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Summary of 12 Rules For Life: An Antidote to Chaos By Jordan B. Peterson
Note: This is a SUMMARY of Jordan B Peterson’s, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
12 Rules for Life became a #1 National & International Bestseller for a simple reason…
Jordan B Peterson unearths archetypal principles that continue to shape our lives without our knowing.
He first observes that Order and Chaos are the two primordial forces of the Cosmos. Chaos is the realm of limitless possibilities, unsuitable for life. It is where depression, anxiety, and suffering find a home. Order, on the other hand, is the world of rules, predictability, explanations, science, and conformity.
In the 12 Rules for Life, Dr. Peterson offers a roadmap to navigate these polar forces. The antidote to chaos is not merely order – it comes down to understanding the subtleties of life, realizing that virtue lies in the balance of the two extremes, and developing your own skills at the game.
Each Rule for Life will challenge you to examine your own approach to life and answer some tough questions about why you're living the way you do. It is only by transcending our own limitations that life becomes meaningful and rewarding.
Who will benefit from this book?
Whether you are an over-achiever burning through life, an under-achiever with perpetual overwhelm, or an intellectual, seeking deeper truths of human nature, this book is for you.
The 12 Rules cover a broad spectrum where you will find advice on how to manage your thoughts and emotions, how to thrive, how to get along with others, and how to find a sense of meaning in life.
Why read the summary?
Reading is primarily an investment of your time with the aim of gaining useful knowledge and perspective. However, it's often true that people start out reading a long book with all the best intentions, but when life gets in the way, there's never enough time to finish it. As such, reading our summary is the perfect way to introduce you to the full material and grasp the essential insights of Jordan Peterson’s life-changing book, 12 Rules for Life.
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52 pages, Paperback
Published May 12, 2021
915 people are currently reading
1529 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 21, 2020
The book is nonsense. Never gives you any meaningful insight. Long metaphors that go nowhere.
I feel that this book contributes to toxic masculinity. In my opinion, it's not healthy to follow this advice. Like "you are responsible of your life and you get what you deserve", there is a lot of people that work very hard and still are in a hostile environment wich makes very hard or even imposible to progress in life. Or people trying to deal with trauma, the last thing they need is to be hard with themselves.
There are times in your life that you have to be kind to yourself, that you have to become your own father figure, that you have to "protect yourself from the rain". This book creates totally the opposite of that.
Read it if you want but don't buy the idea that you have to be hard with yourself.
I feel that this book contributes to toxic masculinity. In my opinion, it's not healthy to follow this advice. Like "you are responsible of your life and you get what you deserve", there is a lot of people that work very hard and still are in a hostile environment wich makes very hard or even imposible to progress in life. Or people trying to deal with trauma, the last thing they need is to be hard with themselves.
There are times in your life that you have to be kind to yourself, that you have to become your own father figure, that you have to "protect yourself from the rain". This book creates totally the opposite of that.
Read it if you want but don't buy the idea that you have to be hard with yourself.
February 23, 2020
"Peterson argues this way: Before placing all the blame on God, on society, or the human race, think for yourself: Have you cleaned up your own life? Have you used every chance you were offered? Or are you allowing a sense of bitterness to rob you of even the possibility of peace? Do you have habits that are ruining your health? Is there something that you know you should do or that you could do that could alleviate some of the suffering?"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2022
Admittedly I needed a dictionary close by, but I found the book very entertaining, truthful and helpful as it applies to the hardships of life we either do, or will, all face.
Not sure the authors of the fairytales he sites meant them to go quite that deep.
Mr. Peterson misses the mark as he explains the Biblical account in the first few chapters of Genesis, although when quoting the New Testament he does “hit the nail on the head” quite often, you can tell he doesn’t know the hand that holds the hammer.
All in all, well worth the read.
Not sure the authors of the fairytales he sites meant them to go quite that deep.
Mr. Peterson misses the mark as he explains the Biblical account in the first few chapters of Genesis, although when quoting the New Testament he does “hit the nail on the head” quite often, you can tell he doesn’t know the hand that holds the hammer.
All in all, well worth the read.
March 29, 2020
It is a good book with some very good advice shared through personal stories of the author. My advice is to take with you the bits of advice you find useful and ignore the stuff you find offending or clashing with your personal views.
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December 20, 2021It gave me the overview I needed
I love Jordan Peterson. His prose and intellectual insights are so profound I never got an overview of the book. It was heavy reading and I quit reading. Now I have a picture of what's in the book and I'll reread it and glean far more the second time around.
I love Jordan Peterson. His prose and intellectual insights are so profound I never got an overview of the book. It was heavy reading and I quit reading. Now I have a picture of what's in the book and I'll reread it and glean far more the second time around.
September 14, 2020
This book...is life changing. The principles discussed here can be so simple yet so difficult to accomplish while we are distracted by our daily lives. These principle have become a part of my daily life and I continue to revisit this book to remind myself how important it is for me to clean my room.
Read
September 18, 2025is rules of life an antidote to chaos by Jordan B Peterson? You may know about Jordan B Peterson already he’s very popular on YouTube for being sort of a free thinker. He’s sort of a controversial figure head as well and I think he’s gotten a lot more flack than he deserves because of it because he’s very cut and dry with his ideas which is why he’s been so embraced by the Internet and disliked by immediate which I can sort of relate have you seen that interview he did with the channel 4 is sort of gone viral became a mean almost because the lady that tries to interview Jordan and strong men argue against him. She keeps going oh so you’re saying this [] Her goal was to make him look bad and trash Jordan‘s name in this interview he completely shut her down and he made her look really vicious and relief spiteful and he really made me wanna read this book because I was like wow that’s really impressive. The channel 4 news lady if you read the damn book you wouldn’t have fallen into that trap he even discusses strongman arguing and why that’s wrong in the book. The book itself at 12 rows of life I didn’t read the title. It’s a self book. I don’t think I ever would’ve read a self-help book. They gave me a lot of new perspectives that I never thought I wouldn’t even have. It was very interesting even reading about advice that doesn’t resonate with me at all but just to understand other people Jordan goes very deep in philosophical thinking and psychological thinking and he makes his very simple claims right tell the truth for example rule eight but at least don’t lie we know that we know not lying and we know the moral implications of that but he goes so in debt in a philosophical and like I said a psychological way and how that by telling lies it really twist your worldview I really resonated with that that was their only rule but I was like I don’t ever wanna lie this is he really makes a great point here so I thought that was really interesting. There was a lotta rules. I didn’t. I didn’t need to read it all about racing kids or like how to deal with the cope with the failing marriage and then that sort of stuff but you can tell Jordan‘s goal for this to help people you can really appreciate that at least I think he unfortunately does it in a way that he goes on a little too long sometimes sometimes I find it a bit beating the point to death and some of the analogies that he made seemed strange at times. They didn’t really seem like they fit. He draws the comparisons and allies from Disney movies to old biblical stories and there’s a lot of religious analogies in this book a lot of religious analogies and I didn’t realise until the very last chapter I was like he’s religious I thought he grew up in household or something like that and the reason that he drew a lot of religious allies was because to prove the point that we always knew about this so maybe this is something that we’ve known for thousands of years through this biblical whenever I look at self help I can’t help but feel a bit critical like what is some sort of cult book or something like that and finding out that he was religious in the end it’s sort of changed my perspective on the book. I know that’s kind of stupid maybe but even even Jordan brings it up that the past can be changed from the future and religion it’s not a big deal but I feel like it’s probably unfair for me to say I’m like this is just some sort of bullshit. It’s not it’s not at all but it made me look more critically at the rules which I think you should do anytime you get advice about life so I think that was fine. I didn’t ruin anything for me but I surprisingly like I said I really enjoyed this book was very fun to read. I will definitely take some lessons from this book absolutely and it also made me understand other people around me.
September 30, 2021
First, I tried to read this book and found it too cumbersome, and as I later learned, not based on anything scientific or researched. I was still interested in the idea of the 12 rules, so I got a one hour audiobook summary.
Thankfully I didn’t waste a whole hour listening. Some rules are rigid and the explanations are full of judgement about doing things ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. The misogyny is rampant, as is the bold strictness of making your life ‘perfect’, and parents ‘fixing’ your kids so you’ll like them.
On the other hand, some rules are so simplistic and obvious, it’s ridiculous to talk about them. Tell the truth, try not to lie-Yup.
Yet other rules toward the end aim to try to suddenly sound ‘cool’ and light hearted, as if to fool the reader into thinking the earlier rules weren’t so terrible. Let kids skateboard and pet cats, very hearts and flowers.
I write this to hopefully save anyone considering reading this book, your time is better used taking out the trash, where this book belongs.
GPL audiobook
Thankfully I didn’t waste a whole hour listening. Some rules are rigid and the explanations are full of judgement about doing things ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. The misogyny is rampant, as is the bold strictness of making your life ‘perfect’, and parents ‘fixing’ your kids so you’ll like them.
On the other hand, some rules are so simplistic and obvious, it’s ridiculous to talk about them. Tell the truth, try not to lie-Yup.
Yet other rules toward the end aim to try to suddenly sound ‘cool’ and light hearted, as if to fool the reader into thinking the earlier rules weren’t so terrible. Let kids skateboard and pet cats, very hearts and flowers.
I write this to hopefully save anyone considering reading this book, your time is better used taking out the trash, where this book belongs.
GPL audiobook
June 30, 2022
Balancing Order & Chaos
I am a Preparedness and Survival Skills consultant and author of numerous books on the niche. I specialize in Situational Awareness. Today our world is filled with CHAOS including the recent Covid and now super inflation with two US political parties like children fighting in a sandbox!
I explain to clients you have to live in a world of REALITY and stand up tall like the author says and they commanded me to do at military school. Fairy Dust living can get you hurt or killed!
So how do you bring about ORDER?
The author's 12 Principles of Life is a REAL way to start!
OH and definitely pet the cats and dogs along the way! However this does not apply to SNAKES like the idiot who wanted to help a snake across the highway by prodding it along with a stick!
I am a Preparedness and Survival Skills consultant and author of numerous books on the niche. I specialize in Situational Awareness. Today our world is filled with CHAOS including the recent Covid and now super inflation with two US political parties like children fighting in a sandbox!
I explain to clients you have to live in a world of REALITY and stand up tall like the author says and they commanded me to do at military school. Fairy Dust living can get you hurt or killed!
So how do you bring about ORDER?
The author's 12 Principles of Life is a REAL way to start!
OH and definitely pet the cats and dogs along the way! However this does not apply to SNAKES like the idiot who wanted to help a snake across the highway by prodding it along with a stick!
Read
September 5, 2020These types of books are the ones that all of us need to read in a young age, reading 12 rules of someone with so much experience like Jordan B. It's crazy that one of the rules of the book is "Do not bother children while they are skateboarding", meaning something so big in a simple strange phrase. Is a very good book in all aspects,entertaining, curious and to learn. It is a very flashy title that make me choose the book before others. In the book, Peterson is direct with his opinions, with his theology, mythology and just overall cogent arguments and the viewpoints, making me respect that open mine, and give a perspective of how interesting people things and write. In conclusion, everyone need to read and compare this book with your perspective of live.
August 14, 2020
I really liked this book because I found it very interesting to me and really hooked me since the beginning. Personally, I don’t like reading too much because I don’t get too hooked to the book or I get bored. But with this book I really could enjoy reading it.
The rules that the author mentions are some of the basic things you need to know. And some of them are just like a reminder to you. I think that everybody knows this rules but not all of the people really know why they should do them or what they really mean.
This book really helped me to have more knowledge of these rules and also I tried to read it to learn more to become a better person. I highly recommend this book.
The rules that the author mentions are some of the basic things you need to know. And some of them are just like a reminder to you. I think that everybody knows this rules but not all of the people really know why they should do them or what they really mean.
This book really helped me to have more knowledge of these rules and also I tried to read it to learn more to become a better person. I highly recommend this book.
July 9, 2023
Even pablum has a purpose.
Frames same concepts for how to live a life that can be fulfilling internally while contributing to a greater society of like-minded people. Seems to overlook the value of idiosyncratic flaws and predilections and the fact that society’s is not filled with like minded people.
I’m glad I read this readers digest version because it’s definitely worth a consideration of the concepts but maybe not diving deep into Peterson’s philosophy
I don’t know a lot about the author but it seems that his personality overshadows and undermines the potential value of some of his ideas.
Frames same concepts for how to live a life that can be fulfilling internally while contributing to a greater society of like-minded people. Seems to overlook the value of idiosyncratic flaws and predilections and the fact that society’s is not filled with like minded people.
I’m glad I read this readers digest version because it’s definitely worth a consideration of the concepts but maybe not diving deep into Peterson’s philosophy
I don’t know a lot about the author but it seems that his personality overshadows and undermines the potential value of some of his ideas.
August 8, 2023
One of the most engaging and thought provoking self help books I have read so far. Yes JB does end up rambling at times and at times you'd be thinking to yourself but wait what is the point, those instances aside, there is a strong message in each chapter well articulated. I enjoyed the aspect that there is a lot of literature, philosophy and even religious text often referenced and then conclusions are inferred and interpretations portrayed. Would have to be one of my top recommendations to any one in the self help genre specifically if you feel like you need some words or another person's chain of thought to be able to help introspect about your own life.
August 1, 2021
This guy has 1 original thought & it’s the Adam and Eve translation… in his translation - it is quite clear he greatly dislikes women.
This guy seems like just another old rich white guy who wants to tell you how to live your life through a very narrow lens of his own life experiences.
I really tried to get through this material for my book club, and I can’t say I finished the book because he pontificates for chapters on end contradicting his own beliefs over and over again.
Don’t waste your time. He’s basically looking for a lost people’s and is preaching to that kind of audience.
This guy seems like just another old rich white guy who wants to tell you how to live your life through a very narrow lens of his own life experiences.
I really tried to get through this material for my book club, and I can’t say I finished the book because he pontificates for chapters on end contradicting his own beliefs over and over again.
Don’t waste your time. He’s basically looking for a lost people’s and is preaching to that kind of audience.
September 26, 2018
Good flow
Carlos Garcia:
One of the better summaries I've read on amazon. Jordan has really simple but deep thoughts and the summary did it justice in my opinion. After reading the original book I thought it was quite complex in the flow of arguements and the summary was able to extract the arguements in each chapter and present them with great flow.
Carlos Garcia:
One of the better summaries I've read on amazon. Jordan has really simple but deep thoughts and the summary did it justice in my opinion. After reading the original book I thought it was quite complex in the flow of arguements and the summary was able to extract the arguements in each chapter and present them with great flow.
January 19, 2021
a book with some great points an direction for like but unfortunately J.B has gone on and on to the point you forget all his good points.
this book should have been 50 pages long and it would have helped so many people.
looks like J.B sold out to the publisher who demanded long pages of nonsense and butterflies.
this book should have been 50 pages long and it would have helped so many people.
looks like J.B sold out to the publisher who demanded long pages of nonsense and butterflies.
January 11, 2025
I am finding this book thought provoking. I appreciate the interpretations of biblical passages. I am not arriving at all of the same implications, but I think that’s part of what makes it thought provoking. I think I might have enjoyed reading it myself, more than the audio, but audio is definitely more convenient for me at this time.
May 19, 2022
What’s the point? I mean, I couldn’t make any sense out of the direction of this book. The author talks about a lot of interesting information but for me it failed to get to the point. In all honesty, I only slogged through 15% of it.
June 30, 2022
I wish I could have read this when I was 20!
I'm 71 and learned more reading this short book than anything I have ever read. Awesome material that can be applied to your life. Right now!
I'm 71 and learned more reading this short book than anything I have ever read. Awesome material that can be applied to your life. Right now!
October 3, 2024
Classic Peterson, Alberta's finest. The rules themselves are not catch phrases, but the explanation of each is profound and in-depth. You don't have to agree with everything JP believes, that's one of his points, but there's plenty to gain from this book.
November 25, 2018
Fantastic summary
Fantastic summary that also includes a detailed action plan outline. I will definitely be buying again from executive growth summaries
Fantastic summary that also includes a detailed action plan outline. I will definitely be buying again from executive growth summaries
December 5, 2020
It all boils down to personal responsibility
December 31, 2020
Interesting book... Still could be 10 shorter. Many examples of the cases as well as examples from the life of Peterson.
April 18, 2021
Great read !
July 5, 2022
amazing
Amazing book! I was very surprised with the skills to summarize this book! I can’t wait to read more! Recommend!
Amazing book! I was very surprised with the skills to summarize this book! I can’t wait to read more! Recommend!
November 7, 2022
Love it!
I can't think of something I disliked. Nothing whatsoever. Great work. I will continue to keep reading your material. Thank you.
I can't think of something I disliked. Nothing whatsoever. Great work. I will continue to keep reading your material. Thank you.
January 5, 2023
Glad summaries exist so I don't have to waste my time reading this.
January 15, 2023
This was a great read and gave me new perspectives on things. This is helping me get back into the momentum of reading self help books and guidance books. I give it a 4.5 stars overall.
February 7, 2023
Not an easy book to digest and has alot of information based on science! Took me almost 7 months to finish reading it , but so worth it
January 5, 2024
Highly recommend for all ages!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews