BREAK YOUR OWN RULES – We often stubbornly cling to old/outdated rules/regulations that have its foundation in a time/place far removed from the reality/the now.

Most of us are guilty of a strong desire to see and experience instant gratification. We have become a society where our attention soon jumps to something else if our “gratification” is delayed for too long. Impatience is the key cause of most of our failures today. If a project, relationship or our career does not give us a clear indication of progress in a relative short period of time we jump ship and try something else. Most of us want “closure” on everything as soon as possible. When we are expected to wait we become impatient and grumpy. We forget that most things in life have a cycle or “natural” time-span or rhythm. We cannot plant a tree and rush out the following morning, ready to harvest its fruit. If we worked on the pyramids in ancient Egypt we would have been in for tough time. Most of their masterpieces took virtually a lifetime or more to complete. When you want to force closure on any project or issue you usually end up making a mess of things. When you want to build a new house you allow a fair period for its completion. If you rushed the workers you might end up dead with a lot of bricks and cement in your face. If you rush a new relationship you usually end up reading a book while your friends party up a storm. Simply slow down and allow things to unfold naturally. You will get more done, make faster progress and be more successful if you can master the art of patience.

BREAK YOUR OWN RULES

I am often staggered by the tendency of people to create impossible rule structures for themselves. We all have a whole book of rules hidden in our heads. These rules cover virtually every eventuality that we have been confronted with since birth.

This reminds me of a story told to me many years ago. Apparently, a young couple were preparing a dinner for some friends that they invited over when the young man noticed that his new wife cut the end off a roll-rib that she was busy preparing for this special occasion. When he confronted and asked her, “Why on earth do you cut the end off the roll-rib, it is such a waste?” She smiled and told him that this was a “trick” that she learned from her mother that in turn learned it from her mother. He left it at that and speculated that it must have something to do with flavour distribution. She continued to repeat this ritual every time she prepared this exotic dish. When he finally years later met her grandmother he asked her about the roll-rib mutilation. She explained to him that she did not have an over-pan big enough to take a full roll-rib and was forced to cut off the ends to make it fit. Can you see how a simple “rule” can be passed on from generation to generation that was based on a misunderstanding?

How many “rules” do you faithfully follow everyday that have just as little foundation as displayed in the roll-rib example. We often stubbornly cling to old and outdated rules and regulations that have its foundation in a time and place far removed from the reality of the now. You can seriously complicate your life and the lives of the people around you if you stubbornly force people to do things just because it has always been done that way. Most people sheepishly follow the same “rule” structure for the best part of their lives. They fail to understand that they can never perform better than the quality of the rules that they use. The rules become the patterns that they live their lives with. It is like a stencil that will give you the same pattern for as long as you live.

It is imperative that you work from a variety of perspectives if you want to grow and succeed in life. It is fear that is holding these habitual responds patterns in place. It is fear that makes the rules in an attempt to “protect” you from real achievement. Fear of pain, embarrassment and loss makes people repeat virtually the same patterns from cradle to grave. Break free from this deadly rule structure system and spice up your life. Remember nothing is going to change if you do not make the necessary changes.

 

Rene