This is a guest post by Daryl Furuyama

Hi everyone. This post is not about dictating rules, but about how rules affect the enjoyment of our lives. I love how the posts here at WLC encourage us to examine ourselves. Hopefully this will stimulate some thoughts that you will be excited to share in the forum.

Rules Are Not Bad, They Are Part of Life

We are surrounded by rules, many of which help us. Rules are created to increase order, predictability, and reliability. Driving within the lines on the road helps everyone travel faster and safer. Being aware of the rules of any game enables you to create a strategy to reach your anticipated future.

Without rules, there is no way to tell what you can do or what you can expect. Rules help us concentrate, so we can get somewhere and make progress. Rules become problematic when we become concentrated in an area we do not like.

Sometimes rules hold us back. In order to increase predictability and reliability, rules sometimes make sure that you do not go anywhere. When we are unable to move to where we want to go, we become frustrated and stop enjoying the rules.

The Revolutionary Changes the Game, Not Abolish It

We often do not notice the rules that move us forward because we enjoy the game. However, we do notice the rules that hold us back because they cause friction in our lives. This friction causes us to desire rejecting all rules (especially in the name of freedom).

It is easy to be met with rules we do not like and give up on the game. We become disengaged from our own life and seek an escape. We may imagine being another person or even dream of a better life for ourselves. Dreaming is a wonderful thing, but are we pursuing our dreams or do we keep them off in the distance?

When met with rules we do not like, we look to creativity to turn them into rules we do like. A common rule in Monopoly is collecting a bonus when you land on free parking. It is not an “official” rule, but so many people use it because it makes the game more enjoyable. When we enjoy the game that is our life, we become more engaged and invested in ourselves.

Remember that rules just serve to concentrate you. Changing where you play may lead to increasing your enjoyment. Maybe you do not know what makes your life enjoyable, so you need to define rules. Maybe there are rules holding you back; is there a hidden path around them? Maybe there is no way around and you need to grind; can you create a meta-rule (like “see how many tasks can I finish in an hour”) to make it enjoyable?

Is there a rule that is preventing you from enjoying your life? Maybe some individuals in the forums can offer a creative solution. Or maybe you have already found a creative solution that made your life better and you want to share it with us in the forum.

This is a guest post by Daryl Furuyama, owner of WhiteHatBlackBox, which has been featured in Lifehacker.com for its free paper-based productivity tools.