The Spirit of the Cowboy
Reading Bunkhouse Logic by Ben Stein in high school was a fantastic book. It’s a bit old school; similiar to How to Win Friends and Influence People, it references people in a first name last initial in vague jobs who are now “experts in their field” to add their opinions in. But behind all of that lies a ton of great advice. I wanted to write all of the rules down with my thoughts for future reference.
You Can’t Win if You’re Not at the table
There is some pretty solid advice prior to this (know what you want, have inner mobility), but here is the first great line. Stein is talking about a book Play It As It Lays, and cites a key scene:
In one key scene, Maria has returned from her work in New York as a high end fashion model in New York City to return to her mom and her dad. Maria says she does not want to go back to New York. Her Mother agrees and says “She’s too thin. Look at her, see for yourself.” Father replies in a veritable orgy of good sense “she can’t win if she’s not at the table.” When I read those words I was electrified… but of course you can’t win if you’re not at the gambling table. And I had never been at the table in my entire life.
I found this so obvious but so, so smart. Getting what you want out of life is as simple as knowing what you want, and being present to achieve that. You can’t win if you don’t actually participate is common sense, but super helpful to hear.
High Agency
We’re much better at naming things nowadays, so we can sum this up into the idea of being “High Agency” (or defining it as you can just do things)). Overall part of agency is just showing up, and this story really captures that in a nice way.
Rules
Getting those main starting points out of the way, we then get into the main 10 rules of the book. Throughout each Stein adds further commentary. I’ve listed them for reference below:
- Concentrate on how to; forget why not
- Notice what is, not what should be. There is no heavenly mandate that things will work out as they should
- Luck is catching
- Life is process, and the process never ends
- Nothing happens by itself
- The best is the enemy of good
- Personal relationships are golden. All of life is coaxing out of fortune some grudging token of love.
- Persist
- Make time your ally; there will be time enough to get the job done. “Hay tiempo”
- Nice guys finish first. Do it for yourself
Conclusion: Dream your biggest dream.
Overall, I really like all of these rules. In particular, #4 really resonates; if you don’t fall in love with the routine and process of life, it’s hard to find the enjoyment that you’re looking for.