There are certain things in life that I found to be absolutely true. These 15 simple rules make life much easier.

Fear is contagious, Courage inspires – People have a tendency to follow the leader, and when the leader is fearful, the people will follow. When the leader is courageous, the people will also follow. This is true in all aspects of our life, whether politics, management, sports, or military. Think of the commander standing firm in the line of fire, does he not inspire his soldiers? When others around you are cowering to fear, stand courageously and lead by example.

The morale of a people stems from the morals of its leadership – Leaders are expected to be better in all things. The sins of leaders demoralize downhill. The formerly Louisiana-based Waitr’s CEO Carl Grimstead has his own moral issues giving his favorite stripper and her mother a job, is it any wonder why this once solid company’s stock that is heading to the OTC and doesn’t know what business direction it wants to go? Likewise, go to any Chick-fil-A and the service is always outstanding. It’s not that Dan Cathy is without sin, but whatever sins he may have doesn’t come to the workplace. It was true back in the days of Caligula or Julius as it is today. Respect isn’t given because of title; it’s earned because of character.

It’s not the people that don’t like you that matter, it’s the people that do – So much of our youth is focused on being liked that we don’t give enough attention to the people who do like us. There’s over 7 billion people in the world, not all of them will like you, focus on the people who do. That’s not to say you shouldn’t reach out and build bridges with people who don’t like you where possible.

The dumber somebody is, the more they think they know – Doctors get patients who know more about medicine than they do, especially now. People who don’t own guns and want to pass gun control claim to know so much more about guns than actual gun owners, spoiler alert, they don’t. Intelligent people understand that there is always more to learn, stupid people convince themselves they know everything and have nothing left to learn.

Men will change, mankind will never change – Some people think that they can undo wisdom, change the natural laws, remake the world into their image. These people have always existed. But wisdom is as true today as they were in Ancient Rome or Ancient Greece. When men come and think they can change natural law, it always ends badly.

People care about performance – If people you work with don’t like you, it isn’t because of your race, gender, sexuality, religion, etc. If they don’t like you, it’s because you suck at your job. The more you’re focused on those other things, the less you’re focused on your job.  If you want to win people over, be the best you can be. If you want them to not like you, point fingers, accuse, blame, make excuses.

It takes two seconds to be nice – It’s not hard to open the door for somebody, to make a cashier smile, or to simply compliment a stranger.

Success is about giving back – Life is not about what you get from other people, it’s about what other people get from you. Some people are focused on what they are getting without contributing and they end up being viewed as selfish and worthless. The more you contribute to others, the more you get back. Don’t mistake this as financial, success isn’t about money.

The only thing you get from straddling a fence is a sore backside – You can’t please all the people. The best side of the fence to side on is the side that is about truth, doing what’s right, and being fair to all people.

Respect is earned, not given – Nobody owes you respect, it’s something you earn. Having a title only buys temporary respect, it’s up to you to keep it.

God gave you two ears and one mouth, there’s a reason for that – Make it a habit to do twice as much listening as you do speaking.

Problems are inevitable, but drama is optional – You’re guaranteed to have problems, but dramatizing it makes things worse

You can judge a lot about a person’s character by how they treat somebody who can do nothing for them – Value people with nothing expected in return

A person who doesn’t make mistakes is a person who does nothing – Success without failure just isn’t as sweet or treasured.

If you want to be the most important person in the room, be the least important – Recognize that other people have value and do things better than you can. Understand their importance and be sincere about it.