learn how to offer condolences and learn how to provide invisible support. Responding to friends' grief by also grieving is as irrational as helping someone who has been poisoned by also taking poison.
18. Learn how to support your loved ones. If you know someone in pain, don't tell them, "Let me know if you need anything." Be there for them. Pick up groceries, pick up their kids from school, and focus on lessening their workload.
19. Using mediums like email, texting, and instant messaging can often lead to misunderstandings. It's better to pick up the phone and call people, as your tone of voice can convey more emotion than your words.
20. You can't judge another person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. If you are rich, don't judge the poor. If you are happy, don't judge those who are depressed. Not every poor man is lazy, and no depressed person should be asked to snap out of it.
21. Be generous. Generosity is one of the most powerful habits in the world. Give more, love more, and live more.
22. Remember the golden rule: Reciprocity is the most important tool for getting along with people.
23. Be self-disciplined. Those who possess it can determine what they do with their life. Those who lack self-discipline will follow someone else's path.
24. Stop rationalization. Steven Pressfield states rationalization is a series of plausible, rational justifications for why we shouldn't do our work.
25. Please don't lie to yourself: Lying to yourself prevents you from making needed changes. Self-deception is a form of self-destruction which pretends to be self-protection.
26. Learn to accept the past. Whatever it might have been, and to embrace the present, whatever it might be.
27. Forgive others. Forgiveness is not about fairness; it's about freedom, taking responsibility for your own happiness instead of leaving it in someone else's hands.
28. Your primary task as a parent is to convey to your kids a sense of the world as an imperfect place where it is possible to be happy.
29. It is important to show love and support to your children. They need to feel valued, heard, and seen.
30. Don't pay attention to everything. Instead, embrace the reality that you can’t do everything.
31. Stop multitasking: Focus on one big project at a time and see it to completion before moving on to what's next.
32. Use your imagination more often. As Picasso said, "Everything you can imagine is real."
33. Stop playing small. Playing small doesn't serve the world.
34. Fail more. If you are not failing occasionally, you are just coasting.
35. If you don't like where you live, move. Choosing the city you live in is as important as choosing your life partner.
36. Decide what you want to do, and go after it. Embrace the fact that you don't know everything you need to know.
37. Anything that stands between you and your goal is a distraction.
38. Keep your eye on your main goal. Remember, "We are kept from our goal, not by obstacles but by a clear path to a lesser goal."
39. Distinguish between your goals and desires. A goal is something that you need to achieve. Desires are something that can prevent you from reaching your goals.
40. Seek discomfort and meaning. As Victor Frankl said, "Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure or power, but a quest for meaning."

These are the 40 life hacks that I follow every day. If you follow them, you will become unstoppable.

Which one is your favorite?