All You Can Do is Play the Next Hand

Sometimes our best efforts are not enough and we still look silly. So what?

Rules to live by. It's that time of year for reflecting on things and getting prepared for another year above ground (God willing and they don't try and take my gun).

Here is a list of personal rules Faldo thought he would share. They will help you in poker - but also make for a much happier existence away from the felt also.

Faldo tries his best to follow them - and Faldo does a pretty good job of it. But even Faldo is not perfect. Pretty darn close....but still not so much.

Here they are to use in your personal reflection time.

1. Forget about the bad luck. Xxit happens. Play the next hand (round, day, night, date, meeting, project, interview, game, etc).

2. It is not how often you fail, it's how often you try.

3. It's important to do what you say you will do.

4. Personal integrity is the highest ethical imperative. Personal loyalty is a close second.

5. There are two types of problems: Those you can do something about and those you cannot. Of the ones you can do something about - there are two of those: those worth doing something about and those that are not worth it. Of those worth doing something about - there are two of those: those that you WILL do something about and those you will not. Save all your time and effort on those you CAN and WILL do something about. [See how much less stress you have already!]

6. All things being equal - make every decision in your life so that it will give you more options than fewer.

7. You can live to be 100 or get killed by illegal alien or a Muslim today. The age thing is unlikely, and the outs for death by a Muslim are rising daily. Still, plan for the long term. Plan for survival long term. James Dean said it best - "Dream like you will live forever, live like you will die tomorrow."

8. Always have a plan B.......and a plan C.........................and a plan Z!

9. You rarely regret what you did as much as you will regret what you didn't do. So when it doubt - DO IT! [Faldo will verify with proof - that following this advice - the regrets you will have are few. Mine may be bigger, but still few in total.]

10. You are responsible for all the consequences of your actions - even the unforeseen ones.

11. You are only responsible for the consequences of your actions - and not the actions of anyone else.

12. Nobody makes you feel angry, sad, hurt, happy or anything else. How you feel is up to you.

Wishing all my readers a great Christmas! - Faldo