Life is hard. And it’s harder than ever for a lot of people right now.

Politics, pandemics and pandemonium are things we are dealing with on a daily basis now and it’s causing unprecedented levels of anxiety and uncertainty for many people. But, believe it or not, you can control how much influence you allow these outside forces have on your life by controlling things on the inside.

I’m talking about your mentality.

If you focus on the good in life, your blessings, your goals, and becoming a better person each day, then the outside forces won’t be able to pollute your mind as much. And if they’re not polluting your mind as much, they’re not affecting your life as much either. R

Read this list of 17 rules to live by and get busy living. Because you never know when your last day is going to be.

17 Rules To Live By

1. Count your blessings: No matter what you think, you have blessings in your life. Just getting another day of life is a blessing. And if that’s all you can think of, count it. But if you think for just a few seconds I know you’ll think of other things like a home, a car, a significant other, your kids, your pets, or whatever it is. Count them. Do it each day to and watch your list grow.
2. Deliver more than expected: This doesn’t have to be something significant either do don’t break your brain trying to think of something. The next time you do something for someone, just do a little extra. Or a lot extra if you feel so inclined. The person you’re helping will be very appreciative. And even if they’re not you’ll feel better about yourself.
3. Don’t dwell on mistakes: So you messed up, so what. Get on with life. I’ll tell you a little secret, EVERYONE messes up. We’re human. Start telling yourself that you’re a Mistake Maker AND a Mistake Breaker. Learn from you mistake and move on.
4. Reward labor/love family: You work hard so play hard. And nurture the love of your family. Be a model to your children, not a critic. A loving family is the only proof of success you really need.
5. Keep pleasant thoughts: You were created in the image of God and you have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You become what you think about.
6. Speak with action: There’s a saying, actions speak louder than words. You’ll be judged by what you do, not by what you say. So do the right thing and stand up for what you believe. Anyone can talk big, but winners do what it takes.
7. Keep a positive attitude: This can be tough and sometimes the darkness will block out the light. But you have the power to bring the light back in. And darkness cannot be present in the light. Remember that you have overcome EVERYTHING thrown at you in life thus far and you’re not going to allow one more struggle to stop you.
8. Trash menial things: How many hours do we scroll mindlessly through social media or waste mesmerized in front of the stupid tv? Too many. I know that. Instead, engage in something each day that makes you a better person. Something that makes you grow and expand your mind. Read a book. TALK to a friend or family member. Take a course. Start a new hobby. Just do something that improves your life. It’s too short to waste on menial stuff.
9. Live today as your last: This might sound morbid but it’s reality because we never know when we’re going to take our last breath. What’s one thing you would do today if you knew you weren’t going to wake up tomorrow? Do it. There’s a phrase the Stoics used, Memento Mori; you could leave life right now so be mindful in everything you think, say and do.
10. Be pleasant to everyone: This can a tough one but it’s highly effective, especially to you. It can be as simple as a smile. Just extend whatever amount of kindness and care you can to someone, without expecting any kind of reward, and know that your life will never be the same for doing so.
11. Laugh at yourself and life: Never take yourself too seriously. Life is too short to beat yourself up and judge yourself all the time. Laughter will banish tension, worry and concern and free your mind to think clearly.
12. Never neglect little things: The extra effort. A smile. A compliment. A hug. That one extra attempt at something. The consistent daily habit of meditating, exercising or whatever it is. The little things always make a huge impact. Do not neglect them.
13. Welcome every morning with a smile: You just got another day to create the life you want. Make the day count. Establish a morning routine so that you get each day started right. Don’t waste it because once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
14. Set goals for each day: Success, improvement or whatever you want to call it happens one day at a time. You don’t climb a staircase in one leap and you’re not going to reach your goal in one day. But you can make progress in one day. Focus on that and you’ll accomplish your goals before you know it. One. Day. At. A. Time.
15. Never allow rain on your parade: Nothing external can have any power over you unless you allow it. Always remember to consider the source and that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Only God can shape a flower, but any fool can pull it to pieces.
16. Search for the good in every adversity: Everything happens for a reason and we don’t always know that reason. Do the stars look different from the bottom of a well than they do from a mountain tope? Sure, they do. But you can still see them. Search for the good and you’ll find it. And remember, tough times don’t last forever but tough people do. No matter what or how little, keep searching and moving forward.
17. Realize that true happiness lies within you: A new car, a new house, new clothes, or whatever material item it is only provides for temporary happiness. If that’s what you want to call it. Do you want to truly be happy? Have gratitude for what you already have and give more to other people. Smile, help, hug and share. You cannot make someone else’s life better without improving your own.

A Better Way To Live

Well now you know how to improve your life. Those 17 rules are from Og Mandino’s book A Better Way to Live. I thought I’d share my interpretation of them with you. I suggest reading everyone of his books and I suggest grabbing my book too. It’ll change your perspective on many things in life only to make your life better.

Practice Makes Better

I guess it was probably about six or seven years ago when I finally decided I was going to do it. After all, I had been thinking about it for a long time and I wasn’t getting any younger. My window of opportunity for becoming a guitar slaying rock star was closing more and more each year and I’d done this j.o.b. bullshit for long enough.

Whoever sold people on working the 9 to 5 j.o.b. gig must be a master of persuasion because everyone’s doing it. But most people don’t want to be. They just do it because everyone else is doing it. Get up. Go to work. Go home. Rinse and repeat. But I digress.

Boring

Think about it for a second though. Everyone wants to be a rockstar. But rockstars don’t want to be anything else. I believe it was Paul Stanly from KISS who said something like that. And it’s true for the most part. It’s a life like no other. Image the feeling of a crowd going crazy for YOU! The money. The girls. The travel. The girls. The money. The cars. The fans.


It’s gotta be a euphoric feeling like no other. And that’s why people dream of becoming one. They’re bored with their lives and the 9 to 5 gig they sold out for. Of course I’m not talking about everyone. Some people love what they do. But a lot of people gave up on their dreams. Hell, they’ve even given up on their hobbies.

Not Me

I started playing the drums when I was in my early teens but for some dumb reason I quit playing. Now, I was going to learn how to play the guitar. I bought an entry level electric guitar, a cheap amp and I was on my way. Or so I thought.

I didn’t know the difference between and ‘E’ string and an ‘e’ string. I didn’t know what an A minor or F sharp chord was. And at the time I didn’t know I could find a lot of lessons on the internet. I don’t know why, but it just never occurred to me. Maybe I wasn’t that serious about playing after all. So… I sold my stuff.

I’m Back

Then, a couple of years ago, I got the itch again. It was really always in the back of my mind but I kind of put in on the shelves like way too many people do with their goals, dreams and hobbies. Because they’re too busy. Talk about a bullshit excuse. We can talk about that some other time because right now we’re talking about my guitar playing.

How It Happened

One night a friend loaned me an acoustic guitar that belonged to a friend of his. His friend was actually hiding it from his wife because he had already boughten too many guitarts. Lucky me. This was my chance.

When he gave me that guitar I told myself, ‘this time I’m taking lessons.’ So I signed up and started learning how to play it right. I learned the A, E, G, D and C chords. Plus I started learning tabs. And a lot more. But it was tricky in the beginning. Getting your fingers on the right strings without touching other strings and moving from string to string is tricky. Like everything though, you get better with practice.

I’m not going to lie, there were times I wanted to quit. I mean, it would be great to be a Rockstar but I knew that was probably never going to happen. I was joking around about that earlier in the story. So why was I doing this at 45 years old?

Because I Like It

After sticking with it for a little while I started putting chords together and learning parts of songs. I’m going to tell you, there’s something about sticking with something long enough to progress. Even though I got frustrated and wanted to smash the guitar into the floor like a Rockstar at times, I didn’t. Instead I kept playing parts over and over and over until I got them and I got, and still do get, immense satisfaction from that.

I’ve been playing for a couple of years now and while I’m not on stage with thousands of raving fans screaming at me, I’m having fun. And I just keep getting better and better. And the better I get, the more songs I can play and the better I feel. Accomplishing something is very fulfilling. Don’t ever forget that.

What If?

That question started to enter my mind when I actually started making music with my guitar. I actually have five now, four electric and one acoustic, but I’ve quit buying for now. I started asking myself, ‘what if I get good enough to play on stage at a local bar?’ That would be amazing. And I think it is definitely a possibility within the next few years.


I don’t have to be perfect to play. I don’t even have to be perfect to enjoy it. But I did have to get better to really enjoy it and that came with practice. The saying, ‘practice makes perfect’ is b.s. Because no one is ever perfect. Even Buddy Guy, a legendary Blues guitarist says he’s still learning new things on the guitar and he’s 83 years young.

Find something you like to do, or even something you used to like to do and start doing it again. And don’t worry about being perfect, at anything for that matter. Just focus on getting better and having fun. As a matter of fact, apply that principle to all areas of your life. I’m going to throw that advice in for free.

Remember to grab a copy of my book. It’ll change your life for the better.

Base Camp

It was the fall of 1995 and we had our tents set up at base camp on Longs Peak in Colorado. The next morning we were going to summit our first 14’er ever. That’s what they call all the mountains in Colorado with an elevation of fourteen thousand feet or more.

In order to get to the summit and back off of it before the weather changes we had to start our climb in the wee hours of the morning. I think we were planning on getting started at 3am if my memory serves me right.

However, Mother Nature had a different plan in store for us. Some time between going to sleep and our alarms going off a fierce thunderstorm blew in. We were awoken by loud, booming thunder and flashes of lightning that were so bright it was as if a camera flash was going off right in your face. And they were this bright inside our tent. The wind was ripping and we weren’t sure if our tents were going to stay upright or not.

Time to Get Up

So much for sleeping. After the storm passed we were too riled up to go back to sleep. It was a storm like I’ve never seen before, and I live in Nebraska where we experience several thunderstorms a year.

We decided to eat a bite, throw on our gear and begin our journey. The first hour or so was pretty much your typical hike. Just follow the trail and take in the beautiful scenery around us. That is after the sun came up. It can be a bit nerve racking when you’re walking up a mountain trail in the dark and you hear something off in the woods. A bear? A squirrel? A mountain lion? A sasquatch? Or just a tree creaking? We’ll never know because we never saw anything. But it makes your mind start to play tricks on you.

The Boulder Field

After an hour or two of hiking up the trail we came to our first challenge, the Boulder Field. Why do they call it the Boulder Field? Well, because that’s what it is. It’s a huge field of boulders that lead up to the Key Hole. And the Key Hole is a passage through the mountain that looks like, well, a key hole.

This wasn’t too technical, but we just had to be careful where we stepped so we didn’t get our foot caught in between a rock or fall down in between a couple of boulders. It was definitely challenging but we took our time and proceeded with caution so we didn’t have any incidences.

Through the Key Hole Onto The Ledges

At the top of the Boulder Field awaits the Key Hole for those who want to journey to the top. And that we did. As you can imagine, the higher up the mountain we got, the more technical it became and the consequence for any mistake made was more severe.

Now The Ledges sounds like we were walking on a ledge, but that’s not exactly the case. Yes, it was a trail with a drop to one side, but it wasn’t a sheer drop. The ‘cliff’ had some degree of an angle to it and we weren’t walking right on the edge. We’ll get to that part of the journey soon.

The ledges is basically the last part of the climb that’s, what I would call a warm up. It’s before the real challenge begins and the areas where very little room for mistakes is allowed.

In the Trough

It’s about to get real. This is where it gets steeper and you have to dig deeper if you’re going to make it to the top. It’s a little bit like the Boulder Field but it’s more technical and the angle is steeper. You start climbing, at least in parts, a little bit like a bear in the Trough, using both your hands and feet.

The Trough isn’t a real long part of the journey but in my opinion, it’s where the real challenging part of the climb begins. The other areas are no walk in the park but this area is where people decide to go back down or keep heading to the top.

However, at the top of the Trough is where I almost ended my journey. It’s not because I almost died but because of the technical transition onto the next section of the climb.

Welcome to the Narrows

At the top of the Trough we came to the Narrows. Now this part is fairly narrow. As narrow of a ledge that this flatlander from Nebraska wants his ass on. Because if you go over the edge here it’s definitely game over.

When we got to the transition between the Trough and the Narrows there was a vicious wind blowing around the corner and it’s a little bit tricky. I definitely had a minor ‘come to Jesus’ moment in order to talk myself around the corner. But I did. There was another group coming towards us and one of them slipped on some gravel and/or sand. It wasn’t a real close call or anything, but slipping next to a sheer cliff of any height will make someone fill their pants and I think he might have.

This was definitely the hairiest section of the climb thus far. It was an area where we were definitely paying the most attention and proceeding with the most caution. We were focused on one step at a time.

The Home Stretch

There it was. After hours of climbing we were finally almost there. All we had to do was make our way up the Home Stretch and our mission was accomplished.

This section of the mountain was pretty steep and there was some bear like climbing involved. Meaning we were using our hands and feet because of the severity of the angle but it wasn’t overly technical. We just used caution and it lead us to our ultimate goal.

Welcome to the Summit

Once we reached the peak we were enamored by the beauty surrounding us. We could see of miles and miles and miles in every direction. It was truly amazing and for as long as we stood there we forgot about how tired we were. We forgot about all the work it took to get there. We just took it in and enjoyed the moment and the beauty around us.

Until you stand on the top of a mountain you can’t really know what the view truly looks like. Pictures just don’t do it just. Maybe it’s a combination of the view and sense of accomplishment. I don’t know. But it was amazing and and experience I’ll never forget.

Your Journey to the Top

I used a mountain for the symbol of Decide Conquer because climbing a mountain is parallel to any goal you have in life. We all start at base camp, where we are now, decide what we want in life, the summit, our goal, and chart the course to get there.

Along the way are different stages. Some are definitely more challenging than others and some will even be so scary or challenging, that we’ll want to give up and quit. That’s where we’ll experience the ultimate test. The test of how bad you really want it. That’s when you decide if seeing the view from The Keyhole is good enough for you, and if it is, that’s fine. Never let anyone else determine what your peak, your summit(goal) is.

Only you know what you truly want in life. It’s YOUR life. Just know that’s it’s a journey and there’s going to be challenges. But the sense of accomplishment and the view from the top will make it all worth it. Those challenges aren’t that bad either if you’re prepared.

What If

That’s a great question we ask ourselves over and over in life. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on the negative outcome of the question and never take action.

But it’s time to change your perspective, start asking what if and focus on the possible positive outcome of things. I’ve written a book with fourteen different scenarios that will help you do that.

Enjoy your journey.