5 Rules for Breaking Out of Self-Imposed Life Imprisonment!

Peter G. James Sinclair

Here are five rules that, if you follow them, will equip you to break out of your current restrictive prison into a life that is free indeed.

Rule 1: Learn the Rules, Then Break Them

That's right. Do exactly that.

What if the Wright brothers had yielded to the law of gravity? We'd still be walking.

What if Sir Edmund Hillary had run away from Mt Everest? It would still be unconquered.

Sure, learn the rules. But don't let a bunch of rules restrain you.

If you find a better way, a more creative way, a far more productive way to achieve the same, or dare I say, better results from effort expended, then why not smash those old rules to smithereens.

Rule 2: Break The Mold

Cookie cutters are for cookies-not humans. It's a crummy way to live anyway-looking exactly the same as everyone else.

Be the unique person that you were created to be.

Stop conforming to the ways of the cattle-class.

Swim upstream.

Run away from the pack, because I can assure you that the view in front will always be the same.

Break out and be who you were born to become-majestic, magnificent, masterful and mold-free.

Don't aspire to be anyone but you-unique you-yes truly you-nique.

Rule 3: Break Bread

In the early Christian church, the disciples would break bread together. It symbolized the eating of a shared meal with friends.

So this rule depicts the act of sharing.

I was recently asked a question by someone I was intending to interview, 'What are you getting out of it?'

I responded, 'Nothing, because I understand than the more I give, the more I open myself up to receive.'

Now that receiving may not come back directly from the person to whom you have given, but the very fact that I give means that I have set in motion a law that will in turn return to me in the days that lie ahead. It's a law.

I suppose that is what I love about the nature of the Internet where people are freely sharing more and more information one with another.

Rule 4: Remove the Brakes

Fear causes you to cease motion. It stops you in your tracks. It halts progress.

We need to become more like the skydiver-that when they leap from the plane there is no turning back. Oh sure they have a parachute that will provide them a way of escape from certain death, but it is free fall all the way up until the point of the rip cord being pulled.

Calculated risk allows you to remove the brakes. Having an exit strategy in place ensures that you will live to see another day.

But remove the brakes by replacing your fear with faith, by exchanging your lack of purpose with a dream, and by unveiling your lack of direction with a clear vision for your life.

Rule 5: Take a Break

You can't always maintain a constant state of motion. To keep you moving forward, and to maintain optimum performance, you need to schedule regular breaks.

During these periods-whether it is an hour of solitude each day or a weekend away every couple of months from your normal routine, by doing this you will refresh your dreams, renew your plans assess your goals, recharge your batteries, and reignite your excitement for life and for the pursuit of your life goals.

These 'break' times are where you are refueled with a fresh impetus to carry you up and over. They will empower you to crash through any prison walls that may have started to encompass you because of life's happenings.