Chris Baréz-Brown is an author, speaker, and founder of Upping Your Elvis, aa leadership development consultancy helping businesses realize their true creative potential. His new book, Wake Up! A Handbook to Living in the Here and Now, is published by The Experiment. Chris was recently described by The Guardian as a long-haired twinkly-eyed cross between Richard Branson and a wizard, which sums up his unique eclectic style. His work has featured in media such as the Harvard Business Review, the BBC and Fast Company. Chris writes monthly columns for GQ, The Huffington Post and British Airways Business Life magazine and lives by the sea in Dorset, England with his family, a 35 year-old Land Rover and a selection of paddleboards and guitars. Here, he shares his 5 Rules For Life, in his words.
1. Remember it’s all a game.
We can’t control how the game of life plays out but we can control how we play it. The way you show up every day dictates your daily experience. If you are open, playful and positive the chances are the game will be fun and life will work in your favor. Make people smile and you will never lose.
2. Share the love.
Tell people in your life what you love about them. Choose one person a day. Soon you will see the good in everyone, you will deepen your relationships, and the world will spin a bit better for doing so.
3. Time for you…
Spend the first 10 minutes of each day on your own outside sitting quietly. No cell phone, no distractions. Connect with yourself, the planet and what’s important that day. Set your intention to make it a great day and get excited about what may unfold. The way you start makes a huge difference on what the day becomes.
4. Learn to cook
The food chain is often challenged. What we put in our bodies is often chosen through price and size rather than nutritional value. If you cook from scratch using local and seasonal ingredients, every cell in your body will thank you. Savour each mouth full. It’s a pleasure that we can relish daily with benefits we reap for a lifetime. Share it with those you love and you will find joy.
5. Get over yourself.
This world does not revolve around you alone. Help others, however small that may be. Don’t take yourself so seriously and bring lightness into what you do. The more fun you have and the more you enjoy today, the better you serve the energetic soup of humanity.
6.Break the rules (am breaking the 5 Rules here).
Don’t try to fit in. Be yourself. Fly. Enough said.
Thanks, Chris! Stay tuned for more Five Rules installments.
“Five Rules,” is a series on Rouge18 in which I ask others to share their five rules for life about anything and everything. You can learn a lot about a person by reading which five things govern their actions, no?
