Keith Davison lost his wife Evy to cancer after a marriage of 66 years. He admitted that he cried a lot. And the peace and quiet eventually became too overbearing. So get this: The 94-year-old installed an in-ground pool in his backyard. With a diving board. And invited the neighborhood kids to jump in. Now his home is bustling with activity as his newly adopted “grandkids” bring life and laughter into it. He admits it didn’t make economic sense to install the pool. But who can put a price tag on joy? Ninety-four-year-olds shalt not install a pool in thy backyard. #notarule If you’re …
Rules That Don't Exist
We are constantly bombarded with rules that don't exist. This collection of “rules” comes from everywhere: parents, grandparents, politicians, first grade teachers, old dead white guys, and young celebrity trendsetters. We follow them (often subconsciously) for reasons that range from irrelevant to superstitious to downright stupid. Sadly, they often limit us from living better stories. Below are some we've identified so far. Did we miss one?
Thou Shalt Conceal Thy Wrinkles
This one’s for the ladies. Full disclosure: At last check, I am not a woman. So I cannot claim to be an expert in the things women go through. But one thing I am sympathetic to is all of the messages bombarding you about your appearance. I mean guys have the pressure to maintain six-pack abs (I’m one sixth of the way there!), but it’s nothing compared to the onslaught you face on a daily basis. Let’s take wrinkles, which are supposedly The Devil. Apparently they are something to be avoided at all costs. My wife has told me horror stories of going to parties at friends’ homes in …
Calling All Creative Warriors!
I recently had the great pleasure of being featured on Jeffrey Shaw's Creative Warriors podcast. It was one of the best interviews I've been a part of, mainly because Jeffrey was so well-prepared. Since he'd read my book, Penguins Can't Fly +39 Other Rules That Don't Exist, he came armed with some great questions and we were able to go much deeper, more quickly than usual. I think you'll find it to be a worthwhile listen. Among other things, we discussed... Where the rules that don't exist come from, The danger in being realistic, Why you might not want to wear clean …
5 Rules You Should Totally Break This Week
It's been almost two years since Penguins Can't Fly was published. It features forty of the most common rules that don't exist, but with each passing day, I am even more convinced that there are more like forty million, keeping us enslaved to Adultitis without us even noticing. A few weeks ago, I asked Escape Adulthood Insiders to share some of the so-called rules they most love breaking. I got so many good ones! This week, I wanted to play mild-mannered reporter and pass along a few of my favorites, because I they are great reminders for everyone. Thou shalt only observe morning once a …
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6 Rules That Don’t Exist That Will Surprise Most Parents
We are inundated with rules that don’t exist. Not speed limits and tax laws, but the seemingly invisible norms, assumptions, and superstitions that we follow (often subconsciously) and which drive our lives. The more I write and talk about them, the more I uncover. And there is no shortage in the realm of education. My wife Kim and I homeschool. In the grand scheme of things, we’re in the shallow end of the pool; the oldest of our three children is only seven. But these past several years may have been the most important of all, because we’ve had to un-learn pretty much everything we knew …
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The Danger of Eating Dessert First
A few weeks ago, I was on a Navy base in Florida, delivering my first program for a military audience. The meeting planner was very hesitant about me encouraging them to break rules, especially since they had just spent several (long, boring, excruciating) days being briefed on new procedures, policies, and regulations. I still told them to break rules. Of course, I am not calling for anarchy here. I understand the need for rules, especially in the military, where if you break a rule, someone could die. The problem is that too often, we assign the same gravity to all the rules in our …
The Complete Guide to Raising Your Kids to Be Rulebreakers without Ruining Their Lives (or Yours)
Kim and I are well-known for encouraging people to be more childlike and act more like kids. A few brave souls have asked (although I suspect there are countless others who have wondered): How does this philosophy impact our role as parents? In other words, how does a parent walk the line between teaching kids to break rules that don’t exist, without descending into total anarchy? Great question. While it’s true that our kids regularly say “#Notarule” in its proper context during normal conversations, any speculation that our kids are living in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory is …
Breaking Rules Can Help You Be Ah-Mazing
I had a wonderful opportunity to sit down for a fun conversation with my dear friend Neen James, who is a productivity guru of epic proportions. Now, many people might put "productivity gurus" into a box of boring, bland and beige individuals who have all these rigid restrictions. Not Neen. She loves the color pink, rides a Harley, and is a first-class rule breaker. We share the sometimes helpful trait where if someone says we can't do something, we automatically want to prove them wrong, just on principle. Anyway, please check out what she has going on, and enjoy this fun video …
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This Week in Rule Breaking
Rules that don't exist are all around us, and they can keep us from living a life of awesome. In honor of the release of Penguins Can't Fly, we are posting different rules all over social media, using the hashtag #notarule. Some are rules we've uncovered, others have been shared with us from people like you. Follow along on Instagram, Tumblr, or Facebook or share your own rule here! This is one of a series of hilarious photos sent to me by a mom in Ohio who quoted her daughter as saying, “Because anyone can have typical senior photos but only a few can have awesomesauce ones!” I …
#notarule: winning at business and life by breaking rules that don’t exist
“Blessed are the rule breakers. They shalt inherit the Future. We have always admired the great renegades of business, brave souls who dared to deny the status quo, defy the odds, and pioneer a new normal. Nicolas Tesla. Richard Branson. Tony Stark. One thing all great titans of industry have in common is this: they were able to identify rules that don’t exist and had the courage to break them. Of course, there are plenty of rules that DO exist. If you commit fraud or neglect to pay taxes, I hope you look good in an orange jumpsuit. But the rules that DON’T exist greatly outnumber the ones …
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