Life’s Necessary Rules

Gist: Rules are only bad when you don’t know why you’re following them.

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Good morning from The Riskology Lab where I’m hard at work on a very important project that seems to keep pulling me away from my daily writing schedule. I’ve never missed a deadline—check the archives—and I never plan to, but I’ve come close a few times.

My days are very full right now; I’m sure you know the feeling. Sometimes it’s hard to prioritize when you’re excited to work on a lot of different things. Of course, its much worse when your days are full and you’re not excited about what you’re working on, so I’m not complaining.

I generally try to avoid rules—they only make me want to do the opposite—but with all that’s been going on lately, I’ve been thinking a bit about some of life’s necessary rules.

Could it be that rules and guidelines are helpful sometimes? Can they actually make our lives better? And how can we create them in a way that serves rather than hinders us?

I love to write and it’s a very important part of who I am and what I do, but I’m far from perfect; if I don’t give myself a guideline and a goal, I can go days without creating anything. So I make a rule:

Write every day. Write in the morning, before you do anything else.

That’s a pretty restrictive rule, but I know myself. I know that it’s easier to create when I do it every day, and if I don’t get it done in the morning, I won’t do it at all. So I make a rule and try my best to follow it.

I love to get out and exercise, but if I don’t have a routine to follow, I’m more likely to sit in front of the computer all day. So I make another rule:

Go running every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. No exceptions.

There’s no “freedom” in this rule, but when I follow it, my life runs smoother and I’m a lot happier.

Yes, these are rules that actually make me happy.

The general sentiment today is that rules are oppresive and ought to be avoided, but I think they’re actually very important as long as they’re created by and for yourself to protect the things you hold dear but are easily lost. I believe that the world is, in fact, run by rules and if I don’t make my own, I’ll probably end up following someone else’s.

By all means, ignore everyone else’s rules, but don’t forget about your own. Your rules are what make you great. Endeavor to uphold them.

Writing every day. Running on a schedule. These are my necessary rules and my life is better when I follow them.

Do you have any necessary rules in your life? What are they, and how do you follow them?

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For a few other excellent stories about rules worth following and rules worth ignoring, read this piece by Leo from Zen Habits or this one by Johnny B. Truant.

Image by: erix!