Grandpa’s level still reads true forty years later. Good tools, like good values, don’t need updating.

Some things are not improved by new versions. A level works because of physics rather than fashion, and a few principles are built the same way: tell the truth, finish what you took on, do not aim down at people weaker than you. They need no revising every few years, and whoever tells you they are outdated is usually selling something.

Name the two or three rules you mean to keep whatever the situation, and keep the list short enough to recall under pressure. Then notice where it got tested this week. Rules that only apply when convenient are not rules yet.