12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan Peterson, a Canadian Psychologist, has become a viral sensation because of his media interviews and YouTube presentations on practical and controversial topics covering personal growth and healthy relationships like child-rearing, marriage, the meaning behind religion, friendship, personal responsibility, equality, and gender issues (from assumptions about toxic masculinity to transgender studies). Based on consuming a number of those interviews and presentations, I started reading 12 Rules with a definite expectation of a clear, pithy, and practical path to self-improvement. After all, don’t all of us know, any book with a set number of secrets, principles, rules, precepts or irrefutables will include some common assumptions, a few surprises, and always, in an easy-to-digest style? That leads to my recommendation that you read the 12 Rules, though it is seasoned with a warning and wrapped in a book review!

A Recommendation

Read it. Or listen to it. Sooner than later. As in, your next book. Peterson is so brutally honest (one of his rules is to tell the truth or at least not lie) that you can’t help but be a little more forthcoming with yourself and others in the reading. He is so willing to go against popular culture and the PC ethos of academia that you’ll feel a bit like a bold and strong bulwark against the fickle winds of enlightened conformity. He is so versed in not only his field of behavioral psychology but also philosophy and religion and literature and history that you will feel smarter whether or not you understand every word of the book. He is so down-to-earth practical that your are going to be challenged to take responsibility for your personal life and the way you interact with others—and help those others while doing so.

The second rule, treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping, is case in point. Peterson uses statistics and studies to shine a spotlight on the sad truth that many people treat their pets better than they treat themselves. For example, it is more likely that a person will fill a medicinal prescription for their cat or dog than they will for themselves. His argument sparkles as he warns us in this chapter:

You need to articulate your own principles, so you can defend yourself against others’ taking advantage of you. You must keep the promises you make to yourself, and reward yourself, so that you can trust and motivate yourself.

That quote alone is worth a five-star review and recommendation. But there are still a couple of warnings!

Warnings

Peterson does not travel a straight or simple line from Point A to Point B. For example, the first rule is stand up straight with your shoulders back. Why? Because our posture helps release the chemical serotonin in our blood stream, which helps improve confidence, which helps improve our chances of success, which helps us achieve a higher level of status, which helps us live a better life. Sound good so far? He goes on to say:

Standing up physically implies and demands standing up metaphysically. It’s voluntarily accepting the burden of Being. Your nervous system responds in an entirely different manner when you face the demands of life voluntarily.

 Okay, that is deep. And a little difficult. Not quite in sync with the motivational genre. It illustrates the biggest challenge—or the most alluring charm—of reading 12 Rules in general and the first rule in particular. Peterson states his rule and then spends a significant number of pages on the evolution of lobsters and lobster behavior to bring this principle home. Depending on your attention span and ability to stay on topic, Peterson’s narrative style is absolutely fascinating but also a bit jarring (and sometimes difficult to follow) if you are expecting (as was I) a more pop-style presentation with short sentences and easy bromides. And maybe a few pictures and charts.

Greek mythology, Disney movies, classic novels, sacred texts, and the complex ideas and images of philosophers and psychologists provide the atmosphere for his thought-provoking and life-evaluating ideas. You might not find this to be a warning, but rather a challenge to experience something that will be intellectually invigorating. I make my recommendation to you because I suspect you are someone who wants to do some deeper thinking and soul-searching.

A second quick warning is to those who have heard Peterson use detailed interpretation and exposition of the Bible to explain the human condition and solutions for the difficult journey of life. He may know Genesis through Revelation better than most churchgoers but don’t expect a Sunday School lesson on the Garden of Eden, but rather a springboard to the evolutionary development of human consciousness. If that bothers you, save yourself the cognitive dissonance!

On the other hand, if you don’t believe a high view of Scripture has a place in psychology, Peterson may not sit easily with you either. Particularly when he passionately defends the place of religion and spirituality in a healthy, well-functioning individual and society. He takes on (and takes seriously) the greatest doubters of faith, including Nietzsche and Sartre of the modern era.

A Review

Intelligent. Articulate. Contrarian. Challenging. Down-to-earth. Esoteric. Fascinating. Dense. Philosophical. Practical. A page-turner that requires some blood, sweat, and tears. Pessimist—how hard live really is repeats throughout the book. Optimist. Easy on you. Hard on you. Preacher. Encourager. Scolder. Prophet.

Ultimately, I think Peterson embodies Rule 3, make friends with people who want the best for you.

It’s a good thing, not a selfish thing, to choose people who are good for you. It’s appropriate and praiseworthy to associate with people whose lives would be improved if they saw your life improve.

My primary reason for recommending the 12 Rules is that Peterson would be good for you because he wants the best for you.

The Rules

Rule 1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back

Rule 2 Treat yourself like you would someone you are responsible for helping

Rule 3 Make friends with people who want the best for you

Rule 4 Compare yourself with who you were yesterday, not with who someone else is today

Rule 5 Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

Rule 6 Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world

Rule 7 Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

Rule 8 Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie

Rule 9 Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Rule 10 Be precise in your speech

Rule 11 Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding

Rule 12 Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

Just a Sample

If you’d like a sample of Peterson at his motivational best, check out this 10-minute video that features the thought:

There is no better pathway to self-realization and the ennoblement of being than to pause at the greatest good you can conceive of and commit yourself to it.