Bedford School

There is a way that nature speaks...most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough...to pay attention to the story...

Bedales School

Fall in love with taking care of yourself.

Mind. Body. Spirit. 

Battle Abbey School

Does time really fly? No, we are the ones that fly. 

Time never travels faster than one day at a time, we however; are always on the go go go, jumping from one task to the next.

So take time to prioritize doing those things that are essential to you, because before we know it, it will all be memories.  

Atlantic College (United World College of the Atlantic)

There is no such thing as too busy, people make time for the things that are really important to them.

The bad news is time flies...the good news is you're the pilot.  

Ashville College

Make time for it.

Just get it done. Nobody ever got strong by thinking about it. They did it. 

Ardingly College

Results happen over time, not overnight.

Work hard. Stay consistent. Be patient. 

Ampleforth College

You don't choose the day you enter the world and you don't choose the day you leave.

It's what you do in between that makes all the difference. 

Aldenham School

Build someone up.

Put their insecurities to sleep.

Remind them they're worthy. 

Tell them they're magical.

Be a light in a too often dim world. 

RULE 42: Don't Swear

I know we all do it. I know you think it’s cool. I know we have to be modern and move with the times. But I’m sorry, swearing isn’t allowed. You can say what you want when you get home, or in the car on your own. But at work you don’t swear. It’s a simple Rule, but it works because it is a default setting—you don’t swear. Now what decisions and choices do you have to make about that? Answer: None. None whatsoever. It is your bottom line. You don’t swear, so all the tricky stuff has been taken away from you.

But if swearing is your default setting, you have so many decisions and choices to make, I’m surprised you get any work done at all. For instance do you: 

• Swear every time something goes wrong 

• Swear over the phone 

• Swear in front of the boss 

• Swear in front of customers 

• Swear at customers 

• Limit yourself to certain swear words and not use others 

• Use religious blasphemy as swear words 

• Limit yourself to mild swearing or go for the really offensive

It’s a mine field. It’s a nightmare. It really is so much easier to just not bother. This isn’t a puritan dictate. It is an efficiency dictate. It saves time and effort and having to think about it if you simply don’t do it. Now go away. 

YOU CAN SAY WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU GET HOME, OR IN THE CAR ON YOUR OWN. BUT AT WORK YOU DON'T SWEAR

RULE 41: Use "Please" & "Thank You"

You would have thought this one so obvious, so basic, and so fundamental that surely it can’t be part of the Rules. Sorry, but we all need reminding that saying “please” and “thank you” is terribly important. It just doesn’t happen enough. People say that they are too busy or too forgetful, or that it should be taken as read that they have said them and they don’t need to each and every time. Rubbish. The only reason please and thank you get forgotten is plain old bad manners. If we start ignoring even the basic levels of human decency and politeness, then there really is no point to any of us being here. If we aren’t civil and civilized enough to thank someone, or to be bothered enough to say “please,” then it really is time to pack it in.

It doesn’t matter how many times a day someone passes you a piece of paper—it is “thank you” every single time without fail or exception. It doesn’t matter how many times you have to ask for the same thing—you always say “please.” If someone does anything for you, no matter how mundane, trivial, repetitive, boring, effortless, you will always say thank you. 

You forget one time, and you will be labeled as rude, boorish, and unpleasant. Make someone’s day and don’t forget, please. Thank you. I once worked with a manager who could get staff to work the graveyard shift, come in on their holidays, work overtime, work their days off, take work home with them, work on weekends, and work harder than any other manager could. We all watched him, trying to work out what it was he was doing that we weren’t. He was getting loyalty from his team that we weren’t. I know you are ahead of me at this stage and have got your hand up with the answer. He said “please” and “thank you.”

Yes. Happy now? He did indeed. And that simple bit of politeness went a long way. I don’t think his staff consciously knew he did it. We certainly couldn’t spot it for a long time. Most of us reckoned we also said “please” and “thank you.” But he said it without fail every single time. And when you say it, mean it. A sincere and warm thank you goes a long way. It is also a very good way to respond to compliments and praise yourself. If someone says you have done something well, don’t blush and stammer, “It was nothing really.” That subtracts from their compliment. Better instead just to say, “Thank you.” Never use the word “please” to wheedle or cajole. It is “Could you work through this lunchtime, please, as we need extra cover on the phones? I’ll make sure you get the time back a bit later this afternoon.” It is not, “Pleeeeease can you work, pretty pleeeease.”

A SINCERE AND WARM THANK YOU GOES A LONG WAY