The Rules to Break, 2nd Edition

RULE TO BREAK

“Take one step at a time”

If you’re trying to write a book, as I’ve learned over the years, the prospect can be daunting. So the best approach is to tackle it in small chunks. One chapter at a time (or in my case, one Rule). ‘Eat an elephant one bite at a time’, as they say. That works for writing reports or dissertations too. And it works for renovating a car or refurbishing a house. Little by little is an effective approach to most practical projects.

However, if you want to make major changes to your life, it’s not the way to go about it. Sure you can tweak the smaller dissatisfactions to make modest improvements, but for the big stuff, you can’t pussyfoot around. You have to jump.

Suppose, for example, that you’re not happy ...