The Rules of Everything: A complete code for success and happiness in everything that matters

by Richard Templar

Whether it’s at work or in their relationships, as parents or managing their money, the Rules have described how happy and successful people behave for over 25 years. The Rules of Everything contains the top 100 rules from the bestselling Rules books, as voted for by readers, so you can follow the common-sense advice on how to be happier and more successful.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Education

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

About the author

Richard Templar is an astute observer of human behavior and understands what makes the difference between those of us who effortlessly glide towards success and those of us who struggle against the tide. He has distilled these observations into his Rules titles. More than 1 million people around the world have enjoyed and now play by Richard Templar's Rules.

Reviews

[Salvador Esparza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apart from the Rules of Work or Rules of Management (hence the 2 stars), I did find most of the rules/advice in these other sections to be generic feel-good dribble and asking myself what authority and motive Richard Templar had in publishing this content. Maybe I'm being cynical, but not really my cup of tea. Could be that I'm not really capturing his true wealth of knowledge because these are only short excerpts from his other publications in isolation without the broader context, but I wouldn't say this was an inspiring introduction to his work for me.

[Pranav · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the writing format that Richard has put into the book, it was a very pleasant and interesting read, would definitely recommend it if you want something different!

[Ioanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is very easy to read and digest. However, it felt like a very basic self-help book, perhaps for suitable for people who are only beginning their journey of self- improvement. Whereas some rules were useful , most felt standard and cliche.

[Robert Lo Bue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the author has made a fortune writing down some pretty obvious things, but at the same time it’s refreshing to read what should be obvious and remind ourselves to stick by some key principals for the greater good. I found this roundup book to be super easy to read and I’m left with a few key take aways that will definitely help me in future.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that is not something I would normally read, so I come to it with no expectations and previous knowledge of the author or his books. This book is a collection of the Top 10 Rules from several books that the author has written. The books cover many aspects of a person's life and how they can live it better.

The sections in this book are - The Rules of- Work, Management, Life, Wealth, Parenting, Love, to Break, of People, Thinking, Living Well and a shorter one on Knowing When to Break the Rules.

QAS you can see this list of topics does cover a vast array of items that are intrinsic to the way a person lives. The author gives tips, advice, scenarios and ways of being better, more successful, richer, happier and so on.

While I did find a lot of things in this book to be useful and also a lot is common sense, there were also certain things that really jarred with me. I could see what the author was getting at but some of the things didn't feel right. But this is advice and it is up to an individual as to whether they want to take it or leave it. For me the work and life balance are important, I have a balance between the two that I am happy with, maybe it is because I am older and have had the experience of working, having children, running a house and balancing all sorts of things that at I have naturally prioritised things.

This is a guide and it can be used as a basis to work through so that you can define your own set of rules. Rules are something that can help keep you on track as you work towards a target or goal, they can help you prioritise and help you focus. I do think that some of the rules were just not for me, I am in my 50s though and I could see them being of more benefit to me quite a number of years earlier.

The book is laid out well, each section has an intro and then goes through the Top 10 tips with examples and at the end of each tip there is a summary, it is almost like a mantra.

This book is quite practical, it is a good starting point and if you like to pick up new techniques and see other sides to life and living then this is one for you. I did enjoy reading it and for the most part, this has some good advice and can help you with coping strategies. Overall a good one and one I would happily recommend.

[Lois O'Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me realise that apparently there are a lot of people going through the world who’ve failed to grasp the most basic “rules” of existing happily within their family, relationship, workplace, and society in general. It made me feel a level of sadness that some people need to be told these things. He does address this in the book, but still, it just felt weird reading what’s essentially a self help book but with such basic requirements to function as a decent human being, being framed as anything… well, interesting/valuable/new.

Most of them are painfully obvious and even a little patronising. The work/management rules feel dated, but then again, maybe it’s a generation thing.

Towards the end there are some nice bits - I’m glad I persisted, as the first 60% is quite dull. But I did find a few poignant or thought provoking paragraphs in the people/wellness/thinking sections.

Let me put it this way, I would be a shame if I felt the need to recommend this book to you.

[Pippa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never seen these books before, and I'm annoyed because I would have made so much use of them if I'd had them ten years ago!

The rules make sense. The rules are common sense. The rules are probably what you are already doing and just don't realise they are rules.

I've started consciously following the rules since reading the book and have honestly seen changes in my life and my happiness since doing this.

I'm going to get the other books, so I can get the full rules... who knows maybe this time next year I'll be a millionaire!

[Bobbie Darbyshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billed as a ‘code for success and happiness in everything that matters’. Some years ago I read Templar’s Rules of Parenting, not because I had children, but as research for a character who did, and it spoke a lot of good sense. So, when I recently bought a novel I wanted from a buy-one-get-one-half-price display and saw this among the options, I chose it. Readable, modestly humorous, lots of good sense again, including something I wasn’t doing and should have been doing that helped when I did it.

[Sybiee Colvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a really good read and full of some really good advice from the man who said not to give people advice...

My one objection is that some of the rules don't take into account disabilities or non-negotiable problems which as someone who has both makes it hard to read and not resent just a little bit
But overall very well done

[Seran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good advice for life. Some sections didn't apply or weren't relevant to me so I should perhaps have just read individual books in the series. However, I enjoyed Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life more.

[Shirlyn Eng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some rules in this book serves as a good reminder to me while I go on with my everyday life. Even though these rules are called Rules, I like the last rule where we have to know when to break the rules by our instincts. Overall a good book with some rules worth applying to me.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice as a reference. However, I found myself thinking that many of these rules seemed obvious. The best section for me personally were the rules on parenting so I may return to that.

[Antonio C. Montecristo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice summary of his previous book.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of these rules actually contradict each other

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of the rules you can get the point without even reading the full text, but for some of those he gives a really good insight.

[Bastiaans Joep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to mirror life on these 100 ‘rules’: it stirs the creative thinking process, but is not crazily serious. Eventually you have to, of course, make your own rules.

[Pippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got better as you read, few chapters didn’t apply to me and the writing style occasionally was jarring but overall found quite a few good nuggets of information for the future.

[Michelle Dunne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an easy book to read, loved the layout of 10 pages per chapter. Great taste of each book to see if you're interested in reading a specific book

[Ester Moya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pieces of advice. Fast read.