A year’s worth of timeless business principles distilled into 50 bite-sized, battle-tested lessons—short, clear, and designed to be put into practice right away.
Every great business starts with mastering the fundamentals.
the weekly Rule gives you 50 of them—one per week, (with 2 weeks off). Read the rule, ask the right questions, apply the principles, watch your decision-making and your business sharpen.
In just 15 minutes per week, you’ll build the habits and discipline practiced by the most-effective business leaders and you’ll build a stronger, more-valuable organization, designed to run without you.
Chapter 1: Foundations First
WEEK 1 | Rule No. 1 —Solve a real problem.
RULE NO. 1 SUMMARY 
If your product, service or strategy isn’t solving a real problem for a real person, it’s a vanity project – not a business.
Painkillers outperform vitamins every time.
Principle: Strong businesses start with unshakable fundamentals, not the latest trends or shortcuts.
Action Step: Identify three core principles that must guide every major decision this year.
RECOMMENDED READING: The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries
WEEK 2 | Rule No. 2 —Fall in love with the problem, not the solution.
RULE NO. 2 SUMMARY
Solutions come and go, but a deep understanding of the real problem creates lasting value. Focus on the true needs and challenges of your customers—not your preconceived ideas.
Principle: Clarity of vision anchors every choice and prevents drift when conditions change.
Action Step: Write a one-sentence vision and test it by asking, “Does this change decisions?”
RECOMMENDED READING: The Mom Test, by Rob Fitzpatrick
WEEK 3 | Rule No. 6 —You’re first idea is rarely your best.
RULE NO. 6 SUMMARY
Great ideas emerge after rethinking and refining initial concepts, proving that persistence and revision often lead to better solutions. The most original thinkers don’t settle for their first solution—they generate many. Great ideas often emerge later in the creative process, after initial concepts have been tested, challenged, or discarded. Quantity breeds quality when you’re willing to rethink, revise, and persist beyond what’s obvious.
Principle: Your first idea is rarely your best — iteration and critique produce stronger outcomes.
Action Step: Pick one active idea and list three specific improvements to test this week.
RECOMMENDED READING: Originals, by Adam Grant
WEEK 4 | Rule No. 10 — Never stop learning.
RULE NO. 10 SUMMARY
A growth-minded leader embraces learning as a lifelong process—not a phase to graduate from. Whether you’re in the boardroom or the breakroom, staying open to new ideas, skills, and feedback separates those who evolve from those who become irrelevant.
Principle: A growth mindset treats setbacks as data, not destiny.
Action Step: Pick a recent mistake and write three concrete lessons to apply this month.
RECOMMENDED READING: Mindset by Carol Dweck
WEEK 5 | RULE NO. 15 —Work on your business, not just in it.
RULE NO. 15 SUMMARY
Successful businesses aren’t built by overworked operators—they’re built by owners who step back, see the big picture, and design systems that scale. This rule is a wake-up call: if you’re stuck doing all the work yourself, you’re not building a business—you’ve just bought yourself a job. Working on the business means shifting from technician to architect, from doing the tasks to designing the machine that gets them done.
Principle: Discipline outperforms inspiration; daily habits compound into competitive advantage.
Action Step: Choose one leadership habit and commit to it daily for 30 days.
RECOMMENDED READING: The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber
Chapter 2: Know Your Customer
WEEK 6 | Rule No. 11 —Your brand is your promise.
RULE NO. 11 SUMMARY
Your brand isn’t your logo or slogan—it’s the consistent promise you make and keep to your customers, shaping what they expect from every experience with your business. Your brand is the unspoken contract you sign with the world—break it, and you’re just another company people stop trusting.
Principle: You win when you solve a real customer problem better than anyone else.
Action Step: Interview one paying customer this week and ask what problem you actually solve.
RECOMMENDED READING: Building Strong Brands by David A. Aaker
WEEK 7 | Rule No. 12 —Know your customer deeply.
RULE NO. 12 SUMMARY
Success doesn’t come from serving the average — it comes from understanding the specific. When you know your customer deeply, you stop guessing and start delivering. This rule demands more than surface-level data; it requires insight into your customer’s motivations, frustrations, values, and unmet needs — the things they might not even articulate themselves. Businesses that take the time to know their customers at this level earn loyalty, trust, and relevance in a way competitors can’t replicate.
Principle: Customers don’t buy features — they buy improved lives and reduced risk.
Action Step: Translate your top product feature into the real outcome the customer experiences.
RECOMMENDED READING: Know Your Customer by Robert Woodruff
WEEK 8 | Rule No. 18 —Your calendar reflects your priorities.
RULE NO. 18 SUMMARY
If you want to know what truly matters to a person, don’t ask them—look at their calendar. This rule confronts the lie we tell ourselves that “we didn’t have time,” when in reality, we simply didn’t make it a priority. Time is the most democratic resource—everyone gets 24 hours. High performers don’t find more time; they allocate it better. They schedule their values. They protect their most important goals from being swallowed by the urgent but unimportant. Covey called this “putting first things first”—and it’s the difference between being busy and being effective.
Principle: A narrow target market converts faster and scales more profitably than “everyone.”
Action Step: Define your ideal customer profile with three firm inclusion criteria.
RECOMMENDED READING: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
WEEK 9 | Rule No. 21 —Clarity creates confidence.
RULE NO. 21 SUMMARY
When leaders communicate with precision, people know where they’re going—and why it matters. Clarity cuts through noise, eliminates confusion, and drives focused action. In business, vague messaging leads to hesitation, misalignment, and wasted effort. But when your ideas are simple, specific, and sticky, teams gain the confidence to move fast and move together.
Principle: Listening trumps guessing — repeat customers arrive when you continually learn from buyers.
Action Step: Implement a one-question follow-up email to recent buyers and log the feedback.
RECOMMENDED READING: Made to Stick by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Chapter 3: Hiring Without Regret
WEEK 10 | Rule No. 22 —Hire slow, fire fast.
RULE NO. 22 SUMMARY
The strength of your team determines the strength of your business. Hiring slow means committing to a disciplined process—one that prioritizes fit, capability, and character over speed or convenience. It means refusing to lower the bar just to fill a seat. Firing fast means addressing misalignment or underperformance decisively before it corrodes culture, morale, or momentum. Tolerating the wrong hire too long is more costly than taking the time to hire the right one.
Right people, right roles, right now—or nothing.
Principle: Hire for values and capability; culture fit without skill is expensive.
Action Step: Draft a 3-point role spec emphasizing outcomes and core values for your next hire.
RECOMMENDED READING:Â Who by Geoff Smart & Randy Street
WEEK 11 | RULE NO. 24 —Own your mistakes.
RULE NO. 24 SUMMARY
Great leaders don’t deflect blame — they absorb it, learn from it, and lead forward. Owning your mistakes isn’t weakness; it’s the foundation of credibility, respect, and real accountability. In any failure, you either make excuses or you make progress — never both.
Principle: Interview less for charm and more for evidence of past results and behaviors.
Action Step: Replace one interview question with a work-sample or case task this week.
RECOMMENDED READING:Â Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink & Leif Babin
WEEK 12 | RULE NO. 31 —Delegate outcomes, not tasks.
RULE NO. 31 SUMMARY
Don’t just assign to-dos—transfer responsibility. When you delegate outcomes instead of tasks, you empower people to think, act, and lead with ownership. It’s the difference between creating followers and developing leaders.
Principle: Onboarding decides whether hires become contributors or costly departures.
Action Step: Create a 30-day checklist for a current role to accelerate contribution.
RECOMMENDED READING:Â Turn the Ship Around! by L. David Marquet
WEEK 13 | RULE NO. 49 —People over processes.
RULE NO. 49 SUMMARY
Processes are important. But people drive results. Over-relying on systems, procedures, and checklists at the expense of human judgment, initiative, and ownership is a slow march to mediocrity. Organizations thrive when they trust and invest in people—not just when they refine processes. Processes should serve people, not control them.
Principle: Keep the bar high — letting talent standards slide corrodes performance quickly.
Action Step: Review two recent promotions/hirings and confirm they meet your current bar.
RECOMMENDED READING:Â The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas McGregor