What if the world around you was never designed to bring out the best in you? Schools, corporations, nonprofits, and other institutions may talk about individuality and human potential, but too often they push us in the opposite direction. They reward conformity. They make people replaceable. And little by little, they can lead us toward a life that feels less meaningful, less purposeful, and less our own. But you were not meant to be replaceable. You were meant to matter. How to Matter offers 45 powerful rules for becoming your Heroic best-and helping the people around you become theirs. Each rule works in two directions. It challenges you to better understand yourself, recognize what you are capable of, and resist the limitations others place upon you. At the same time, it shows you how to treat other people in ways that bring out their courage, creativity, ambition, and potential. Individually, the rules are simple. Some may even seem self-evident. Yet they are often strikingly at odds with the way our schools, workplaces, organizations, and even families operate. Together, they offer something much bigger: a new way of thinking about the relationship between schools and students, employers and employees, coaches and players, parents and children. And ultimately between cynicism and optimism. Because if you don't feed the Heroes, you lose the Heroes. You lose them in organizations. You lose them in communities. You lose them in the people around you. And eventually, you can lose the Hero in yourself. But when you learn to feed the Heroes, something remarkable happens. People grow. Organizations become stronger. Communities become more meaningful. And you begin to cast off the expectations that have defined you, discover what you are truly capable of, find your calling, and become the person you were meant to be. How to Matter is about creating a life in which your contribution cannot simply be measured by a job title, a résumé, or someone else's definition of success. It's about becoming more fully yourself and helping others do the same. It's about doing something that matters, becoming someone who matters, and building a world in which more people have the opportunity to matter.