Surface Your Hidden Rules
The most deceptive rules are the ones obeyed unconsciously.
Identify the rules that you have accepted and live by without fully recognizing that they are choices rather than established truths. What hidden rules do you blindly follow?
Reflect on different areas of your life (e.g., creativity, relationships, career, where you live, daily habits).
Make a list of any “rules” or assumptions you’ve never questioned (These are not so easy to spot! Refer to Byron Katie’s Loving What Is for helpful direction).
For each rule, ask yourself:
Where did this rule come from? (e.g., family, culture, past experiences)
How has this rule limited you?
What might be possible if this rule didn’t exist?
Choose one rule to challenge. Think of a small action you can take to break this rule.
Take this action within the next week. After doing so, reflect:
How did breaking this rule feel?
What new possibilities or insights emerged from this new understanding?
By uncovering and challenging our hidden rules, we can free ourselves from unconscious limitations and open up new realms of possibility in our lives and our creative work.
I grew up in a house where we were told to always be productive (translation, don't sit idle when you could be earning money). I've come a long way since then, having worked hard, saved, and also being with a Renaissance Man who's always encouraging me to write poetry, read and create. But I haven't lost the guilt. I keep thinking spending time like this (creating) is something I should do in retirement, perhaps 5-8 years from now. But feeling a sense of urgency that then is now.
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