RULE 7: Be 100 Percent Committed

Being a Rules Player means you are going to have to work a whole lot harder than any of your colleagues. They can coast; you can’t. They can afford to lighten up and put their feet up; you can’t. To move up, you have to be 100 percent committed. You can’t afford to lose sight of your long-term goal for a second. For you there is no time off, no downtime, no lounging around time, no slipups, no mistakes, no accidental deviations from the script.

You have to become like a master criminal—they lead incredibly law-abiding lives because they can’t risk breaking a tiny law in case it draws attention to themselves and the really big crimes get revealed—and watch what you say and what you do.

If any of this seems too much, then bow out now. I only want committed Rules Players on this team. You are going to have to sign an oath in blood if you want to make this grade. You are going to have to be vigilant, dedicated, watchful, keen, ready, prepared, cautious, alert, and on the ball. Tall order.

Is it worth it? You bet. In the land of the blind, you will be the only one with both eyes open and seeing. You will be powerful—and most importantly you will be having fun. There is no greater buzz than seeing the games that are going on around you and being completely uninvolved, utterly objective, and supremely detached.

You will find that you won’t have to do very much once you start observing. You will be able to give people a tiny nudge to get them to change direction rather than a huge big shove. Your dealings will become incredibly delicate and gentle.

But you really do have to be 100 percent committed. If you try this stuff without such dedication, you will go off half-cocked and run the risk of looking foolish instead of cool and in control. But the beauty of total commitment is that you no longer have any decisions to make. You know your path exactly and in any situation you only have to ask, “Does this further my Rule playing or not?”—and then the decision is made for you. Easy.

YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE VIGILANT, DEDICATED, WATCHFUL, KEEN, READY, PREPARED, CAUTIOUS, ALERT, AND ON THE BALL.