Personal Development and Following the Rules

The following article is from the new book, Getting Personal: A Guide to Personal Development by author and speaker, John Patrick Hickey.  To read more from John Patrick Hickey or to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or group, visit our website at www.johnpatrickhickey.com.  

When we start to talk about obeying the rules, several things tend to rise up inside of us. One is that sense of defiance that we all have. It is the “I don’t want you or anyone else telling me what to do” attitude.  Another is the “well if this is the law, I guess I have no choice” kind of thinking. And of course there is the ever popular “Who me? I always follow the rules”.

I will be the first to tell you that when it comes to the laws of the land, we have far too many rules, and most do not help us. We live in a time when groups of people attempt to control others by passing foolish laws that really make no sense. We will talk about what to do about this in a bit.

There are laws and rules that are good for us to follow and, as a success-minded person, you should always be an example of what it means to be law-abiding. Some laws are for our safety and are there to protect us. Some laws and rules are to help us succeed by doing things we know are right and have been proven to work.

An example of laws that protect us would be what are called moral laws. You cannot steal from others what is not yours. You cannot commit murder, cause harm to a person or their property, and you cannot drive 100 miles an hour down a city street.

There are also natural or spiritual laws. These laws are the way things like nature, success, God’s commandments and others work. Since this is a book on personal development, allow me to use the laws of success as an example.

There have been thousands, maybe millions, of books and material written on how to achieve success in life. Some of these are off the wall, but the majority are very good and helpful to those who follow their instructions. You will find, however, that these books have many things in common. The common ground is based on the laws of success. They all talk of a positive attitude, the power of faith, the importance of writing your goals and plans down, and much more. If they all teach the same things, then why so many books? It is because the principles of success are laws that do not change; the different books are just different ways to see and apply those laws.

The laws of nature never change, and yet you will see many different books and other material teaching the same things. The law of gravity has been with us since time began. If you jumped out of a tree in the Garden of Eden, you would have hit the ground. Jump out of a tree today and you will still hit the ground.

It does not change due to your belief system or because someone decided to declare it invalid for today. Laws of nature, success and God do not change and are not subject to popular opinion or bullying by those who dislike them.   

Success-minded people know that the surest way to achieve success in any area of life is to find what has worked and follow that. Only the foolish insist on doing things their way or think that the rules do not apply to them.

The same principle can apply to the work place, school, at home or in an organization you belong to. No matter where you go, you will find that there are rules to follow and a way people like things done. Some of these rules are there because they have been found to give the results people are looking for. Some of these rules are there because they are placed on a business or organization from outside sources, and the business is required to follow them. Still others are in place simply because those in leadership want them there. No matter the reason, the success-minded person is expected to follow the rules without complaint or trying to break them.

We do not always like the rules we face in life. Some seem to us to be useless and interfere with our own thinking. However, that does not mean we are not expected to follow those rules and do our best. I love the words of the late baseball coach, Sparky Anderson, who said, “The only thing I believe is this: a player does not have to like a manager and he does not have to respect a manager. All he has to do is obey the rules.” The rules of the game are the rules of the game, no matter if you are you are playing baseball, doing business or raising a family.

To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was impossible for too long, read Getting Personal: A Guide to Personal Development by John Patrick Hickey.  You can get a signed copy for yourself and get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.  Now available on Kindle, Oops! Did I Really Post That? Online Etiquette in the Digital Age by John Patrick Hickey.

© 2016 John Patrick Hickey. No part of this may be reprinted or published without permission of the author.