These are my thoughts about Rule 10 from Jordan B. Peterson’s “40 Rules”. You can read them all here. In the case of the rules that made it into his “12 Rules for Life” book, I’m not going to repeat any of his explanations here. These are my own thoughts about each rule from my own life and experience.

10. Be careful who you share bad news with.

I’m not sure if this observation is accurate or if it’s a personal bias talking but I think that, on social media, people seem to want to share bad news maybe even more than good news. Perhaps it’s a certain type of person, one who’s looking for sympathy or validation in some way.

Like the “good news” rule 9, who you share the news with is really important. Not everyone needs to know everything about your life.

I understand that sharing tragedy with others (especially those who are sympathetic) can be therapeutic but pick those people with care. Build those relationships ahead of the bad times so that you’re not tempted to blurt it out to the first listening ear when something negative happens to you.

As I said at the end of rule 9, I generally keep my mouth shut about my personal life. That approach has a lot to do with my own personality so it may not work for everyone but it has worked well for me.