17 Dec 2025 · 3 min
Brian Johnson wraps up a series on Arnold Bennett's time-management book with a warning: don't become a prig, the self-righteous person who takes themselves too seriously. He offers Roz and Ben Zander's Rule Number Six as the cure: don't take yourself so darn seriously.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic one. In our last several plus ones, we've been having fun. At least I have. Exploring some wisdom from Arnold Bennett's old school booklet on how to live on 24 hours a day. Today we're going to conclude our tour. We're going to talk about the number one danger to avoid. Let's get straight to work. The number one pro tip Bennett gives us as we set out on our quest for mastery and getting the most out of every day. First and foremost, Arnold tells us we don't want to become a prig, defined as a self righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others. Yikes, as he playfully puts it now, a prig is a pert fellow who gives himself airs of superior wisdom. A prig is a pompous fool who has gone out for a ceremonial walk and without knowing it, has lost an important part of his attire, namely his sense of humor. The best prig protection. Raz and Ben Zander give us a powerful anti prig protocol in their great book the Art of Possibility, where they tell us a little story. It goes like this. Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a man's burst in with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him. Peter, he says, kindly remember rule number six. Whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete calm, apologizes and withdraws. They continue the story by saying the politicians return to their conversation, only to be interrupted yet again 20 minutes later by a hysterical woman gesticulating wildly with her hair flying. Again the intruder is greeted with the words, Marie, please remember rule number six. Complete calm descends once more and she too withdraws with a bow and an apology. And they tell us. When the scene is repeated for the third time, the visiting prime minister addresses his colleague. My dear friend, I've seen many things in my life, but never anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret of rule number six? Very simple, replies the resident prime minister. Rule number six is don't take yourself so darn seriously. Ah, says his visitor, that's a fine rule. After a moment of pondering, he inquires, and what, may I ask, are the other rules? There aren't any. And that's today's plus one. As we strive to forge excellence and activate our heroic potential and all that other goodness, let's not become self righteous prigs. Remember rule number six and have fun out there today. Hero Day one All in let's go.
