Jordan B. Peterson, a Canadian born Psychologist, was obsessed as a young man with the power of rigid ideology to make ordinary people do terrible things - clear examples of this driven by the example of individuals such as Hitler, Stalin & Mao to name a few. This book stems from Jordan's contributions on Quora, specifcally a set of responses that he provided to the question "What are the most valuable things everyone should know?". These responses had massive responses from users, and so the book idea was born and supported.

The book dives is split into 12 chapters, each partnered up to one of the rules that Jordan describes in detail. And yes I hear you, rules rules and more rules - why? Well, I would personally see these less as restrictive rules and more guidelines to be aware and try to live your life by. The rules are:

1 Stand up straight with your shoulders back

2 Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping

3 Make friends with people who want the best for you

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

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

6 Set your house in order before you criticise the world

7 Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient

8 Tell the truth. Or at least don’t lie

9 Assume the person you are listening to knows something you don’t

10 Be precise in your speech

11 Do not bother children while they are skateboarding

12 Pet a cat when you encounter one in the street