When I was a child, my brother told me to come up with a list of rules to live by. The idea behind that was to give me a sense of what type of person I wanted to become, and to develop a framework by which I could achieve my goals. That list gets longer every day as I come up with new rules to handle life’s constantly changing landscape.

Here are five of my rules. These are not in any particular order, but they represent my personal philosophy. Feel free to adopt them, and I’d be interested in hearing yours.

1. Never kick a gift horse in the ass. By all means count his teeth, but remember if you kick him, he’ll kick back, and his shoes are made of metal.

2. When sleeping in a strange place, always wake up first. You never know when being the first awake will allow you to avoid awkward situations.

3. If you can’t be careful, at least be good. Life is forever throwing curve balls and its not always possible to avoid the dark side. Just remember you are a force best used for good.

4. If given the chance to vote, exercise your franchize. There may be no candidates or measures you want to vote for … but there are sure to be ones you will want to vote against.

5. Bet wisely, but never be afraid to risk it all. Certainly the game is rigged. Don’t let that stop you; if you don’t bet, you can’t win.