11 Rules For Life by Chetan Bhagat

11 Rules for Life by Chetan Bhagat is about mastering yourself by managing emotions, prioritizing health, taking small steps, adapting to challenges like cockroaches, and most importantly, admitting and learning from mistakes.

The author shares personal life experiences that were never revealed before, making it exclusive to this book

The Book in Three Sentences

1. Everyone is busy, but no one is so busy that they can’t spare 30–60 minutes for their health. No matter what you do, make time to exercise daily.
2. Adapt like cockroaches—they adjust to anything and aren’t afraid of change.
3. Distractions are everywhere, and everyone is fighting for your attention. Focus on what’s right for you and avoid cheap dopamine like Reels, p*rnography, and short videos.

These are three of the rules from Elevens that Chetan Bhagat shares in the book.

11 Rules For Life Summary

11 Rules For Life is a self-help book written in a way that makes you feel connected to the author. It covers all the essentials of self-improvement to help you transform your life from where you are today.

One key takeaway from the book is: If you’re working on a big project and feel stuck, break it into smaller categories and tackle the tasks step by step.

For example, if you want to read a 300-page book, don’t try to finish it in one sitting. Instead, divide it by 10, which gives you 30 pages. Reading 30 pages daily for 10 days makes the task much easier.

How Book Starts:

One day, Chetan Bhagat ordered food from Zomato, but the delivery was delayed. When the delivery guy arrived, he blamed a flat tire.

However, Chetan Bhagat sensed something was off. Moments later, the delivery guy broke down and admitted, “My girlfriend broke up with me,” which was why he couldn’t deliver the order on time.

As they talked, the delivery guy opened up about his personal struggles. In response, Chetan Bhagat shared his 11 Rules For Life, offering guidance and encouragement.

So, let’s dive into the 11 Rules For Life that the author shared with the Zomato delivery boy partner.

(Note: The PDF is not an actual book but a collection of valuable lessons.)

Rule 1: Never Ignore Your Fitness

As Chetan Bhagat Says “Fitness comprises three aspects- a healthy diet, physical exercise, and good quality sleep”

The author himself wasn’t always healthy. He used to be overweight, but once he realized how important health is, fitness became his top priority.

So, if you’re in your 20s or 30s, make sure to exercise daily, eat healthy, and get enough sleep.

Eating healthy doesn’t mean giving up everything. It’s about moderation. Eat healthy food Monday to Saturday, and on Sundays, enjoy one of your favorite meals. Healthy food doesn’t mean eating what tastes good, it simply means eating what’s good for your body.

In the same way, getting a good night’s sleep is just as important. If you only sleep for 4 hours, you’ll feel tired all day. Try to sleep for 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

If you’re having a hard time sleeping at night or waking up tired, try using the tips the author shared in the book.

• Go to bed at the same time every day.
• Avoid using smartphones or the internet 2 hours before bed.
• Don’t consume caffeinated products after 2 PM.
• Don’t use your smartphone right after waking up.

I know these are simple rules, but if you apply them for a few days, you’ll see how powerful these simple things can be.

So, for the next 30 days, try exercising for 30 minutes each day and see how your body changes. Stick with it, no matter what—just do it!

As the author puts it

“Fitness is hard. The world is hard. Fitness comprises exercise and diet. Exercise requires motivation, focus, and discipline. It demands pushing aside that inner voice making excuses or asking you to quit. This is exactly what success in life requires as well.”

Rule 2: Master Your Emotion

1. 100% Rational: These people rely only on facts and logic. They don’t make decisions based on emotions.
2. Rationally Dominant: These people balance logic and emotions.
3. Emotionally Dominant: These people have logic but let their emotions control most decisions.
4. 100% Emotional: These people mostly rely on emotions and can be easily manipulated.

Now, think about what kind of person you are. Are you someone who relies on facts, or do you make decisions based on emotions?

The author suggests it’s best to be rationally dominant because emotions make us human. You shouldn’t remove emotions, but also don’t let them control you.

As the author puts it

You will have to fight and train the emotional brain every day until it finally realizes what it is dealing with. It’s dealing with a beast called you, with a rational brain that is smart and tough. You can’t give up. Your focus has to be set on your long-term goals and you have to completely block the desire for immediate or short-term pleasure.

Whenever you’re about to make a decision, try to see it from a long-term perspective. This will help you understand what’s best for you in the moment, as short-term thinking can sometimes lead you in the wrong direction.

Rule 3: Put Yourself First

No one cares about what you’re doing right now. If you succeed in life, people will say, “Didn’t I tell you, you’d do wonders?” But if you fail, they’ll say, “I told you this wouldn’t work, and you still did it.”

So, whenever you get free time from your job or business, put yourself first and focus on what you want to do, rather than trying to please others.

Putting yourself first isn’t selfish—it’s a form of self-care, give yourself the time you need.

This can only happen when you’re Rationally Dominant. If you’re 100% Emotional, you’ll say yes to everyone just to avoid upsetting them.

You don’t have unlimited time. We’re all going to die one day, and it could be tomorrow or years from now. So, starting today, focus on what makes you happy, not just what makes others happy.

As Chetan Bhagat says  “Protecting yourself Isn’t selfish, it’s self-care. In an airplane, they ask you to put your oxygen mask on first and then help others. It’s the same in life. If you don’t place your needs first, how can you ever be there for others?”

Rule 4: Master Simple English

If you’re reading this, it’s safe to say you know how to read English, and I’m sure you can speak it too. But if you don’t, now is the time to start learning.

English isn’t the official global language, but it’s the most widely used language in businesses around the world, so learning it makes sense.

In India, many people don’t speak English or even Hindi, yet they’re earning good money. So, not knowing English shouldn’t stop you from starting a business or pursuing anything else.

English can make things easier when dealing with someone who doesn’t speak your language.

Talking about myself, I learned English by watching TV shows like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and reading books.

These days, you can learn by watching English podcasts, videos, movies, TV shows, or reading books. When watching movies, make sure to enable subtitles in your native language.

Or better yet, use tools like ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. These let you chat with AI for free, helping you practice and improve your English. Just have a conversation and see how your English is.

As the author says “The repercussions of not knowing English reasonably well are huge. Note that “reasonably well” doesn’t mean Oxford-quality, rarefied, perfectly accented English. That isn’t what is required. But you must be at a level where you can communicate fluently in English.”

Rule 5: No Cheap Dopamine

Whenever you feel good, your brain releases dopamine, a crucial neurochemical. For example, if you drink coffee and feel motivated, it’s because your brain has released dopamine.

Similarly, spending hours on Instagram watching reels also releases dopamine.

The tricky part is, if you watch reels every day, your brain will stop releasing as much dopamine over time, even if you scroll for hours. Your brain learns what happens when you scroll on Instagram, so it craves a bigger dopamine hit, making you spend more time on social media.

The same thing happens with coffee. If you drink 4 to 5 cups a day, your brain won’t release as much dopamine as it did the first time because it needs more caffeine to feel the same effect.

Instead of relying on these habits, focus on yourself. I know exercising every day might not seem fun, but after 365 days, you’ll have a healthy body, and it will feel much better than drinking coffee or watching reels.

In simple words, don’t go after cheap dopamine.

As Authur says “The cheap highs are everywhere though. I feel like scrolling through Insta reels finding out what’s happening on X (formerly Twitter) or checking WhatsApp fifty times a day. I don’t need to. It doesn’t serve me. Yet, I keep getting drawn to these activities due to those tiny hits of cheap dopamine”

You can also try Dopamine Detox if you want to test yourself.

Rule 6: Chase The Hard Things

If you don’t chase your hard each day, the hard will chase you down one day.

If you’re facing a problem or going through something difficult, do yourself a favor and face the situation.

This will free you from the stress. Yes, at first, you’ll have to deal with the problem, but the good news is, once it’s solved, you’ll feel free.

Similarly, when working on a project, always start with the most important tasks and then move to the smaller ones.

For example, in the morning, your energy is at its peak, and if you waste it on unnecessary tasks, you won’t have the strength to focus on the important ones.

As we talked about earlier, don’t use your smartphone in the morning. Start your day with exercise, reading, walking, or doing important tasks.

Rule 7: Eat The Elephant

You don’t actually have to eat the elephant; it’s just a way of saying, tackle small tasks that lead to bigger ones.

As the author says “The most difficult, insurmountable tasks in life can be dealt with effectively by breaking them down or cutting up the task into small pieces.”

For example “If you want to read 300 pages of a book, instead of reading it all at once, divide 300 by 10, which gives you 30. This means reading 30 pages every day for 10 days will be much easier.”

You can apply this to anything you’re doing.

It’s similar to the 1% rule James Clear teaches in Atomic Habits. He says, “Improve 1% every day, and you’ll be ahead of everyone else.”

Doing exercise for 15 minutes won’t make you instantly healthy, but if you keep doing it for 15 minutes every day for 365 days, you’ll become a better version of yourself than you were before.

“Find your one big, juicy elephant. Don’t be scared by its size. Break it down into hundreds of little pieces. Eat a single piece at a time, over months and years. Enjoy the adventure. Stick to it, and you will get done eventually. Success will inevitably come your way.”

Rule 8: Be the Cockroach

Before reading 11 Rules For Life, I didn’t know that cockroaches can adapt to any change. The author uses this as a lesson to teach that if you need to make a change in your life, do it. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.

For example, a person who has run an offline business for the last 10 years might hesitate to list their store on Amazon. But making this change is crucial if they want to grow their business.

On the other hand, someone starting the same kind of business but also selling online will eventually take over the market, leaving the first person with regrets.

The ability to adapt is key to growth. Those who can adapt continue to move forward.

So, be like a cockroach. But, you don’t have to adopt everything that cockroaches do.

Rule 9: Learn to Connect With People

Connections are very important in life. The more people you know, the easier it is to ask for help when you need it. This works both ways—when others need your help, you can offer it too.

For example, let’s say I know Chetan Bhagat very well and I’m writing a book called Life’s Last Edit. This connection will make it much easier for me to get in touch with a book publisher compared to someone without strong connections.

The author also advises that when meeting someone from the business world, don’t just ask for money or a business plan.

Instead, say something like, “I’m thinking of quitting my job and starting my own business. As a successful businessperson, what are the top two pieces of advice you would give me?” That’s it—simple.

Learn how to communicate well and build connections that will support you.

As the Author says “You must learn how to connect with other human beings in such a way that you become part of a greater network that will eventually bring you benefits.”

Rule 10: It’s My Fault

One of the key ideas from the book is “own your mistakes, don’t ignore them”

As the Author says “Your purpose in life is taking responsibility for yourself, fixing your issues, and becoming the best person you can possibly be.”

Yes, it will be hard to face mistakes, and it’s easy to ignore them. When you face your mistakes, you have to take action, and that can cause stress.

So why not just ignore the problem and keep yourself busy? Isn’t this perfect? No..

The problem won’t go away on its own—it will only grow. So why not just face it and deal with it? Yes, it will be hard, I mean, really, really hard, but you have to do it.

Tell yourself, “I made this mistake, and I will try not to repeat it.” Don’t blame others for what happened—just accept it and move on with life.

This will free you from ignoring the issue and allow you to focus more on the present rather than focusing on the past.

Rule 11: Earn, Save, And Invest

I’m 26 years old and started investing at 23. I began with the stock market and also invested in crypto (risky as hall, don’t do it, if your needs are yet to be fulfilled)

I’m a long-term investor, so I don’t worry about short-term stock price movements. Yes, if something major happens, like COVID-19, I might cash out, but those events don’t occur very often.

Now, what Chetan Bhagat says is “Our becoming wealthy depends not  only on what you earn, but also on how  you save and invest along the way”

I won’t tell you that if you invest in XYZ company, your money will turn into ABC in 5 years. If you really want to know how much return you’ll get, you can use a SIP calculator (google it, and you will see tons of SIP calculators)

What I will say is this: If you’re earning well and still have money left after covering your needs, invest it where you feel safe.

Investing will open many doors in the long term; you just need to be consistent, and the market will reward you.

Make sure to do your own research before investing and choose companies you trust. Don’t invest just because someone else says so.

Favorite Quotes From 11 Rules For Life

11 Rules For Life Review

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