SO GOOD QUOTES

After years of striving to “not be so hard on myself”, I am now enjoying the freeing, empowering effect of keeping personal rules that I never negotiate with other people, or even with my own bad moods. Clear rules reduce the need for approval, the stress of trying to have everything both ways, and the necessity of constantly explaining yourself. Since I began to recognize the freeing effect of personal rules, I’ve never felt more independent, and I’ve never worried so little about what others think.

Instead of going by mood or whim, you already know what you will do and what you won’t. You know which side of the fence you want to live on—on this side lies prosperity, consistency, and health, and on that side lies remorse, ambivalence and excuse-making, and other varieties of pain you’ve finally decided to be done with.

And you’re still free. You can always hop the fence and get burned again, which will only remind you why drew a line in the first place.

Wise People Have Rules For Themselves
David Cain