3 Golden Rules for a Golden Life

Everywhere you look on the internet, you will find bogus gurus selling the secrets of success.

Shockingly, their secret always end up being to buy their products. Go figure!

It's ridiculous, but it's everywhere.

But why?

Why is it so hard to find actual advice on how to set yourself up for a good life?

It is because the real advice we need to hear doesn't make the person who gives it any money.

The good advice is the kind of advice your grandpa would give.

The good advice is the kind of advice you don't want to hear, but you need to hear.

The good advice is stuff that you've heard many times before, but you probably need to hear again.

So to bring a little sanity to an internet overrun with self-help insanity, here are a few pieces of that time-tested advice.

[And if you have another piece of timeless, real advice that helps make life great, we want to hear it. Please send it to editor@tradeschool.com, and we will add it to this post.]

1. Avoid Debt

Sure, there are sometimes when debt is unavoidable.

But if we're being honest, those times are actually far fewer than we (and lenders) trick ourselves into believing.

Debt will cost you money, energy, and time.

It's always tempting to get what you want now instead of later.

But when you take on debt you get what you want now, and the lender gets you later.

Don't trade your future self for your present desires.

That leads us to #2:

2. Be Patient

One of the biggest reasons that people end up in debt is because of a lack of patience. Rather than waiting until they have the money for something that they want they buy it immediately, using credit.

But that credit needs to be paid back eventually, and with interest.

Being patient means learning to be happy with what you have now and postponing the fulfillment of desire for the thing you want.

But being patient is bigger than just money and buying things.

All of life's best things take time.

The better you are at paying with time (being patient), the more of life's best things you will be able to afford.

3. Be Intentional

It's a self-evident truth that no one can have everything.

So if you can't have everything, you better make sure you know which things you actually want.

The world is more than happy to tell you what things you want if you don't decide for yourself. And then it will make you miserable to pay for those things that it told you to want.

Pick what you want. Decide what matters to you. And then focus on that, and don't let the world tell you that you need to want something else instead.

[Do you have piece of timeless, real advice that belongs on this list? We want to hear it. Please send it to editor@tradeschool.com, and we will add it to this post.]