New Rules.

Today’s Marketing Cookie is making a new rule.

“From now on…” is the beginning of every legal declaration that parents make up on the fly. You start with something basic, like "From now on... no dessert until you finish your dinner." Simple, right? But then your kid pulls some stunt you didn’t see coming, like feeding the dog their vegetables under the table, and suddenly you're in uncharted territory. So, you say, "From now on, no feeding the dog during dinner!" And just like that, a new rule is born. Then, of course, when you’re cleaning up, you discover a wad of broccoli stuffed in their napkin, and you realize the rulemaking is far from over.

Most of these new rules are just attempts to fix the loopholes in the rules you just made up. You get so fed up with the constant bickering that you declare, “From now on, no one is allowed to talk to anyone else in this house ever again!” It works for a while, until you need one of them to tell their sister it’s time for dinner. So now, you’re asking them to break your own rule and find yourself saying, “Okay, fine, from now on you can talk… but only for dinner announcements!” During dinner, you decide to lift the talking embargo, but before long, the bickering is back, and you’re already gearing up to declare yet another new rule.

This fortune says, "From now on your kindness will lead you to success." It seems to be laying down a new rule with one of those “from now on” declarations. But it makes you wonder, what was wrong with the way kindness worked before? If my kindness can now finally lead to success, then I guess this explains why all my previous acts of kindness were failures. Oh yeah! This must be why Jimmy didn’t like the gift I bought for his housewarming. My kindness didn’t count before. Here I was thinking Jimmy just didn’t appreciate that singing toilet brush!

Perhaps this fortune isn’t suggesting that kindness was unsuccessful before. Jimmy’s reaction to that awesome housewarming gift might have just been his own issue. What it’s really saying is that kindness, rather than any other tactic, is now your best bet for finding success. “From now on” isn’t asking you to change the rules; it’s asking you to change your ways.

While you may have tried other, more self-serving approaches in the past to advance your career or promote your abilities, it’s your kindness that will open more doors and create lasting opportunities. The new rule here is about recognizing the power of your kindness as the most effective path to achieving your goals, just as today's fortune says, "From now on your kindness will lead you to success."