The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Self-help books aren't everybody’s cup of tea. As much as many people resort to them for answers, many others continue to believe that self-help books generalise issues and provide generic answers and solutions that rarely resolve the challenges at hand.

Unlike many other self-help reads, The Rules of Life, written by Richard Templar, is a book providing a handful of simple, uncomplicated real-life tips and principles to help you gain better insights about yourself and your surroundings. The book is part of a series called The Rules Series and despite its name, The Rules of Life is neither a rules book nor a revelation; it is what Templar calls a ‘personal code' –  a reminder pinpointing the things we often overlook in our lives.

A self-confessed people watcher by nature, all of Templar’s observations conclude that awareness is the key to a happier and a more fulfilled life and that those who are unaware of every thought they have and every move they make, are the ones who suffer the most in life.

According to Templar, people who are self-aware to what is said and done are what he calls 'Rules Players'; the ones who always seem to know what is important and know how to deal with what’s not. Rules Players are not only self-aware, but they’re also the ones who defeat conventional thinking when dealing with life; the ones who admit their wrongs, the first ones to apologise and the ones who accept defeat and move beyond it. “A good Rules Player knows when they are beat,” Templar says.

Making conscious decisions about how we choose to react to our surroundings is what makes us Rules Players and according to Templar, a good Rules Player is the one who doesn’t act on impulses, but thinks twice before reacting.

Stress is inevitable in our daily lives; but that doesn’t mean making it harder on ourselves, which is why Templar argues that every problem has a key that unlocks it and that we should be a part of the solution by thinking our challenges through, rather than stressing over them.

Among the many things we love about this book is Templar’s suggestion to evaluate how we feel towards someone or towards a certain situation and how we reacted; an approach to assess our level of awareness when we took the decision or action.

Though a lot might say this book is stating the obvious, we do however believe that our desire for instruction manuals for living remains essential. The Rules of Life book widens the way we look at ourselves and others, as it introduces a new approach to overcome our daily hassles and a new perspective to deal with our challenges altogether.

In one of his rules, Templar argues that being regretful after making a mistake is normal; but only rules players use regrets to make a difference, a positive one. “Rules Players don’t dwell on the past,” he says. Everyone makes mistakes; but what comes after the mistake is what separates Rules Players from the rest.

Templar’s rules are nothing more than observational notes; merely some day-to-day life lessons that he has gained the hard way; and even though he is not a professional life coach or a guru, his own real-life experiences have helped him compile a go-to self-help book for us to resort to, when all hell breaks loose.