511. Beware !

Beware of the company you keep. It is all too easy to become S.N.I.O.P.ed - i.e Subject to the Negative Influences of Other People.

510. Strengths and Weaknesses

It may be more fun to leverage your strengths and you should certainly do so but you should not fail to strengthen your weaknesses. From time to time, (about every 90 days) you should carry out a SWOT analysis. On a quadrant, you should list your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Keep these in front of you for the next 90 days and repeat and so on and so forth.

509. Not Playing the Game

Learn how to play the game by not playing the game - look for the loopholes.

508. Second-best

"Beware : Once you say you're going to settle for second-best, that's what happens in your life." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

507. Open-mindedness

Keeping an open mind means regularly replacing your assumptions. Mental cleanouts require that you replace all your out-dated and redundent assumptions when they no longer support the facts.

506. See Things as they Really Are.

One definition of a wise man is one who sees things as they really are and not how he would like them to be. This is called the faculty of discernment. Avoid fooling yourself and remember that self delusion is the worst form of delusion - you yourself will always be the easiest person you can fool. Self-delusion is the most widespread mental illness that there is and it is the root of serious loss of sanity. Strive always to see things as they really are. You should always look below the surface in any situation and try to see what's really going on. If you don't like what you see, devise methods to make things how you would like them to be, but never fool yourself into thinking that they are as you would like when in fact they are not.

505. Hold the Bucket by the Handle

It is better to own the trains and hire someone to make them run than to be the driver or the boss.