The Rules We Set Up For Ourselves And Others

Today, I attended a Business Expo where there were three speakers who gave short 20 minute presentations on various aspects of business. The Expo was conducted in a large building where numerous business owners had tables set-up for showcasing their products. During the last presentation, I found myself getting agitated because a man at the back of the room was talking to another person. Although he tried to speak quietly, it was still loud enough to be disruptive. At one stage, the presenter thought someone was asking her a question and paused to find if anyone actually had asked a question. But it was the man at the back talking away.

He was oblivious to the fact that he was so loud and I glanced at him a number of times hoping to make eye contact but to no avail. I felt agitated because one of my rules were being violated. According to my rules, when someone is presenting, everyone has to be perfectly quiet and paying attention to what was being said. After two or three minutes, the man had finished his conversation and moved to another spot to talk to another person.

This made me realize that we all have rules that we have set up for ourselves and allow ourselves to let those rules dictate how we feel and what we experience. It would have been so easy to ignore the man and just focus on the presenter but I found myself wanting my rule to be satisfied first before focusing on what was going on. How interesting??

It raises the point of what other rules have I got that does not really serve me... It will be a good exercise to go through my values and rules and get an understanding of what is determining how I feel at any moment in time. Might also be a good exercise for you as well.

To find out how to get out your values and rules, get a copy of my book, "Hoops and Freedom", where I go through it in more detail. Click here to get yourself a copy now.