Rule 2 | Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life

Hi, this is the second of a 12-part series of short videos based on my new book, Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life. Each video features one of the rules, as well as a paragraph from the chapter based on that rule.

Rule two is: "Imagine who you could be, and then aim single-mindedly at that." This paragraph is taken from a chapter sub-section entitled "Who Are You, and Who Could You Be?"

An unforgettable story captures the essence of humanity and distills, communicates, and clarifies it, bringing what we are and what we should be into focus. It speaks to us, motivating the attention that inspires imitation. We learn to see and act in the manner of the heroes of the stories that captivate us.

These stories call to capacities that lie deep within our nature but might still never develop without that call. We are dormant adventurers, lovers, leaders, artists, and rebels, but need to discover that we are all those things by seeing the reflection of such patterns in dramatic and literary form.

That is part of being a creature that is part nature and part culture. An unforgettable story advances our capacity to understand our behavior beyond habit and expectation toward an imaginative and then verbalized understanding. Such a story presents us in the most compelling manner with the ultimate adventure: the divine romance and the eternal battle between good and evil.

All this helps us clarify our understanding of moral and immoral attitudes, personal and social. This can be seen everywhere, and always question: Who are you, or at least, who could you be?

Answer: Part of the eternal force that constantly confronts the terrible unknown voluntarily, part of the eternal force that transcends naivety and becomes dangerous enough, in a controlled manner, to understand evil and beard it in its lair.

Part of the eternal force that faces chaos and turns it into productive order, or takes order that has become too restrictive, reduces it to chaos, and renders it productive once again.

All of this, being very difficult to understand consciously but vital to our survival, is transmitted in the form of the stories that we cannot help but attend to.

It is in this manner that we come to apprehend what is of value, what we should aim at, and what we could be. Beyond Order will be available in print and audio format on March 2nd, 2021, but can be pre-ordered before that. Details can be found at jordanbpeterson.com. A more precise URL can be found in the description of this video.