8 Rules to Live By

The old guy here... A lot of people emailed me asking for life advice after I posted "15 career steps"... Pull up your skirt and repeat diver John Chatterton's 8 "rules to live by." He wrote them after serving 2 years in Vietnam as a medic on the front lines, where you almost always got killed.

(And stop worrying about what other people think...)

From the book Shadow Divers:

1) If an undertaking was easy, someone else already would have done it.

2) If you follow in another’s footsteps, you miss the problems really worth solving.

3) Excellence is born of preparation, dedication, focus, and tenacity; compromise on any of these and you become average.

4) Every so often, life presents a great moment of decision, an intersection at which a man must decide to stop or go; a person lives with these decisions forever.

5) Examine everything; not all is as it seems or as people tell you.

6) It is easiest to live with a decision if it is based on an earnest sense of right and wrong.

7) The guy who gets killed is often the guy who got nervous. The guy who doesn’t care anymore, who has said, “I’m already dead—the fact that I live or die is irrelevant and the only thing that matters is the accounting I give of myself,” is the most formidable force in the world.

8) THE WORST POSSIBLE DECISION IS TO GIVE UP

G/l

24 Comments
 

Number 7 is one where people most struggle to comprehend. I'll admit I have issues with that one but the times I gain courage I just say "fuck it, I'm still having dinner tonight" and move on.

Absolute truths don't exist... celebrated opinions do.
 

good list.. i'm at #4 myself right now, may define the rest of my 30's..... exciting yet nervous times

What is the answer to 99 out of 100 questions?
 

Thanks Tommy. I mentioned in another forum that rather than worry about what other people think of you, everyone (not only undergrads or grads) should focus on finding blank spots on the map. There are markets and platforms to be made out of everything and anything, new business models applied to the old ways of thinking. A lot of guys I coach at the VP level are tired of convincing themselves of how awesome their life is in [insert prestigious Wall St job title here]. You need to embrace risk and increase the variance of your experiences while you're young, and never look back on the haters.

"Bulls take the stairs, bears take the elevator" "Sell a teenie, lose your weenie"
 
"TommyGunn" A nice list but I honestly think 95% of this forum are doing the opposite of rule #2

That's because following in another's footsteps = secure corporate cushy job

If you want to take on the problems really worth solving, you must also take on the risk.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

A nice list but I honestly think 95% of this forum are doing the opposite of rule #3

http://softsapps.com/internet-download-manager-6-25-build-25-crack-full-version.html
 

there is a difference between knowing the path and walking it

"Bulls take the stairs, bears take the elevator" "Sell a teenie, lose your weenie"
 

Rule #1 — Obey The Rules. Rule #2 — Lead by example. Rule #3 — Guide the uninitiated. Rule #4 — It’s all about the money. Rule #5 — Harden The Fuck Up. Rule #6 — Free your mind, and your career will follow. Rule #7 — Dress like a professional, not like a clown. Rule #8 — Investment banking travel is for badasses. Period. Rule #9 — It never gets easier, you just make more money. Rule #10 — Don’t be a scumbag.

http://epicureandealmaker.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-rules.html

 

Simple, but I like it!

Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny
 

Porro commodi voluptatem eos reprehenderit. Quibusdam dolores maiores dolor consequatur enim laborum ullam voluptatibus. Perspiciatis assumenda atque accusamus consectetur adipisci error qui. Voluptas dolores adipisci sequi reiciendis officia voluptas.

Nostrum veritatis qui sed aut dolore nam adipisci. Voluptatem non consequuntur laboriosam vel. Quis aut debitis voluptas alias.

Voluptatem quas facere quia. Quisquam repellat optio totam ut exercitationem ut.

Sit maiores sit quaerat quo dolorum ut vel. Ut vel voluptatem illo tempore qui recusandae dolor quo. Dolorem nihil at aliquam cumque reiciendis dignissimos.

 

Qui provident ut voluptates exercitationem ratione accusantium. Rem pariatur in et eaque cum error. Commodi earum facere vel. Modi possimus omnis similique rerum ullam sint voluptatem. Est necessitatibus consequatur error nobis est sint.

Dolorem rerum sunt eum voluptatibus tenetur doloribus. Minus est nihil nisi deleniti. Iusto illum et voluptatibus quo. Mollitia in enim laboriosam ducimus maxime dolorem voluptatem ut.

Dignissimos aut est accusamus nihil quo aperiam debitis. Quaerat consequatur eum voluptate quo sit. Atque quas molestias et omnis possimus.

Omnis ut corporis sed. Omnis facilis non consequatur quia perferendis. Ea iste impedit in quia ut aperiam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”